Mahalo for supporting Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Enjoy this free story!
Eric Dugas didn’t play as good a round Friday as Thursday, but the pro from Makena Golf Club on Maui finished strong enough to make the cut at the Sony Open.
Dugas birdied No. 18 at Waialae Country Club to complete the second round at 1-over 71 and ensure his tee times for the weekend with a combined 2 under for the first two rounds that had him tied for 65th. Dugas fired a 3-under 68 on Thursday.
This is the third Sony Open for Dugas, 35, and the second time he has made the cut. In 2014 he was 2 under after the second round, but missed the third-round cut with a 73 on Saturday.
He started well Friday with a birdie on the par-4 No. 1 hole, and was 1 under for the day at the turn. But he ran into trouble with bogeys on three of the first four holes on the back nine. Overall, he had three birdies and four bogeys for the day.
Dugas was the only of four local golfers in the field to make the cut.
Moanalua High product Brent Grant shot 73 on Friday and finished 5 over in his first Sony Open.
Jared Sawada, a former University of Hawaii golfer from Mililani, shot 71 and was 3 over for the two rounds.
Peter Jung, a sophomore from Maryknoll, finished 22 over par and last in the 144-player field. Jung, one of two amateurs in the tournament, shot 14 over par on Thursday and 8 over on Friday.
The other amateur, Takumi Kanaya of Japan, also missed the cut at 1 over.
Senior moments
Davis Love III shot 2-under 68 and is 5 under for the event and tied for 20th. He has performed the best of the five players age 50-plus expected to compete in the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai, Jan. 17-19.
Love had four birdies and two bogeys.
Steve Stricker is 2 under for the tourney after his 67 on Friday and tied for 65th to make the cut on the number.
Jerry Kelly (1 under), Kenny Perry (even) and Vijay Singh (9 over) missed the cut and have plenty of time to practice for their Champions Tour event next week on the Big Island.
We’re No. 1
Justin Thomas was the only of the field’s five former No. 1 players in the world rankings to make the cut.
Thomas, who won here in 2017, shot 68 to follow Friday’s 67 and is at 5 under and tied for 20th. He is a combined 6 under on the course’s two par-5 holes, with eagles on No. 9 and No. 18 on Thursday and birdies on both Friday.
Jordan Spieth (1 under), Luke Donald (even) and Adam Scott (7 over) join Singh as former top dogs who have the weekend off.
Singh, who finished second-to-last to Jung, had five bogeys and a birdie on Friday.
Spieth, who went 3 over with a 73 on Thursday, shot 4-under 66. But his final charge of three birdies on the last four holes Friday left him one stroke short of making the cut.
72