SONY OPEN IN HAWAII
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Luke Donald shot a 7-under 63 yesterday to lead the Sony Open in Hawaii after one round.
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Cool Hand Luke
Without fanfare, Donald's early round holds up for the lead
Luke Donald teed it up yesterday morning in front of a gallery that fit comfortably in a golf cart.
Not that it bothered the 29-year-old Englishman. With no distractions outside the ropes, Donald shot to the top of the leaderboard early yesterday with a 7-under 63 and held off the afternoon finishers to take a one-shot lead over K.J Choi, and a two-shot advantage over Jim Furyk and Will MacKenzie in the opening round of the $5.2 million Sony Open in Hawaii.
Donald began his day 50 minutes before Michelle Wie, who continues to garner plenty of local support despite her recent trials and tribulations on the PGA Tour. Donald knew she must be struggling due to the lack of roars echoing across the Waialae Country Club fairways. And he was right.
Wie opened with an 8-over 78 and will need a round similar to Donald's first 18 to have any shot at making the cut. The conditions yesterday were windy in the morning and calmer in the afternoon as 60 golfers managed to break par and 78 shot even or better.
Unfortunately for island fans, Dean Wilson (72) and Parker McLachlin (72) were not among them. They didn't struggle as much as Wie, but both will need rounds in red today to make sure they're playing through this weekend.
That won't be a problem for Donald, whose best finish here is a tie for 13th twice in the last six years. One of the rising stars on tour, the former Northwestern standout is coming off a seventh-place finish at the Mercedes-Benz Championship and seems at ease with his game.
"I felt like I was playing reasonably solid last week and it was nice to come here and not get pounded by the wind quite as much today," Donald said. "I've always enjoyed playing this golf course. I played very nicely today and more importantly, holed the putts for birdie when I needed to, which is kind of the difference between today and last week."
Normally, those golfers who opened at the Mercedes do well the following week. And that was true yesterday. There were 31 from the Mercedes field teeing it up in the first full-field event on tour, including Choi (64), Furyk (65), MacKenzie (65), Chad Campbell (66), John Rollins (66), Trevor Immelman (67), U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy (67) and J.J. Henry (68).
In all, 13 of the 31 shot 1 under or better and had a scoring average of a full stroke better than the other 113 in the field. Seventeen fired even par or better, including defending Sony Open champion David Toms. Mercedes champ Vijay Singh was one of the 14 who landed in the black with a ho-hum 71. He and Toms went from the final hole straight to the driving range to see if they could fix what was wrong in time to avoid missing the cut.
Choi opened with a solid 69 last week to share the first-round lead at Mercedes, but disappeared from view with a 77 the next day. He played well on the weekend to secure a top-10 finish in the season-opening event, but wants to avoid the second-round problems he had last week with a solid round today.
"Last week in the second round, I don't know, my body is a little different in the morning," Choi said. "This week, the ball is going better than last week, so a little more pray tonight and then hopefully more quiet in the morning."
Donald certainly enjoyed his morning round with nine birdies and only two bogeys to secure an early advantage. Unlike his closest three competitors, Donald goes off in the afternoon, while the other three have morning rounds. Wie and her fellow local golfers also have afternoon tee times, so they'll have a fairly good idea what they need to do in order to make the cut.
Wilson had hoped his good finish over the weekend at the Mercedes would carry over to a fast start yesterday. But a triple bogey at No. 5 kept him out of the red numbers. Wie's problems occurred early and often. Not only did she have back-to-back double bogeys on the front, she didn't hit a fairway or green in regulation en route to an 8-over 43.
"I was obviously not very happy with myself," said Wie, who shot even-par 35 on the back nine. "It was also like I had nine more holes and I know the golf course. So I really felt like I could, you know, kind of get things going if my shots held up."
MacKenzie's game continues to hold up after a stellar start at Mercedes, where he finished in a tie for fourth. He had a chance to share second with Choi, but a three-putt from 20 feet for par at the last left a bad taste in MacKenzie's mouth. He felt the same way after his weekend on Maui, where he was only 1 under over the weekend and wound up losing to Singh by six shots.
