Hoey drops to joint 29th after a 70

MANILA, Philippines —  Rico Hoey of the Philippines failed to sustain the charge and carded an even-par 70 in the third round to slide to a share of 29th in the Sony Open in Hawaii Saturday.

After a red-hot 64 spiked by an eagle and six birdies that put him just three shots off the pace, Hoey cooled down and managed only two birdies versus a double bogey to settle for a 35-35 on moving day.

As rivals turned in sub-par scores in the penultimate round, Hoey found himself down 18 places from his previous standing of joint 11th at seven-under 203 and trails by six strokes JJ Spaun, who surged to the top with a fiery 65 and a 197 total.

Spaun holds a one-stroke upperhand against Stephan Jaeger, Eric Cole and Patrick Fishburn, who are tied at second at 198 after submitting 62, 67, and 68, respectively.

Hoey entered Round 3 with the intention of picking up from where he left off in the previous round, which he capped with an amazing eagle-putt from 56 feet on the par-5 No. 9 of the Waialae Country Club.

The 29-year-old Pinoy, however, missed birdie opportunities in the front nine and wound up with pars in the first 13.