On yet another perfect day in paradise, an entire golf tour still appeared to be jockeying for position at the 2014 starting line. Maybe someone will finally sprint away this weekend at the Sony Open in Hawaii.
Waialae Country Club was again ripe for the taking on Friday, but no one made a major move. Brian Stuard came closest in the second round, grabbing a one-shot lead after his fourth consecutive 65 here. Even he had no idea how he did it.
"I’ve got some good vibes here," shrugged Stuard, fifth last year and 25th in his only other start here. "I enjoy it here. I don’t know."
Frankly, he probably doesn’t know why no one caught him on the second straight day of gorgeous conditions and light winds.
Australian Marc Leishman shot 6-under-par 64 early to pull within a shot, at 9-under 131. His ninth-place finish here last year was one of four top-10s in 2013, including one at The Masters.
He is tied with Hideto Tanihara (65), who is playing on an exemption and has won 10 times on the Japan tour. He made three 20-foot-plus putts on the front nine in the afternoon.
Harris English birdied six of his last 10 holes for a second straight 66, with just 22 putts. He is alone in fourth, two back.
"That’s kind of a weird stat," English said of the putts, "because I don’t know how many greens I hit (nine in regulation), but probably not as many as yesterday. It’s just those clutch 6- and 8-footers for par that I made today that was the difference, that kept me in it, kept the momentum going. That’s really what it’s all about.
"I mean, obviously on this golf course it’s really hard to hit the fairway. You’re going to miss some greens out here. You’ve just really got to make those 6- and 8-footers for par."
For the second straight day — first-round leader Sang-Moon Bae followed an opening-round 63 with 70 and is three back — no one chased down the early leader. With today’s forecast dicey, organizers decided on an early finish. Play will start at 7:50 a.m., going off the first and 10th tees to try to finish by 3 p.m. and beat the bad weather.
Maybe someone will make a meaningful charge in the midst of the consolidated chaos. There are 35 guys within six shots of Stuard, including Adam Scott, Matt Kuchar and Jason Dufner — all ranked in the world’s top 15 — and former Sony champions Zach Johnson (ranked seventh), Jerry Kelly, Ryan Palmer, Mark Wilson and K.J. Choi.
Waialae’s hard fairways, gnarly rough and tricky greens have won the first two days. Boo Weekley called what appears to be a short, flat, calm course "pretty much of a grind out there." Others spoke of gusting, shifting breezes — they have yet to blow hard enough to rightfully be called winds. Leaders emphasized the importance of missing in the right places.
"I like how firm it is," said Leishman, whose worst finish here in four previous starts is 27th. "You’ve got to judge how far the ball is going to run. It’s always windy, as well. I grew up in the wind and enjoy playing in the wind. Those things along with the course … it’s not a course that you can really overpower. You have to think your way around. I think if you play well you can score well, and if you’re not playing good, there’s not big numbers out there. I like that about it."
There were few fireworks beyond the odd 64 — only Leishman, Hudson Swafford and 2007 Sony winner Paul Goydos got that low —and Stuard’s now-standard 65. Stuard and Leishman had two of the 10 eagles at No. 9. Cal graduate James Hahn did them one better.
He launched it in from 191 yards out for double-eagle, the first at this tournament since 1978. Hahn, born in Seoul, is best known for his "Gangnam Style" post-birdie show at last year’s Phoenix Open. This time, he just chest-bumped his caddie — kind of — and played the back nine in 2 over to trail by five.
"I’ve got to be politically correct," Hahn said about the chest bump, "but white men can’t jump. So I got a little air, he didn’t."
The cut came at 1-under 139, with 79 players advancing to the weekend. Among those who missed out are former champions Johnson Wagner and Vijay Singh, and 20-year-old Jordan Spieth, 22-year-old Ryo Ishikawa and 15-year-old amateur Guan Tianlang.