"Great golf course here," MacKenzie said. "I liked it last year (when he finished in a tie for 42nd). You've got to hit it in play off the tee. You don't have to overpower this golf course or anything. I had a pretty good feel for the day, I hit some great shots and I got on that nice run, like six or seven through nine that really jump-started my round."
MacKenzie was 1 over through five before birdieing the sixth, eighth and ninth holes to make the turn at 1 under. On the back, he managed three more birdies to get within shouting distance of Donald and draw even with Furyk, who also had a disappointing par at the 18th.
Furyk didn't putt particularly well at the Mercedes, finishing in a tie for 18th, but straightened out his line on putts, with the help of his dad, and came away with five birdies and no bogeys to put himself in contention. After his two-week run in Hawaii, Furyk will take the next three weeks off.
"I think it helps a little bit," Furyk said of playing at the Mercedes. "But it depends. If you're coming from Chicago and you haven't played much golf, yes. But guys who live in warmer weather or playing some golf trying to get ready, maybe just a little bit.
"I tried to identify (his putting) problem, which my aim was bad (last week). It's kind of like shooting a rifle or doing anything. If you're not aimed at your target, it's pretty much impossible to hit your target."
FIRST-ROUND SCORES
Sony Open
At Waialae Country Club
First round, par-70
| Luke Donald |
31-32 |
-- |
63
|
| K.J. Choi |
34-30 |
-- |
64
|
| Will MacKenzie |
33-32 |
-- |
65
|
| Jim Furyk |
33-32 |
-- |
65
|
| Daisuke Maruyama |
33-33 |
-- |
66
|
| Shane Bertsch |
33-33 |
-- |
66
|
| Heath Slocum |
32-34 |
-- |
66
|
| Jeff Sluman |
34-32 |
-- |
66
|
| John Rollins |
35-31 |
-- |
66
|
| Paul Goydos |
31-35 |
-- |
66
|
| Chad Campbell |
36-30 |
-- |
66
|
| Ryuji Imada |
32-34 |
-- |
66
|
| David Branshaw |
33-34 |
-- |
67
|
| Ryan Palmer |
33-34 |
-- |
67
|
| Robert Allenby |
35-32 |
-- |
67
|
| Geoff Ogilvy |
32-35 |
-- |
67
|
| Jason Dufner |
33-34 |
-- |
67
|
| Steve Stricker |
32-35 |
-- |
67
|
| Nathan Green |
34-33 |
-- |
67
|
| Briny Baird |
33-34 |
-- |
67
|
| Ted Purdy |
32-35 |
-- |
67
|
| Trevor Immelman |
35-32 |
-- |
67
|
| Tom Johnson |
35-32 |
-- |
67
|
| Brian Gay |
33-35 |
-- |
68
|
| Daniel Chopra |
36-32 |
-- |
68
|
| Tom Lehman |
31-37 |
-- |
68
|
| J.J. Henry |
33-35 |
-- |
68
|
| Paul Azinger |
34-34 |
-- |
68
|
| Pat Perez |
32-36 |
-- |
68
|
| Stephen Marino |
33-35 |
-- |
68
|
| Robert Garrigus |
34-34 |
-- |
68
|
| Tripp Isenhour |
34-34 |
-- |
68
|
| Matt Kuchar |
33-35 |
-- |
68
|
| Jarrod Lyle |
34-34 |
-- |
68
|
| Billy Mayfair |
