Hawaii golfers miss the Sony Open cut but not the experience

None of the three Hawaii-based entrants of this year’s Sony Open in Hawaii came close to making the cut, but all said they took some positives away from the experience.

Evan Kawai saved his best for the end again in yesterday’s second round.

Kawai, the only amateur in the PGA Tour event, birdied his final two holes Friday. It was nowhere near enough to get him to the cut line, or even par. But as it was with his birdie on No. 18 to close Thursday’s first round, it was a good way to end a tough day.

Kawai shot 3-over par 73 Friday and finished 7 over for the tournament and two shots ahead of Nate Lashley who was last in the 144-player field.

Kawai’s second round included four bogeys, a double bogey and three birdies.

The University of San Diego player and Punahou alumnus took it all as an opportunity to learn.

“I felt like I was being a little too technical trying to play perfect golf, hit perfect shots,” he said. “But it was more about when you’re feeling it, you know, you’ll hit a good shot. … That’s the biggest thing that I learned this week about my game.

“After missing the cut this week, I’m fired up to make my next one. I’m just going to get back to work. Kind of smooth out the game, make sure that I’m more consistent under pressure. I think the thing that these guys do so well is they are able to perform when they need it. So that’s a hard thing to practice, but I’ll find some way to get better at it.

He returns to school next week.

“I fly back on the 22nd,” Kawai said. “Planned on being here til Sunday, but now I’ll have a weekend to kind of relax and watch some golf on TV and go to the beach.”

Maui pro Eric Dugas shot 2 over yesterday to finish 71-72—143, 3 over.

His second round was one of extremes. Twice he suffered a double or triple bogey, and twice he got his round back on track with multiple birdies.

Starting on the back nine, he was 4 over for the day after five holes, including a double-bogey 6 on No. 14. Two birdies brought him back to 2 over, but then he carded 7 on the par-4 No. 3. He got all three of those strokes back, though, with birdies on the two remaining par-3 holes and another on the closing No. 9 par 5.

“Actually played fairly well today,” Dugas said. “A couple holes got me.”

Parker McLachlin, who matched par with his 70 on Thursday, had the most realistic chance among the local players to make the cut.

But the PGA Tour veteran from Manoa shot a 75. He also played a hole in 3 over par; it was a 7 on his second hole after he made the turn at 1 over. The triple bogey was due to an errant tee shot and a missed 3-foot putt.

The bright spots were birdies on the par-5 Nos. 9 and 18.

McLachlin summed up the two days that ended with him missing the cut at 5 over.

“I think (Thursday) I had a lot of firepower. Made a few silly mistakes. Kind of turned a 65 or 66 into a 70 and (yesterday) was kind of a grind on the front nine,” he said. “The wind sort of switched directions on us a bit, so a few awkward tee balls. … I’m thinking, OK, if I can make a few on the back nine I might have a chance. But just got one bad break there on our 11th hole and that was kind of it.”

McLachlin said he is transitioning from being a player to broadcasting, coaching and inventing training aids.

“I’ve got a lot of things that are sort of keeping me busy,” he said. “It was fun to train for this week and try to put myself in a spot to succeed, and obviously I’m not pleased with the results. But I’ve got a lot of things I’m kind of working on going forward.”