SONY OPEN
JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM
Punahou grad Parker McLachlin and his caddy, former U.S. Open winner Scott Simpson, proved to be a great team yesterday.
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The best on the beach
When Parker McLachlin got his chances to play at Waialae Country Club as a young lad, he said he "looked at every blade of grass."
Good thing he also got acquainted with every grain of sand.
McLachlin's bunker mentality helped Hawaii's lone survivor at the Sony Open to a 5-under-par 65 third round yesterday. McLachlin, with five sand saves in six tries, including a 78-footer into the 11th hole for birdie, finished moving day with a significant shift to 2-under 208 for the tournament.
McLachlin -- who missed qualifying for the 2006 PGA Tour at Q-School last year by one stroke -- went into today's final round tied for 30th with a group that includes 2001 Sony runner-up Tom Lehman. MacLachlin will tee off at 11:01 with Mark Calcavecchia and Jeff Gove.
It looked like a very clean tour of Waialae on paper for the 26-year-old Punahou graduate, with six birdies -- including the last three holes -- and just one bogey.
He got hot with the putter, with four birdie makes ranging from 15 to 36 feet.
But McLachlin's still getting the sand out of his shoes. Fortunately, he was very proficient at getting his ball out of the sand; he was 1 under par on the holes where he saddled caddie Scott Simpson with rake duty.
"It was like three or four out of five holes or something like that I was in the bunker," McLachlin said. "I told Scott, 'You know, I'm just gonna start aiming for the bunker.' I just felt like I was hitting a lot of great shots out of there."
The one on No. 11 was the best.
"That was awesome," McLachlin said of that hole. "Again, being in the bunker and I knew where I needed to land it. Kind of up and down toward the hole, I knew I needed to fly it. Straight down grain and it would just run out.
"Fun to see those go in, such a boost of energy. You know?"
Simpson does. The 1987 U.S. Open champion who volunteered to shoulder his young friend's bag was second here in 1982.
Does he have any advice for his former caddie going into today's final round?
"I don't have to tell him anything. He's such a level-headed kid -- I can say kid, right? -- he really does do a great job of approaching it one shot at a time," said Simpson, 50, who is headed into his first full season on the Champions Tour.
"He'll be excited, he'll be nervous. But he has such a great routine. I mean, that's what you need to play under pressure. He'll feel some pressure, just like Michelle (Wie), to play well in front of the home fans."
McLachlin, who played in front of the phenom's group on Thursday and Friday, joked again that he was getting residual Wie fans.
"I guess they have nobody else to watch now," he said of the gallery, which more than doubled from 100 on the front nine by the time he was finishing up with a 2-footer for birdie on 18.
Some followed to see McLachlin's playing partner, former world No. 1 David Duval, but this was truly the McLachlin Group. Lots of the Nationwide Tour player's family, friends, coaches and former teachers lined the fairways. Former UH baseball coach Les Murakami was among those who made an appearance.
One of Hawaii's most prominent sports families was out in force; father Chris, the former Punahou athletic director, and mother Beth, who was an Olympic volleyball player, escorted Beth's father, Paul Hollinger. Hollinger, a retired Los Angeles police officer, flew in from California to see his grandson play.
"It's like a family reunion," said Spencer, Parker's brother who is a standout basketball and volleyball player at Punahou. "It's surreal almost, so many family and friends out here to support. It's really fun watching him and I know it's been a dream of his."
Duval's wife and baby were also in the gallery, and they helped ease the pain of the 2001 British Open champion's 37-35-72 that left him in last place at 5-over 215.
"I played pretty well, but I was just an inch or two off here and there and that really hurt me," Duval said.
On McLachlin's round, Duval said, "He played beautiful. He did all the things you have to do. He hit the ball solid, made some putts. The few times he got in trouble with the bunkers he got himself out with beautiful shots. He was never really struggling at all. That's how you put together a nice round."
The only other time McLachlin played in this tournament, when he missed the cut in 2000, Duval was still near the top of his game.
"To be paired with him was something special, I'll definitely remember it," McLachlin said.
He's hoping for more sweet memories today, but McLachlin knew yesterday morning the leaders would improve their scores as the third round wore on.
"I'm not expecting 6 under to come back to 4 under or anything like that," McLachlin said. "They'll probably get it to 10 under. So I still have to make a lot of birdies (today)."
Leaders' scorecards
How the third-round leaders did hole by hole: