Austin Eckroat gave himself a nice 25th birthday present Friday, shooting a 4-under-par 66 at Waialae Country Club to put himself in a tie for first place midway through the Sony Open in Hawaii.
“I’ll wait for when I don’t have a golf tournament the next day to celebrate,” Eckroat said.
Carl Yuan and Byeong Hun An are tied with Eckroat for the lead at 9 under par midway through the PGA Tour’s first full-field event of the new season.
None of the three leaders has won a PGA Tour event.
“I had a couple chances last year being in the final two groups, a shot on the weekend,” said Yuan, who shot 11 under here last year to tie for 21st as a rookie. “I feel like I just got to do what I did the last two days: be patient and stay committed, know exactly what I’m going to do before I hit a shot and see how it turns out.”
If they don’t start out hot, the three might not be at the top of the leaderboard for long. A pack of 10 players, including Chris Kirk, Stewart Cink and first-round leader Cam Davis, enters the third round just a shot back at 8 under.
Ben Griffin and Kurt Kitayama, who each shot a day’s-best 8-under 62 on Friday, are also among the group.
“I really wasn’t doing a whole lot through the first eight holes. Kicked it into gear as I was making the turn,” said Griffin, who eagled the par 5 No. 9. “Felt like the back nine had maybe a few more birdies to offer. The front had some pretty tough tee shots in spots and not as many short irons. Just felt like I did a good job. Managed my game.”
Kitayama jumped into the logjam at 8 under with an eagle on No. 9, his last hole of the day, as did Keith Mitchell, who shot a second-round 64. Taylor Montgomery, Grayson Murray, Stephan Jaeger and Matthieu Pavon are also poised a shot behind the three leaders.
Yuan birdied six holes Friday on the way to a 65, including the par-5 18th that put him in front alone at the end of his morning round.
Eckroat, playing the back nine first in the afternoon, made the turn at 9 under for the tournament with a birdie at 18 to tie Yuan. But he immediately gave a stroke back with his first bogey, at No. 1. There he stayed, with pars the rest of the way before his fifth birdie of his round, on his final hole, No. 9.
An got to 8 under with a birdie on No. 13, and birdied the 18th to join Yuan and Eckroat.
“Hit some poor shots out there that I would like to hit a little better, I also hit some great shots out there. Great drives. Gave myself good birdie looks,” An said. “Bogey-free, and I’ll take it.”
Cink also played a bogey-free round, with five birdies in the last 10 holes Friday for 65 to go with his 67 on Thursday.
Cink, 50, makes his debut on the Champions Tour next week at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai Golf Course on Hawaii island. The 2009 winner of the Open Championship in a playoff over Tom Watson said he plans to play a mix of events on both tours.
“I’ve just managed this course really well,” he said. “It’s been pretty breezy, not going to hit every fairway out here. The rough is significant this year, so just managing your shots … and when you do hit fairways and you’re able to take advantage of some good comfortable yardages, that’s when you have to take advantage.”
Kirk, who won last week at The Sentry on Maui, shot another 66 to match his first round.
Defending champion Si Woo Kim shot 4 under, and is T26 at 5 under for the tournament.
Webb Simpson, playing in the morning, shot par for the day. Coupled with his 5 under par on Thursday, Simpson is now 12-for-12 in cuts made at this event.
Gary Woodland, playing in his first tournament since undergoing brain surgery less than four months ago, matched the 71 he shot in the first round and missed the cut at 2 over.
“There was a time where I didn’t know if this was going to be possible,” Woodland said. “It was a good week for me from a mental standpoint. I needed to be mentally sharp to get where I want to be in the world. It’s coming back.”
