The American entered the final round with a two-shot lead, but three bogeys in his first five holes meant he trailed playing partner Andrew Putnam by a shot at the turn.

The duo could not be separated with five holes to play but Kuchar birdied three of his last four to sign for 66, move to 22 under and win by four shots.

Soon after setting out on Sunday Kuchar bogeyed the second and, while he claimed the shot straight back on the next, two more bogeys on the fourth and fifth allowed Putnam to sneak ahead courtesy of a gain on the third.

Both men birdied the ninth but Kuchar picked up further shots on the 10th and 12th before a Putnam birdie on the 13th looked to set up a tense finish.

Putnam bogeyed the next after finding the sand and Kuchar kept his cool to pull away, the four-time Ryder Cup player birdieing the 15th, 16th and last for an eventually comfortable victory.

Australian Marc Leishman, Americans Hudson Swafford and Chez Reavie, and Canadian Corey Conners finished in a share of third at 17 under.

Ian Poulter carded a closing 68 to finish in a tie for 33rd at eight under, while Scot Russel Knox ended in joint 43rd on seven under.

Third round report

Matt Kuchar remains on top of the leaderboard going into the final day of the Sony Open in Hawaii after carding a third-round 66.

After back-to-back 63s, the American produced a flawless round on day three, firing four birdies to move to 18 under overall and top of the pack after 54 holes.

Andrew Putnam, Ben Coley's pre-tournament tip at 75/1, kept himself in contention with a three-under 67 and sits two shots adrift of Kuchar in second place.

Keith Mitchell surged into joint third place after making seven birdies in a round of seven-under 63, and joined Chez Reavie on 14 under overall.

Reavie shot three straight bogeys through holes 11 to 13 but recovered with seven birdies for a round of 66.

Bryson DeChambeau produced arguably the round of the day, matching his career-low 63 to sit tied among a nine-strong pack in fifth place on 11 under.

The 25-year-old won the Memorial Tournament, the Northern Trust and the Dell Technologies Championship in 2018, and moved up 30 places after mixing just one bogey with eight birdies, including three in a row on the way back to the clubhouse.

Scotland's Russell Knox dropped into joint 40th place on six under after carding a one-under 69, and was joined by England's Ian Poulter who finished with a third-round 66.

Second round report

Matt Kuchar climbed to the top of the leaderboard at the Sony Open in Hawaii, while Jordan Spieth missed the cut in his first competitive appearance of the year.

Starting on the back nine, Kuchar carded another seven-under 63 on day two, opening with three straight birdies and an eagle on the 18th to go out in 30 before making the turn.

The American followed up with two more birdies to move to 14-under overall and a one shot lead over closest challenger Andrew Putnam, who carded a blemish-free five-under 65.

Putnam was among Ben Coley's pre-tournament selections at 75/1, as our man looks to follow up a 25/1 winner in the first event of the year.

Former world number one Spieth, who has slipped to 17th in the world rankings, needed to pick up four shots over the final four holes to make the cut after a difficult first round.

However, he fell short by one after birdies at 15 and 16 were followed by a par at the 17th, before his eagle try at the last agonisingly missed.

Chez Reavie, who holed out for eagle on three par-fours, is tied for third with Stewart Cink on 10-under.

First round report

Canadian rookie Adam Svensson has taken the early lead at the Sony Open in Hawaii after carding a first-round nine-under 61.

American Andrew Putnam initially made himself the man to beat after making nine birdies in his opening round 62, with a bogey on the 15th the only blemish on his day.

But a run of four birdies through holes 11 to 14 from 25-year-old Svensson put him joint top before he grabbed the sole lead with a 10-foot birdie putt on the par-five 18th.

Jordan Spieth, meanwhile, had a disappointing start to the year after a winless 2018 as he was forced to settle for a three-over 73, putting him at joint 127th.

Starting on the back nine, the world number 17's only birdie came on the par-three seventh hole and was immediately followed by a bogey, his fourth of the round.

Matt Kuchar carded a flawless seven-under 63 to put him two shots adrift of Svensson, while last year's winner Patton Kizzire makes up a 12-strong pack on three under.

Masters champion Patrick Reed sits tied in 29th place on two-under 68 along with Scotland's Russell Knox, while England's Ian Poulter mixed seven birdies with six bogeys to finish one under and joined in 52nd place by compatriot Luke Donald.