Ishii and Simpson on similar course

There were some similarities in the scorecards David Ishii and Scott Simpson signed on Saturday following the second round of the Pacific Links Hawaii Championship.

Both vaulted up the leaderboard for a while before falling back later in the round and finished at 1-under-par 71.

They also have an affinity for sharing their knowledge of the game with local golfers.

Ishii has mentored junior golfers over the years and has one of his former students, Moanalua senior John Oda, caddying for him this weekend in the Champions Tour event.

Simpson took a swing at teaching at Ko Olina last winter and is eyeing doing more down the line, with plans to move to Hawaii full-time in a couple of years.

For the moment, they’ll focus on sharpening their own games for one more round at a windy Kapolei Golf Club heading into today’s final round.

Ishii carded five birdies without a bogey in his first 10 holes on Saturday to move to 1 under for the tournament. He started on No. 10 and needed just 12 putts over his first nine holes, including a 25-footer for birdie on No. 11. The front nine was far less kind, with four bogeys in a five-hole stretch, and he’ll enter the final round at 3 over for the tournament.

"It was going the first 10 holes, then after that it kind of fell apart," Ishii said. "I started missing the greens and then was having a hard time chipping around the greens.

"Everything was going right along, but after that it was a struggle for the last eight holes."

Simpson, a once and future Kailua resident, rose to fifth place for a while when he moved to 3 under for his round through 14 holes. He came within 3 feet of a hole-in-one on the par-3 eighth hole to set up the second of his four birdies.

He dropped back with bogeys on two of his final three holes to finish the round at 1-under 71 and enters today’s final round at 3 under and tied for 17th.

"I didn’t finish very good, so that’s never much fun, but it happens. It was good for a while," Simpson said.

"I was hitting the ball pretty well, a lot of fairways and greens, hit it close a few times. Just playing pretty solid overall."

Simpson spends his winters in Hawaii and recently bought a house in Kailua. Though still based in San Diego, Simpson said he and his wife plan to relocate when he’s done playing.

"We’ll be back again this December and January and then in a probably couple years or so I think we’re going to move back to Hawaii," Simpson said.

Simpson — who won seven events on the PGA Tour, including the 1987 U.S. Open — has fared well in previous business trips to Hawaii, posting second-place finishes in the Sony Open in Hawaii and at the Turtle Bay Championship. He finished at even par in last year’s Pacific Links Championship.

"I love playing in Hawaii; there’s a lot of friends and family," Simpson said. "It’s a comfort level. I just enjoy being here more than anything."

Ishii labored through a bad back in last year’s tournament and earned a spot in this year’s field in the Monday qualifier. After improving on his opening-round 76, he’ll try to make another rally today, and having Oda with him on the course offers another teaching opportunity.

"I just learned a lot about how they grind out their rounds," said Oda, who won the state championship and played in the Sony Open in Hawaii in 2012. "These guys are really good and I just try to learn and observe.

"Uncle David showed a lot of the ability to grind out rounds and that’s a good reminder for me."