If golf were a different kind of sport, we’d look at Kevin Carll as owning the ultimate homefield advantage.

Of all the 144 players in the field of the Sony Open in Hawaii, he is the one who knows the course at Waialae Country Club the best.

He’s the only one with an office here.

After they all leave, Carll gets to stay. He’s the head pro at Waialae.

On Thursday, he moonlighted in the sunshine. It was a struggle, but you couldn’t tell from the smile that Carll flashed often despite shooting a 6-over-par 76.

He rarely had reason to display happiness on the greens, and that was the problem. Carll averaged more than 300 yards per drive, but was last in the field with 2.182 putts per hole. Only Eric Meierdierks’ 77 kept him and Joe Oglivie from posting the worst scores of the day.

"The putter killed me today," Carll said. "Not trusting the putter. I had maybe three putts where the ball went past the hole."

Carll would need an amazing turnaround with the flatstick today and probably needs to match the 8-under shot by first-round leader Scott Langley in order to have a chance at making the cut.

This is his second time playing in this tournament. The difference is back then he wasn’t running the joint and in charge of hosting a full-field PGA Tour event.

He didn’t use that as an excuse.

"You can’t help but think about it, but I know my staff’s doing a great job and they’re handling a lot of my duties this week," Carll said.

Ask around a bit, and you learn he was up at 4 a.m. and at Waialae by 5 most days this week. He was three hours earlier than usual, checking to make sure everything was on pace and would be ready to go for the big event. Not just on the course itself, but also at the driving range and practice greens.

"Playing in the tournament is a lot of pressure as it is, and then you add in juggling the regular work, that’s hard," Waialae assistant pro Mark Chun said. "He wants to play well, but he still has responsibility to run the tournament smoothly and taking care of the members. I’m sure it’s in the back of his mind. But everyone knows what to do, it’s a well-oiled machine."

Former local pro John Lynch, who played in the 2005 and 2010 Sony Opens, is Carll’s caddy this week.

"For us club pros it’s cool to have the opportunity to play (in a tour event)," said Lynch, now the head teaching pro at The Peninsula in Delaware.

It’s really cool when you birdie the last hole of the day, as Carll did. It takes some of the sting away from the rest of the round.

"A chance at redemption tomorrow," said Carll, smiling the big smile.

A few people were left to greet him at the end and encourage him for today.

"He’s a well-liked person," Waialae vendor Scott Tamura said. "Everyone’s pulling for him."

Even if he plays well today he probably won’t make the cut. But Kevin Carll still gets paid for his efforts at Waialae this week.

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783.