Ishii has trouble on, around the greens

David Ishii‘s balky back is holding up at this year’s Pacific Links Hawaii Championship. Now, if he could only get more comfortable with his putter.

Pearl Country Club’s director of golf opened with a 4-over-par 76 Friday at breezy Kapolei Golf Club. He was 5 over after 12 holes, then converted his only two birdies coming in on the front nine — along with another bogey.

"Uncle David was really grinding through it," said his caddie, 2012 state high school champion John Oda, "even though he was struggling with his putting."

Ishii now plays on the abbreviated Japan senior tour, after winning 14 times on the Japan PGA. He shot 70 on Monday to qualify for Pacific Links. He played on a sponsor’s exemption last year.

He barely finished the inaugural event after his back began acting up in the opening round. Ishii probably would have withdrawn, but didn’t want to let the sponsors down — particularly after Isao Aoki, also in on an exemption, pulled out with an injury.

Ishii’s back was fine Friday, and even the wind didn’t bother him. He found most of the fairways despite having nine "5s" on his card.

His chipping — "I left myself a lot of 10-footers," he acknowledged — and putting, however, let him down.

"John was a lot of help," he said of his caddie, now a senior at Moanalua. "I wish he could do everything. If he could have putted for me it would have been better."

Ishii and Oda start off the 10th tee today at 9:50 a.m. Aoki is in the next group.

Bruce Summerhays goes out last after shooting 82 Friday, playing in Ishii’s group. It was Summerhays’ first competitive round since 2010. The 69-year-old took three years off to serve as Mormon church mission president in Tampa, Fla.

Singh has fun first day

Vijay Singh felt something he hasn’t experienced in a while when he stepped to the first tee — nerves.

Hoping to do well in his first Champions Tour appearance, Singh opened with a birdie en route to a steady 69.

"It went OK. I played well," Sing said. "It was a little tricky out there. A lot of crosswinds and getting used to the greens. I don’t know if I was nervous or anxious or whatever you want to call it, but I was happy to get the first round over."

While Singh can tell you where every blade of grass grows in PGA Tour events, this is a new experience for him. Playing on paspalum greens is a challenge for those who rarely see it on the PGA Tour.

"You have to know where to hit it and how to putt these greens," Singh said. "It was out there. If you can play well, you can score. I’m actually changing my golf swing a little bit. It’s not really changing the path of my golf swing. It’s a move I’ve been doing and it’s very awkward."

As for his future plans, Singh isn’t sure.

"I really don’t know," Singh said. "I will have to decide after this week. I kind of like it. There’s a lot of guys out there I know and played a lot of golf with. I needed to go out there and play well, ultimately, so we’ll see. Maybe I will go back and forth (from PGA to Champions). I haven’t made up my mind yet."

Inside the numbers

The 81 golfers teeing it up this week shot well in the opening round. There were 18 rounds in the 60s and 47 at even par or better for a scoring average of 72.062.

The hardest hole was the par-4 18th, the only one first-round leader Mark Wiebe bogeyed, with a scoring average of 4.321. There were only three birdies, 53 pars, 21 bogeys and four double bogeys. The easiest hole was the par-5 14th with a scoring average of 4.519. There were two eagles, 43 birdies, 29 pars, six bogeys and one double.