Chris Kirk has taken a one-shot lead at the Sony Open in Hawaii after the third round of action.

The 28-year-old American hit a birdie on the final hole for a 5-under 65 score, although at least 12 players are in a shout of winning the tournament.

Will Wilcox, making his debut as a PGA Tour rookie, is tied for second place with fellow American Harris English, while Jerry Kelly and Jimmy Walker are a further shot behind.

"When it's so close like that, everybody is going to be making some birdies here and there," The AP quotes Kirk as saying.

"So I probably won't look at leaderboards as much as I normally would. A lot of courses I think lend themselves to you need to know what your position is going into any given hole, but out here, I don't think that's really the case.

"They're just so volatile with guys making birdies and bogeys. I'll just probably try to keep my head down and make as many birdies as I can."

Overnight leader Brian Stuard slipped down the leaderboard on Saturday and finds himself three shots behind Kirk heading into Sunday's fourth and final round.