Davis Riley carries two-shot lead into final round of wind-swept Sony Open

[p]The world number 101's three-under-par round of 67 put him on 12-under, clear of a trio tied for second comprising England's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hall-harry/zc0eVMjt/"]Harry Hall[/a] and fellow Americans [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gotterup-christopher/nVwVk9Kf/"]Chris Gotterup[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/roy-kevin/p2QBMv50/"]Kevin Roy[/a].[/p][p][b]"I felt like I was hitting some really good hold shots against the wind," [/b]said [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/riley-davis/neIpEexj/"]Riley[/a], who has one previous win on the PGA Tour, after gusty conditions at the Waialae Country Club in Honolulu.[/p][p]The 29-year-old Riley said the goal for Sunday would be to "do what I did on the back nine today".[/p][p][b]"It's tough. There is wind. There are going to be bad shots. You got to make some gritty pars in these conditions,"[/b] he said.[/p][embed guid="dad12ab6-b098-4b33-9a1e-239d16121ca3" url="https://x.com/PGATOURComms/status/2012732213281132688?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]Defending champion [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/taylor-nick/bRN84Bas/"]Nick Taylor[/a], who had been in a share of the lead after two rounds, slipped back to tied-fifth with a disappointing 70 that included four bogies.[/p][p][b]"I feel like it's always very bunched here,"[/b] said Canada's Taylor.[/p][p][b]"Obviously here I've had great success over the last few years. I can fall back on that tomorrow in any scenario starting out."[/b][/p][p]The event is the PGA Tour's first of 2026, after the cancellation of The Sentry at Kapalua because of drought and water restrictions on the nearby island of Maui.[/p][p]The 62-year-old former world number one [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/singh-vijay/nBG7KNV5/"]Vijay Singh[/a] - having made the cut by two strokes in his first PGA Tour start since 2021 - carded a tidy 68, to sit eight strokes off the lead.[/p]