It’s tough when you shoot 10-under-par and still lose ground on the leader, but that’s what happened for Christiaan Bezuidenhout on Saturday as he made eight birdies and an eagle in the third round of the PGA Tour’s The Sentry at the Plantation Course at Kapalua in Hawaii.

Such has been the scoring at the par-73 layout – and there has been no wind, which is the course’s only defence – that Hideki Matsuyama made 11 birdies in his second consecutive bogey-free round on his way to 11-under 62 and a 54-hole total of 27-under-par.

That was only enough for a one-stroke lead over Collin Morikawa, who had an 11-under 62 himself. In third, Thomas Detry had an eight-under-par 65, and he was five strokes off the lead on 22-under-par.

While it’s fun for the fans, the problem with the kind of scoring that always happens in this event is that it over-accentuates the value of the Official World Golf Ranking points available to players who have to do even less that usual in a limited field event with no cut.

Bezuidenhout, however, will be pleased to have improved with every single round after starting with a level-par 73, especially with his new PXG equipment being gamed for just the first time in tournament conditions. He goes into the final round in a share of 29th in the 59-man field.