KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) Justin Thomas is one of those players who doesn’t like to share his goals until the end of the season.

Except for one.

He wants to win, because that means he gets to start the year at Kapalua.

Article continues below …

”I hope that is my first tournament of the year for the rest of my career,” Thomas said.

He’s not alone, of course. Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson do. So does Rickie Fowler, who probably needs to get back here more often. This was only the third time that Fowler has played in the Sentry Tournament of Champions.

It seems so obvious.

Who wouldn’t want to come to Maui the first week of January and play against a small field with no cut while looking down from the Plantation Course at the occasional breach of a humpback whale in the Pacific waters that separate Maui from Molokai, the island that looks much closer than eight miles away?

Tiger Woods, for one.

Woods won at Kapalua in 2000 in that epic battle with Ernie Els. He never fin..

KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) PGA champion Justin Thomas is using a television on-course reporter to caddie for him next week in Honolulu while his regular caddie recovers from a foot injury.

But not just any TV reporter.

He said he’ll be using Jim ”Bones” Mackay at the Sony Open. Mackay spent 25 years with Phil Mickelson until they parted ways last summer. Mackay now works for NBC and Golf Channel walking the course. He was with the Dustin Johnson pairing on Saturday at Kapalua.

Article continues below …

Jimmy Johnson has been dealing with plantar fasciitis and a tear for the last few months. He was in a boot for 10 days before arriving at Kapalua, but the severe terrain has taken a toll. He likely will be in a protective boot for at least a month. Thomas’ father, Mike, caddied for his son Saturday.

KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) Dustin Johnson has a long game and a short memory.

Johnson holed a 65-yard wedge shot down the hill and up the green for an eagle, and he powered his way to birdies on the par 5s at Kapalua for a 7-under 66 to build a two-shot lead over Brian Harman going into the final round at the Sentry Tournament of Champions.

The world’s No. 1 player with a lead is a daunting prospect anywhere, especially on a course where he is a past champion (2013) and has posted 20 out of his 30 rounds on the Plantation Course in the 60s.

Article continues below …

Hope for the players chasing him comes from Johnson’s most recent start on the PGA Tour.

That was just over two months ago at the HSBC Champions in Shanghai, where Johnson lost a six-shot lead at Sheshan International. Most peculiar about that day is Johnson still was up by three shots, didn’t miss a fairway on the back nine and still got beat.

Johnson says he didn’t even remember Shanghai until it was mentioned to h..

KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) Dustin Johnson holed out with a wedge for eagle, made birdie on every par 5 and powered his way to a 7-under 66 to build a two-shot lead going into the final round of the Sentry Tournament of Champions.

Coming off his lone bogey from a poor chip, Johnson faced a 65-yard shot down the hill and up the slope of the green on No. 12 at Kapalua, and it rolled out beautifully into the cup. He added three more birdies to reach 16-under 203.

Brian Harman shot a 69 and was two shots behind. Harman began the day tied for the lead with Marc Leishman, who didn’t make a birdie until the 16th hole and fell out of contention.

Article continues below …

Jon Rahm (66) was four shots back.

In the last few years, we've seen some pretty crazy full-court putts from a few tour pros at their alma mater's college basketball games. There was Stewart Cink's 94-footer at Georgia Tech that won a student $25,000, and more recently, Jeff Overton went back to school to drop a bomb and win a few fans a trip to Myrtle Beach at an Indiana game.
The difference with those two putts is that they were struck by professional golfers. That's not to say 94-footers on any surface, green or hardwood, are easy, but these guys know what they are doing. That's what makes this latest full-courter all the more impressive, because of the fact it came from a regular Clemson college student at the Tigers game vs. Louisville on Saturday. Our man didn't even need a practice stroke:
https://twitter.com/SInow/status/949730436313382912
Never. A. Doubt. Incredible putt from a guy who has never played golf before:
https://twitter.com/ClemsonNetwork/status/949715555547844608
Not on..

Marc Leishman's off-season prep? TopGolf, and now he's tied for the lead

KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) Marc Leishman played bogey-free and was tied for the lead in the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Just don’t get the idea this is another example of an Australian doing well at Kapalua because he stayed sharp Down Under in December.

Leishman two-putted for birdie on the par-5 18th for a 4-under 69, giving him a share of the lead with Brian Harman (68) going into the weekend on the windy Plantation Course with 15 players separated by five shots.

Stuart Appleby once won three straight years at Kapalua. Geoff Ogilvy is the last player to win back-to-back. Both arrived in Maui having competed in either the Australian Masters, Australian Open or Australian PGA. Appleby did all three one year.

Article continues below …

Leishman?

He’s played one time in the last 10 weeks. Well, one tournament, anyway.

”I went to Topgolf a couple of weeks ago,” Leishman said.

It was too cold to practice at his home in Virginia Beach, so he headed to the multi-tiered golf comp..

MangoStar_Studioyou thought the “this isn't an episode of Silicon Valley” meme had peaked, hold on to your Yerba. Or let go of it and reach for a nice cool glass of “raw water.” Tech bros are now literally spending $12 a gallon for the privilege of drinking water that people in third-world countries would spend the same amount to not have to drink.
There's a new incomprehensibly stupid health trend trend taking off in the Bay Area, marketed as the “raw water” movement. “Raw water” is described by one leading brand as “untreated, unfiltered, and unsterilized spring water.” That brand, Live Water, has 2.5-gallon ornamental jugs going for over $60 in some San Francisco stores. And, according to a recent New York Times article, they're selling out.
On the plus side, it seems raw water is free of the “bad” chemicals the evil government puts in your tap water, such as chlorine and fluoride. On the minus side it can theoretically kill you.
The trend, spearheaded by this walking..

A jockey recently fell off his horse at the finish line to cost one gambler more than half a million dollars. Yes, this is a true story. Yes, you need to see it to believe it. Yes, you probably still won't believe it.
RELATED: This bad beat is so bad it could stop you from ever betting again
The horse race in question happened at Florida's Gulfstream Park on Dec. 29. The unnamed gambler had hit on five consecutive races and needed to pick the winner in the final race of the day to win a Pick-6 prize that had grown to $571,744. And it looked like he had pulled it off when his play, Cryogenic at 8-to-1 odds, pulled away down the stretch. But then the unthinkable happened as jockey Emisael Jaramillo inexplicably fell from the horse just lengths away from the finishing pole.
Fortunately for Jaramillo, he avoided serious injury from the other horses running by him on the ground. Unfortunately for the gambler, he still suffered one of the worst betting beats you'll ever see. C..

Brian Harman is using some new equipment and they are the golf clubs he used in his college days. Well, kind of.