Dustin Johnson withdraws

Dustin Johnson won’t become the first player since Ernie Els (2003) to win the opening two events of the PGA Tour season after he was forced to withdraw at the turn during Friday’s second round of the Sony Open in Hawaii.

Johnson caught what Zach Johnson brought with him from Maui — a bad case of the flu that left last week’s winner of the Hyundai Tournament of Champions seeking the nearest place to lie down.

Bubba Watson played the final round of the TOC with a stomach and flu virus, and it seems to be making the rounds between the players and the caddies.

Past Sony Open champ Zach Johnson pulled out of the pro-am on Wednesday because of the flu, but played on Thursday and Friday. He still missed the cut by one shot.

Dustin Johnson said his caddie is sick, and now, so is he. He was 4 over after nine holes after shooting an even-par 70 on Thursday. The cut wound up at 2-under 138.

"I feel like I’m coming down with whatever my caddie’s got," Johnson said. "Just not feeling well. Stomach hurts, headache, tired."

He didn’t blame Hawaii for his malaise, saying, "I always enjoy coming to Hawaii and always will. I’ll be back next year."

Gardiner finished strong

Scott Gardiner started his day a little earlier than planned and finished with an unexpected flurry.

Gardiner was part of the threesome that couldn’t finish the first round on Thursday due to darkness. He had a birdie putt waiting for him when he returned to the ninth green at 8 a.m. Friday and settled for par and a 2-under 68.

He played his first eight holes of the second round at 1 over before an eagle on No. 9.

Gardiner then birdied seven holes on the back nine — a run interrupted by a double bogey on No. 16 — to shoot a 64 and jump into a tie for ninth place.

"I didn’t feel that great about my game early on," Gardiner said. "I just found a swing; thought that produced a shot I hadn’t been hitting and just kept it going."

Gardiner said he was fine with having to wait overnight to finish the first round.

"Normally we’d try to get it done, but it was just too dark," said Gardiner, who played with Richard Hattori and James Hahn.

Inside the numbers

The scoring average in Friday’s second round was a blistering 68.707, a full stroke lower than Thursday’s opening 18 holes. The cut wound up being 2-under 138 as players talked about how wonderful the greens were at Waialae Country Club.

There were 89 golfers who broke par over the first two days, but only 74 of those will play on today. There were 14 golfers who shot 65 or better. The hardest hole on Friday was the par-4 third with a scoring average of 3.246. The easiest hole was the par-5 ninth for the second straight day with a scoring average of 4.275.

2 seniors make it through to weekend

Hawaii is home to the start of the Champions Tour as well and next week 40 seniors will tee it up in the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai, on Hawaii island.

Two will have a head start.

Russ Cochran qualified for this week’s Sony Open.

An 8-foot eagle putt on his final hole Friday gave him a second straight 68 and leaves him at 4-under-par 136 going into the weekend.

Fred Funk, who won Mitsubishi in 2008, shot a 1-under 69 Friday afternoon after an opening-round 70 and missed the cut by a single stroke. He was fourth on the Champions money list last year after winning two events.

Bart Bryant, who just turned 50 and will make his Champions debut later this year, is also playing at Waialae. After shooting 67 Friday he goes into the weekend at 5-under 135.

Winners from the last two years are eligible for Mitsubishi, along with major champions from the past five years. Eight players were given exemptions — Ben Crenshaw, Steve Elkington, Hale Irwin, Tom Kite, Larry Nelson, Craig Stadler, Curtis Strange and Jim Thorpe.

Along with Funk and Cochran, other qualifiers include 2012 Player of the Year Tom Lehman; Ryder Cup captain Tom Watson; Fred Couples, who led the tour in scoring average; Bernhard Langer, who led the money list; and defending champion Dan Forsman.

Mitsubishi runs Friday-Sunday, with pro-ams Wednesday and Thursday.

Paul Arnett, Star-Advertiser

KEY HOLE 14
Par 4, 430 yards

The par-4 14th wasn’t the hardest hole Friday, but it was close, yielding only seven birdies. It was the third-hardest hole, as the leaders will attest. Among the top eight finishers, the only one to birdie it was Matt Kuchar, who shot a 30 on the back nine.