[ HULA BOWL MAUI ]
Hawaii well represented
SONY OPEN
Cutting corners to overcome Frazar
WAILUKU >> Eight players with Hawaii ties participated in yesterday's Hula Bowl Maui, four on each team.
For the Aina:
>> Former Kamehameha and University of Hawaii defensive end Houston Ala was in on two tackles.
>> Safety Hyrum Peters, of Kahuku and UH, was in on three stops.
>> Linebacker Joe Siofele, a Saint Louis School alumnus from Waipahu who played college ball at Arizona, made three tackles.
>> Ex-Saint Louis and Utah offensive lineman Sean Souza helped generate 359 yards for the winning team.
For the Kai:
>> UH receiver Jeremiah Cockheran caught two passes for 35 yards.
>> Jesse Keaulana-Kamakea, a Kailua graduate who played for Kansas State, played on the offensive line.
>> UCLA defensive end David Tautofi, a Kaimuki graduate, had two tackles.
>> Farrington graduate Lance Samuseva of UH played on the defensive line.
In memoriam: There was a pre-game prayer for Lauren Crossan, an 18-year-old cheerleader from Randolph, N.J., who was to perform yesterday. Crossan's body was found Monday morning after she apparently fell to her death from a balcony at the Hyatt Regency Maui.
Discovering Japan: Waseda's Kentaro Namiki, an all-purpose athlete, was not expected to play much quarterback yesterday. But with Wyoming quarterback Casey Bramlet out with a sore shoulder, Namiki got some action at QB in relief of Ryan Schneider from Central Florida in the third quarter.
Namiki completed a 6-yard pass to John Standeford and also threw an incomplete pass.
No brainer: When ESPN producer Jim Zirolli was deciding which four players to wire for sound for yesterday's game, one was an easy choice.
"In the Blue-Gray Game on Christmas we had (Louisiana Tech quarterback) Luke McCown miked," Zirolli said. "Near the end of the game we got him telling Vonta Leach he was going to make him the player of the game."
On the next play McCown hit Leach with a touchdown pass.
In addition to McCown, Schneider, USC defensive end Omar Nazel and Nevada defensive tackle Derek Kennard were hooked up for "audibles."
Old buddies: Cockheran was reunited on the Aina team with Buffalo long snapper Adam Johnson.
Cockheran and Johnson were teammates at Chaffey College, where Johnson played quarterback.
"He's bulked up a lot since then," Cockheran said.
"I should have thought of that," he added, when told effective snappers can have long NFL careers.
Kauhaahaa honored: Baldwin High School football coach Chad Kauhaahaa was named the Hula Bowl Maui 2004 High School Coach of the Year.
Kauhaahaa led the Bears to the state's Division I final four last fall.
BACK TO TOP |
[ SONY OPEN ]
Els willing to cut corners
to overcome Frazar
Don't be surprised if Ernie Els walks up to the 18th tee today, the Sony Open in Hawaii on the line, speaks briefly with his caddy, then does something he's never done before -- takes his drive up the neighboring 10th fairway.
Seems Vijay Singh tried that yesterday with spectacular results. After whipping it around the palm trees guarding the left side of the tee, Singh's shot landed about 170 yards from the green in the 10th fairway.
Most drives that travel the traditional way -- down the 18th fairway -- are 250 yards or so from the green, depending on which way the wind blows. But ever the risk-taker, Els didn't rule out that possibility today, even if the tourney's on the line.
"Yesterday and today, I had really solid drives," Els said of the par-5 finishing hole. "But there's no way you're going to hold that fairway if you fly that bunker to the left. I almost went with a 3-wood today. It depends on the conditions tomorrow. If they leave the tees back, I might even go down the 10th hole."
The moral of Singh's story is, he finished with an eagle at 18 to leave him at 6-under 204 for the tourney, some eight strokes off the pace and likely out of contention. Els birdied the 18th on Thursday, but both his drives over the bunker Friday and yesterday left him in the rough on the right side and precluded him from going for the green in two. He settled for par both times on, statistically, the second-easiest hole on the course.
"That's such a difficult tee shot," Els conceded of Singh's swing. "And it's a par 5, so you want to try to be aggressive and get there in two shots. So you've got to try to take it over the palm trees and hook it.
"First thing you don't want to do is hit into the palm trees right in front of you. So you take it too far right and you go through the fairway. Vijay, he said he went down the left side twice and hit 7-iron in, so that's a totally different shot.
"We might look at all of the options tomorrow and see where we are in the tournament and see what we have to do. If it stays like this, I'll probably just hit 3-wood, 4-iron, 3-wood, 3-iron. But we'll see."
Els is trying to become only the third player to successfully defend a title at Waialae Country Club. Hubert Green was the first champion to repeat, taking the Hawaiian Open titles in 1978-79. Corey Pavin did it again in 1986-87. Interestingly, Pavin is on the edge of contention this week at 9-under 201. He trails third-round leader Harrison Frazar by five shots.
First time around: This is the third time Frazar has held or shared the lead going into the final round. Should he break through today with his first PGA Tour victory, he will be the 10th golfer to earn his inaugural win at this tournament.
Ted Makalena (1966) was the first to turn that trick, with Jerry Kelly (2002) the most recent to get his first big win here. Other first-time winners here include Isao Aoki in 1983 and David Ishii in 1990.
Ishii was in contention early in this tournament, but has since slipped back into the pack. The 48-year-old, who is trying to get his game ready for a possible senior-circuit run, opened with a 4-under 66 on Thursday. He had a 71 on Friday to survive the cut, then blew up to a 74 yesterday. He's currently at 1-over 211 for the tourney and trails Frazar by 15 shots.
Love potion No. 9: If Davis Love III wins this tournament, he can thank the par-5 ninth, which has been the easiest hole this week going away. Love has done his part to shoot down the 510-yard hole.
Through three rounds, he is 5 under at that hole with a birdie Thursday and eagles each of the last two days. Through three days, the ninth hole has yielded a scoring average of 4.355. There have been 23 eagles and 213 birdies vs. only 12 bogeys and four doubles.
Once again the first hole proved to be the most difficult. The par-4, 488-yard hole, which Love also birdied today, has a scoring average of 4.331 for the tournament. There have been only 16 birdies vs. 106 bogeys and 14 doubles.