Snedeker remains king of the hill

Despite eight years away, it didn’t take Brandt Snedeker very long to warm up to Waialae Country Club.

After missing the Sony Open in Hawaii cut in 2008, he’d prioritized preparing for the PGA Tour’s stop in Palm Springs, Calif., to start his year and a side trip to Hawaii didn’t quite fit into his schedule.

This year, Snedeker paired the Sony Open with last week’s Hyundai Tournament of Champions, and he might think about making Waialae a regular part of his calendar after going 12 under through 36 holes to take the lead into today’s third round.

He followed up an opening-round 63 with a bogey-free 5-under-par 65 on Friday, although he doesn’t have much breathing room atop a still tightly packed leaderboard with 10 players within three shots of the lead to set up a wild weekend.

“I was definitely a lot more comfortable today,” Snedeker said of having a round at Waialae under his belt following his lengthy absence. “Just because even in the pro-am, the pro-am had different wind conditions than we did in the first round.

“So today was kind of the second day in a row seeing the same wind conditions, and I knew where lines on tees were and felt way more comfortable with how to play the golf course. So hopefully I can kind of build on that over the weekend.”

Snedeker, Kevin Kisner and Zach Johnson will comprise the lead group teeing off at 12:55 p.m. today at No. 1.

Kisner, part of the lead pack at 7 under to start Friday’s play and Snedeker’s playing partner for the first two rounds, closed with a 12-foot eagle putt on No. 9 to momentarily match Snedeker at 11 under. But Snedeker, who chipped from the rough to 6 feet, rolled in his birdie to reclaim the solo lead.

Kisner, the FedEx Cup points leader, covered two bogeys with four birdies and the eagle and stayed steady to keep pace with Snedeker.

“I was more proud of the way I stayed patient all day,” Kisner said. “That round could have been a few more bogeys if I’d have let not holing any of the putts get to me, but stayed patient, kept getting good shots and got one in there close on 6, I think. It was pretty much a tap-in and good way to finish it on 9.”

One group later, Johnson, the 2009 Sony Open winner and reigning British Open champion, also birdied the ninth to move to 10 under.

Winds of change

Kiser noted a switching wind around the time the morning wave was finishing at mid-day. But the showers forecast for the afternoon didn’t show up and Zac Blair put together his second straight 65 to move to 10 under. A chance to tie Kisner slipped to the left of the hole on No. 18.

Former world No. 1 Luke Donald and Chez Reavie, who fired a 63, also took advantage of relatively calm conditions to get to 10 under.

“It was swirling on the front nine. It was kind of moving all over the place,” Donald said. “We were kind of having to guess a little bit what it was, but it wasn’t too strong. And then the last five, six holes it really laid down completely, and it was nice to be out there in this weather with these conditions. It was right for scoring for sure.”

Scott Piercy, last year’s runner-up, is part of a group of four golfers at 9 under, along with 2002 champion Jerry Kelly.

Leaders fall

Vijay Singh, also part of the lead group entering the day, played his first six holes at 3 over, birdied the par-3 seventh and eagled the ninth with a 14-foot putt. Two more birdies on the back nine moved him to 9 under going into 18. But his second shot went into the bunker and a three-putt, closing with a lip out from a foot away, moved the 52-year-old Hall of Famer into a four-way tie for 11th at 8 under.

Two-time defending champion Jimmy Walker made it to the weekend, but well back of the leaders at 3 under, which ended up being the cut line. With 87 players making the initial cut, he’ll have to get into the top 70 and ties after today’s round to play on Sunday.

The calm winds continued to leave Waialae without its primary defense on Friday, and Graham DeLaet turned in the best round of the tournament so far with an 8-under 62 to jump 92 spots into a tie for 36th.

Johnson was the first to reach double figures under par, going to 10 under at the turn with a birdie on the par-5 18th. He promptly gave it back with a bogey on No. 1 and Snedeker passed him with a birdie on No. 3 and another on the par-3 fourth with a 20-foot putt.

“I actually think I played a little bit cleaner today than I did yesterday. Played a little bit better tee to green, I felt like, and hit a lot of quality shots,” Snedeker said.

“I didn’t quite make the putts like I did yesterday, but all in all two great rounds, two solid leads, two solid rounds to start and excited about what this holds for the weekend, kind of a continuation of last week and feel like I’m playing great, so it should be fun.”