Nothing like a birdie-birdie finish to brighten the outlook heading to the clubhouse.

Dean Wilson’s countenance perked up walking off the 18th green on Thursday after closing his opening round in the Sony Open in Hawaii in red numbers for only the second time in 11 appearances in the tournament.

"It’s been a while since I shot under par in the first round here so I feel pretty good," Wilson said after signing for a 1-under-par 69.

Wilson also carded a 69 in the opening round in 2005 then was a combined 11-over on the tournament’s first day in his next six Sony starts, making the cut just once over that span. He missed the cut with two rounds of 71 in 2011 and didn’t play at Waialae last year.

Wilson, one of three local entrants in this year’s event, avoided the Monday qualifier thanks to a sponsor’s exemption into the 144-player field and positioned himself for a shot at making the cut with a spot in the top 70 after Thursday’s play. He closed the day in a tie for 45th with three players yet to finish the first round.

Kalani senior Richard Hattori, who won the Hawaii State Golf Association’s Governor’s Cup qualifier in November, is among those returning at 8 a.m. today to complete the round.

Playing in the final group of the day, Hattori was 2 over through 17 holes and was lining up a 15-foot putt for eagle on No. 9 when the group elected to return in the morning rather than putt in near darkness, leaving the green at 6:35 p.m.

"The problem was it got too dark," Hattori said. "We couldn’t see anything. For sure we couldn’t see the line."

Hattori, 17, parred the first eight holes and made the turn at 1 under. He had three bogeys over the next eight holes and will finish up this morning before teeing off for his second round at 9 a.m.

"Everybody was telling me to just have fun, not think about it too much," Hattori said. "I had a lot of fun. … I missed a couple putts, but played OK."

Waialae head pro Kevin Carll closed his day with a birdie to finish at 6-over 76.

Wilson was granted a Minor Medical Extension by the PGA Tour in 2012, giving him access to four tournaments. He missed the cut in all four, and "I’m just starting from scratch again," Wilson said.

While he had a lighter schedule in 2012, Wilson found positives in the downtime.

"I enjoyed myself being home and relaxing and not playing as much and I didn’t really miss it as much as I thought," said Wilson, who turned pro in 1992. "Playing professional golf you have to be on the road 25-30 weeks a year and it gets a bit taxing after a while."

Wilson won the Hawaii State Open on the Big Island in December and got off to a solid start Thursday morning. He made three birdies in the first eight holes, draining a 29-footer on No. 8 to move to 2 under.

His momentum dissipated with a drive into the fairway bunker on the par-5 ninth and a three-putt bogey. He also bogeyed the 10th and 12th and might have faltered further if not for an 10-foot par putt on the par-3 11th.

Birdie opportunities slid by at Nos. 14 and 16 before converting on the final two holes.

He stopped his shot on the par-3 17th about 7 feet from the pin and fed the downhill putt into the cup.

Wilson hit his longest drive of the morning off the 18th tee — 323 yards — and caught a break on his second shot into the green. He aimed to the left, counting on the wind to bring the ball back to center. Instead it stayed straight, hit the slope next to the bunker and kicked toward the middle of the green. He managed to two-putt from 53 feet to finish with his fifth birdie of the day.

"Golf is always like that," Wilson said. "I just tried to stay in there and hopefully some good things can happen and having a finish like that was really nice."