KAPALUA, Maui » The PGA Tour has expanded its screening process at all events, a change that affects bags that fans can carry in as well as food and food containers, computers, chairs, radios, cameras and posters.
All items will be subject to search. Entry lines have been long, even at this week’s Hyundai Tournament of Champions, which draws far fewer spectators than will next week’s Sony Open in Hawaii.
Items that are permitted include bags smaller than 6 inches by 6 inches, clear bags that are 12 by 6, one-gallon plastic freezer bags with food — at the tournament’s discretion — and diaper bags and bags containing medicine.
The long list of items not permitted includes big bags such as purses, backpacks, seat cushions, camera and binocular cases and folding chair bags. Other items that won’t be allowed include plastic, metal or glass containers, computers or laptops, oversize chairs, pets, weapons, video cameras, beverages, TVs, and posters, signs or banners.
Cell phones, tablets and PDAs on silent are allowed, as are umbrellas without sleeves, collapsible chairs without bags, portable radios with headsets and binoculars without the case.
Still cameras with a lens smaller than 6 inches are allowed during practice rounds only.
Second round is the charm for Dustin
If you think Dustin Johnson‘s 7-under 66 in Saturday’s second round was an unusual number for the defending champion, think again. In five starts and 17 rounds at the Plantation course, Johnson has never finished out of the red.
It was the third time Johnson has reached his tournament-low number on the par-73 layout. The other two times were last year and 2011. Once again, he found only nine of 15 fairways, which is unusually low on the wide-open course. Johnson and second-round leader Zach Johnson are in the final pairing in today’s third round.
Inside the numbers
With the wind shifting to the more normal trades, the average score rose to 71.533, a full stroke and a half higher than the opening 70.033 on Friday. The hardest hole was the par-3 11th. It yielded two birdies, 17 pars, 10 bogeys and one double for a scoring average of 3.333.
The easiest hole for the second straight day was the par-5 fifth with a scoring average of 4.267. The first day it was 4.10. On Saturday, there were two eagles, 18 birdies and 10 pars. There were no bogeys for the second straight day. The par-4 first didn’t yield a birdie in the opening round en route to being the most difficult hole. It was the third-toughest hole Saturday after giving up two birdies, 21 pars and seven bogeys.
There were six eagles in the opening round, all on the front nine. There were five Saturday — three on the front and two on the back at the par-5 15th, which was the third-easiest hole for the day.
Ching makes Golfweek
Honolulu’s Alex Ching is featured on the perspective page of the current Golfweek magazine.
The story about PGA Tour Latinoamerica begins with Ching’s harrowing tale of landing on a private airstrip in the midst of a 28-hour trip from Uruguay to Peru to Bogota, Colombia.
From there, Ching talks about his passion for the tour, where six of the 14 events were won by Americans last year. The lure is to be among Los Cinco at the end of the year because the top five on the Order of Merit earn status on the Web.com Tour. Other top finishers can skip preliminary steps at the PGA Tour Q-School.
Ching, a state high school champion in golf and tennis at Punahou, has played in Latin America the past two seasons, after a stellar career at the University of San Diego. He travels with college teammate Gunnar Wiebe, who speaks fluent Spanish and is the son of Mark Wiebe, who won the Pacific Links Hawaii Championship three months ago.
Ching pocketed $9,000 in 2012 and was 51st on the Order of Merit, coming up 13 cents short of keeping his playing privileges. Last year, he was 105th. He plans to return to Q-School again — after trying to qualify for the Sony today and, he hopes, on Monday.
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Paul Arnett contributed to this report.