Steve Stricker maintains his edge in Hawaii

Steve Stricker finished the third round at Kapalua the same way he started — with a five-shot lead.

Only it wasn’t that easy.

Stricker watched his lead dwindle to a single shot on the back nine Sunday before running off four straight birdies for a four-under-par 69 that gave him a big lead going into the final round at the Tournament of Champions in Hawaii.

He was at 19-under 200, five shots clear of defending champion Jonathan Byrd (67), Martin Laird (67) and Webb Simpson, who also had a 69 while playing in the final group with Stricker at the PGA Tour’s season-opening event.

Simpson and Byrd each had a putt on the back nine to tie for the lead. Through three rounds, Stricker is 13-under par on the five closing holes at the Plantation Course.

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Hank Haney has written a book about the six years he spent as Tiger Woods’ swing coach, a volatile time in which Woods went from winning nearly half of his tournaments to a scandal that derailed his pursuit of golf history. Without giving away any details until “The Big Miss” goes on sale in the spring, Haney believes the book will be hard to put down.

Haney began working with Woods at the Bay Hill Invitational in 2004. They parted ways a month after the 2010 Masters, where Woods made his return to golf after being exposed for multiple extramarital affairs that shattered his image and led to divorce.

Most of the people involved with Woods have signed a nondisclosure agreement. Haney said he signed no such thing — “I didn’t even have a contract,” he said — although he said the book was not intended to “take jabs at anyone.”

Etc.

Oklahoma City Thunder backup point guard Eric Maynor will miss the rest of the season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

General Manager Sam Presti said tests Sunday morning revealed that Maynor had torn the ligament in the fourth quarter of Oklahoma City’s 98-95 victory at Houston on Saturday night.

Maynor is the primary backup to All-Star Russell Westbrook and was averaging 4.2 points and 2.4 assists in 15 minutes per game this season.

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Milwaukee Bucks center Andrew Bogut will return to the NBA team as soon as he sorts out some family issues, his Australian-based manager said.

Bruce Kaider told the Associated Press he hopes that will be soon. He said Bogut is completely fit, but the Aussie is in his hometown of Melbourne and dealing “with those things we all have to go through in life, certain personal issues that he is experiencing at the moment.” Kaider did not elaborate.

On Saturday, the Bucks lost to the Clippers, Milwaukee’s third game in a row without Bogut.

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Arizona State sophomore guard Keala King has left the program.

Sun Devils Coach Herb Sendek announced Sunday that the team’s leading scorer will no longer be with the team.

King has been Arizona State’s starting point guard this season with incoming freshman Jahii Carson ineligible. King averaged 13.7 points, but the Sun Devils have struggled with turnovers.

King, fellow starter Kyle Cain and reserve guard Chris Colvin were all suspended for this weekend’s games against USC and UCLA for “unacceptable conduct.” The status of Cain and Colvin was not addressed by Sendek.

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Defending champion Li Na moved into the second round of the Sydney International with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Russian qualifier Ekaterina Makarova on Monday.

The fourth-seeded Li won the first nine games and finished off the first-round match in 66 minutes.

Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova had a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 win over Peng Shuai of China to set up a second-round match against No. 1-ranked Caroline Wozniacki, who had a first-round bye.

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Two-time Olympic medalist and defending 1,500 world champion Katherine Reutter will have surgery on both hips as soon as possible and miss the rest of the season.