Given no-one in the history of the PGA Tour has lost a tournament when leading by seven shots through 54 holes Scotland’s Russell Knox knows that while a third PGA Tour win is unlikely there’s still the joy of a top-three finish to the Sony Hawaiian Open

Red hot Justin Thomas continued to dominate on day three of the event in adding a 65 to his earlier scores of 59 and 64 to move to 22-under par and clear of double Major winning Zach Johnson in second place but at a distant 17-under par.

Knox had been lying third when he walked from the course with an 18th hole birdie in a round of 66 for a 14-under par tally.

Russell Knox looking to end ‘Hawaiian Swing’ with top three at Sony Hawaiian Open.

However as the day drew on he found himself ending the day and just how he had began and that was in sixth place.

But the good thing is that Knox, who is lying at 13-under par, is only four behind Johnson and with every chance of securing his first top three since he was third in last October’s defence of his Mayakoba Classic title in Mexico.

And after a top-20 a week earlier in the SBS Tournament of Champions the Jacksonville-based Scot could not be happier/

“I’m really pleased to be getting some early New Year momentum and especially after finishing the year like I did, really contending a few times in Malaysia, China, México, that was really nice. Especially after coming off my best season ever,” he said.

“Yeah, it’s nice. I got to play last week, and I did okay. And then coming here and playing good for the few rounds, yeah, I felt some momentum before I’m going to take a little break.”

However the Scot knows only too well that it will take a major collapse for Thomas not to win a second straight PGA Tour title and become the first to do so since Ernie Els in 2010 when he captured the back-to-back Arnold Palmer Invitational and the following week’s WGC – CA Championship.

“You’ve just got to play and hope that he (Thomas) stops making birdies,” said Knox.

“Because if he continues to make birdies, then it’s so hard to catch up. I mean, he’s playing incredible golf. But no, you’ve just got to go out and shoot your best score, and if it’s not good enough to win, then hopefully you’re second.”