Waialae or Waialeale?
Hawaii’s primetime weather winning streak skidded to a halt yesterday at Waialae Country Club.
The opening round of the Sony Open in Hawaii — the first full-field event of the PGA Tour season — was postponed. It is the first weather delay at Waialae since the 1989 Hawaiian Open.
The first round was re-scheduled for today, with the second tomorrow. The cut will be made to the "nearest number to 60 players," instead of the usual 70 and ties so the tour can try to play 36 holes Sunday and finish by 6 p.m.
Mark Russell, the tour’s vice president of rules and competitions, said the final round would be completed Monday if the entire field was unable to finish.
Waialae has hosted a tour event since 1965. The 1989 tournament was shortened to 54 holes because of bad weather Friday and Saturday. The 1975 event ended on a Monday.
The course has soaked up about 4 inches of rain since Wednesday, when the Pro-Am was canceled, and has been under liquid siege the past three weeks. Russell described it as "under water" yesterday, with more rain expected.
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"We just didn’t think we could get it in tournament condition today," he added.
Bunkers were washed out, leaving a face of mud. Those are a fairly quick fix, but the bigger problem was water on the fairways, which had to be pumped out or moved to the side.
"Now it’s just a matter of getting water off the course," new Waialae head pro Kevin Carll said yesterday. "We’re trying to push it to the side, but literally every fairway has casual water. It’s just wet. The last couple days there has been so much water, it’s so saturated that any little bit of water doesn’t go anywhere."
Before yesterday’s round was delayed and then called off, golfers posted photos of water covering Waialae, taken from their hotel next door. Aaron Baddeley’s showed the 10th green submerged, with the comment "Green could be a little slow."
The rare Hawaii weather blight might be a boon for the boomers, who don’t rely on roll. Robert Garrigus, who lost in a playoff at last week’s Hyundai Tournament of Champions, led the tour in driving last year. He was happy to see it wet, and a bit shocked at the rain’s relentlessness.
He figures he has an advantage because he can carry the ball 300 yards. He hasn’t hit many drivers at Waialae the past four years because it is relatively short and puts a premium on accuracy. That might change.
"It’s going to be wet, so I might be able to swing away," Garrigus said. "With the freedom (that) last week gave me, I might just be hitting it every hole to have some fun. Since I started off so great I might just take that confidence into this week."
Tony Finau qualified Monday to play in his third PGA Tour event. He and brother Gipper signed to represent Turtle Bay Resort in 2009, when Tony was 19 and Gipper 18. Tony drove to Turtle Bay yesterday to practice.
He turned pro the day he graduated from high school and won $100,000 in his pro debut at "The Ultimate Game" in Las Vegas. He made the cut at the 2007 Milwaukee Open, while driving a few of the par-4 holes. He also likes to play post-rain.
"It’s a narrow golf course, so I think it’ll favor a longer hitter because you’re not going to get too much roll and the greens will be a lot softer," Finau said. "So I think it’s going to play a lot more score-able. We’ll see after tomorrow what the scores are like."
According to the tour weather update, there is a 50 percent chance of rain today and 30 percent tomorrow, with showers possible late afternoon Sunday. Kona winds are expected all three days.
Notes
» TV ratings for last week’s Hyundai Tournament of Champions at Kapalua were up 38 percent "across the board," said Mark Rolfing, whose charity was the host organization. Attendance approximately doubled in the first year of free entry.
» Ricky Barnes withdrew Wednesday with a bad back. Rookie Jim Renner will take his place. There are 27 rookies competing here.
Star-Advertiser writer Jason Kaneshiro contributed to this report.
SONY OPEN TEE TIMES
TODAY
First tee
7:10 a.m.
Aaron Baddeley
Josh Teater
Troy Merritt
7:20 a.m.
Shaun Micheel
Dave Eichelberger
Charles Warren
7:30 a.m.
Chris Riley
Duffy Waldorf
Paul Stankowski
7:40 a.m.
Heath Slocum
Carl Pettersson
Brian Gay
7:50 a.m.
Stuart Appleby
Justin Rose
Justin Leonard
8 a.m.
Derek Lamely
Mark Wilson
Davis Love III
8:10 a.m.
Troy Matteson
Marc Turnesa
Fred Funk
8:20 a.m.
Chad Campbell
Brian Davis
Spencer Levin
8:30 a.m.
Tommy Gainey
Michael Thompson
Matt McQuillan
8:40 a.m.
Chris Kirk
Nate Smith
Tadahiro Takayama
8:50 a.m.
Michael Putnam
David Hearn
Peter Tomasulo
9 a.m.
David Mathis
Daniel Summerhays
Kevin Hayashi
11:40 a.m.
Alex Cejka
Roland Thatcher
Blake Adams
11:50 a.m.
Ryuji Imada
Steve Marino
Matt Jones
Noon
John Merrick
Michael Sim
Jeff Klauk
12:10 p.m.
Matt Kuchar
Steve Stricker
Ryan Palmer
12:20 p.m.
Jason Day
Anthony Kim
Vijay Singh
12:30 p.m.
Arjun Atwal
Cameron Beckman
Pat Perez
12:40 p.m.
Paul Goydos
Alex Prugh
Michael Connell
12:50 p.m.
Tim Herron
Shigeki Maruyama
Jeff Overton
1 p.m.
Cameron Tringale
Ben Martin
WC Liang
1:10 p.m.
Jim Herman
Brendan Steele
Koumei Oda
1:20 p.m.
Scott Gutschewski
Jarrod Lyle
Steven Bowditch
1:30 p.m.
Kyle Stanley
Martin Piller
Joseph Bramlett
10th tee
7:10 a.m.
Steve Flesch
Joe Durant
Shane Bertsch
7:20 a.m.
Jeff Maggert
Webb Simpson
Jimmy Walker
7:30 a.m.
Jesper Parnevik
Jason Dufner
Ricky Barnes
7:40 a.m.
Jonathan Byrd
Jim Furyk
Ernie Els
7:50 a.m.
Robert Garrigus
Adam Scott
Camilo Villegas
8 a.m.
Matt Bettencourt
Jason Bohn
Nathan Green
8:10 a.m.
Dean Wilson
David Duval
Jamie Lovemark
8:20 a.m.
Charles Howell III
Tim Petrovic
John Daly
8:30 a.m.
Keegan Bradley
Scott Stallings
Tony Finau
8:40 a.m.
Jhonattan Vegas
Alexandre Rocha
Hideki Matsuyama*
8:50 a.m.
Hunter Haas
Bobby Gates
Sunghoon Kang
9 a.m.
Gary Woodland
Joe Affrunti
Shunsuke Sonoda
11:40 a.m.
Billy Mayfair
Chris DiMarco
Kent Jones
11:50 a.m.
John Senden
Brandt Jobe
Tag Ridings
Noon
Boo Weekley
Tom Gillis
Chad Collins
12:10 p.m.
Tim Clark
Bo Van Pelt
K.J. Choi
12:20 p.m.
Zach Johnson
Rory Sabbatini
Robert Allenby
12:30 p.m.
Rocco Mediate
Jerry Kelly
D.J. Trahan
12:40 p.m.
Johnson Wagner
Charlie Wi
Marc Leishman
12:50 p.m.
Kevin Na
Brendon de Jonge
Fredrik Jacobson
1 p.m.
Chris Baryla
Zack Miller
Kevin Kisner
1:10 p.m.
Kevin Chappell
Fabian Gomez
David Saka*
1:20 p.m.
D.J. Brigman
Colt Knost
Michio Matsumura
1:30 p.m.
Bio Kim
William McGirt
Doug LaBelle II
*—amateur
tomorrow
First tee
7:10 a.m.
Billy Mayfair
Chris DiMarco
Kent Jones
7:20 a.m.
John Senden
Brandt Jobe
Tag Ridings
7:30 a.m.
Boo Weekley
Tom Gillis
Chad Collins
7:40 a.m.
Tim Clark
Bo Van Pelt
K.J. Choi
7:50 a.m.
Zach Johnson
Rory Sabbatini
Robert Allenby
8 a.m.
Rocco Mediate
Jerry Kelly
D.J. Trahan
8:10 a.m.
Johnson Wagner
Charlie Wi
Marc Leishman
8:20 a.m.
Kevin Na
Brendon de Jonge
Fredrik Jacobson
8:30 a.m.
Chris Baryla
Zack Miller
Kevin Kisner
8:40 a.m.
Kevin Chappell
Fabian Gomez
David Saka*
8:50 a.m.
D.J. Brigman
Colt Knost
Michio Matsumura
9 a.m.
Bio Kim
William McGirt
Doug LaBelle II
11:40 a.m.
Steve Flesch
Joe Durant
Shane Bertsch
11:50 a.m.
Jeff Maggert
Webb Simpson
Jimmy Walker
Noon
Jesper Parnevik
Jason Dufner
Ricky Barnes
12:10 p.m.
Jonathan Byrd
Jim Furyk
Ernie Els
12:20 p.m.
Robert Garrigus
Adam Scott
Camilo Villegas
12:30 p.m.
Matt Bettencourt
Jason Bohn
Nathan Green
12:40 p.m.
Dean H. Wilson
David Duval
Jamie Lovemark
12:50 p.m.
Charles Howell III
Tim Petrovic
John Daly
1 p.m.
Keegan Bradley
Scott Stallings
Tony Finau
1:10 p.m.
Jhonattan Vegas
Alexandre Rocha
Hideki Matsuyama*
1:20 p.m.
Hunter Haas
Bobby Gates
Sunghoon Kang
1:30 p.m.
Gary Woodland
Joe Affrunti
Shunsuke Sonoda
10th tee
7:10 a.m.
Alex Cejka
Roland Thatcher
Blake Adams
7:20 a.m.
Ryuji Imada
Steve Marino
Matt Jones
7:30 a.m.
John Merrick
Michael Sim
Jeff Klauk
7:40 a.m.
Matt Kuchar
Steve Stricker
Ryan Palmer
7:50 a.m.
Jason Day
Anthony Kim
Vijay Singh
8 a.m.
Arjun Atwal
Cameron Beckman
Pat Perez
8:10 a.m.
Paul Goydos
Alex Prugh
Michael Connell
8:20 a.m.
Tim Herron
Shigeki Maruyama
Jeff Overton
8:30 a.m.
Cameron Tringale
Ben Martin
WC Liang
8:40 a.m.
Jim Herman
Brendan Steele
Koumei Oda
8:50 a.m.
Scott Gutschewski
Jarrod Lyle
Steven Bowditch
9 a.m.
Kyle Stanley
Martin Piller
Joseph Bramlett
11:40 a.m.
Aaron Baddeley
Josh Teater
Troy Merritt
11:50 a.m.
Shaun Micheel
Dave Eichelberger
Charles Warren
Noon
Chris Riley
Duffy Waldorf
Paul Stankowski
12:10 p.m.
Heath Slocum
Carl Pettersson
Brian Gay
12:20 p.m.
Stuart Appleby
Justin Rose
Justin Leonard
12:30 p.m.
Derek Lamely
Mark Wilson
Davis Love III
12:40 p.m.
Troy Matteson
Marc Turnesa
Fred Funk
12:50 p.m.
Chad Campbell
Brian Davis
Spencer Levin
1 p.m.
Tommy Gainey
Michael Thompson
Matt McQuillan
1:10 p.m.
Chris Kirk
Nate Smith
Tadahiro Takayama
1:20 p.m.
Michael Putnam
David Hearn
Peter Tomasulo
1:30 p.m.
David Mathis
Daniel Summerhays
Kevin Hayashi
*—amateur