37-32 |
-- |
69
|
| Paul Stankowski |
33-36 |
-- |
69
|
| Charles Howell III |
34-35 |
-- |
69
|
| Jesper Parnevik |
36-33 |
-- |
69
|
| Fred Funk |
37-32 |
-- |
69
|
| Shaun Micheel |
35-34 |
-- |
69
|
| Brendon de Jonge |
34-35 |
-- |
69
|
| John Senden |
33-36 |
-- |
69
|
| Rich Beem |
34-35 |
-- |
69
|
| Ryan Armour |
35-34 |
-- |
69
|
| Doug LaBelle II |
35-34 |
-- |
69
|
| Boo Weekley |
35-34 |
-- |
69
|
| Jerry Kelly |
37-32 |
-- |
69
|
| John Daly |
36-33 |
-- |
69
|
| Bo Van Pelt |
35-34 |
-- |
69
|
| Steve Flesch |
35-34 |
-- |
69
|
| Bart Bryant |
34-35 |
-- |
69
|
| Brett Wetterich |
35-34 |
-- |
69
|
| Rory Sabbatini |
34-35 |
-- |
69
|
| Troy Matteson |
34-35 |
-- |
69
|
| Cameron Beckman |
34-35 |
-- |
69
|
| Paul Gow |
34-35 |
-- |
69
|
| Jeff Quinney |
34-35 |
-- |
69
|
| Kaname Yokoo |
36-33 |
-- |
69
|
| Yusaku Miyazato |
34-35 |
-- |
69
|
| Ken Duke |
32-37 |
-- |
69
|
| Shigeki Maruyama |
37-33 |
-- |
70
|
| J.B. Holmes |
40-30 |
-- |
70
|
| Joe Durant |
37-33 |
-- |
70
|
| Davis Love III |
36-34 |
-- |
70
|
| Robert Gamez |
35-35 |
-- |
70
|
| John Merrick |
34-36 |
-- |
70
|
| George McNeill |
36-34 |
-- |
70
|
| Chris Tidland |
37-33 |
-- |
70
|
| Andrew Buckle |
36-34 |
-- |
70
|
| J.P. Hayes |
36-34 |
-- |
70
|
| Brett Quigley |
36-34 |
-- |
70
|
| David Toms |
39-31 |
-- |
70
|
| Tim Petrovic |
34-36 |
-- |
70
|
| Charlie Wi |
36-34 |
-- |
70
|
| Craig Lile |
33-37 |
-- |
70
|
| Joe Daley |
36-34 |
-- |
70
|
| Johnson Wagner |
37-33 |
-- |
70
|
| Scott Piercy |
34-36 |
-- |
70
|
| Bubba Watson |
38-33 |
-- |
71
|
| Bob Estes |
36-35 |
-- |
71
|
| Mathias Gronberg |
36-35 |
-- |
71
|
| Carl Pettersson |
35-36 |
-- |
71
|
| Gavin Coles |
36-35 |
-- |
71
|
| Kevin Stadler |
36-35 |
-- |
71
|
| Tadd Fujikawa |
34-37 |
-- |
71
|
| Harrison Frazar |
37-34 |
-- |
71
|
| Glen Day |
35-36 |
-- |
71
|
| Mathew Goggin |
35-36 |
-- |
71
|
| Kenny Perry |
36-35 |
-- |
71
|
| Rod Pampling |
35-36 |
-- |
71
|
| Vijay Singh |
34-37 |
-- |
71
|
| Mark Calcavecchia |
36-35 |
-- |
71
|
| Cliff Kresge |
33-38 |
-- |
71
|
| Michael Putnam |
36-35 |
-- |
71
|
| Tom Pernice, Jr. |
36-36 |
-- |
72
|
| Steve Lowery |
35-37 |
-- |
72
|
| Ben Curtis |
36-36 |
-- |
72
|
| Tim Herron |
36-36 |
-- |
72
|
| Eric Axley |
38-34 |
-- |
72
|
| Dean Wilson |
37-35 |
-- |
72
|
| Mark Hensby |
38-34 |
-- |
72
|
| Craig Barlow |
36-36 |
-- |
72
|
| Craig Bowden |
32-40 |
-- |
72
|
| Anthony Kim |
33-39 |
-- |
72
|
| Parker McLachlin |
35-37 |
-- |
72
|
| Chris Smith |
37-35 |
-- |
72
|
| Dudley Hart |
34-38 |
-- |
72
|
| Stephen Ames |
39-33 |
-- |
72
|
| Corey Pavin |
36-36 |
-- |
72
|
| Stewart Cink |
38-34 |
-- |
72
|
| Stuart Appleby |
37-35 |
-- |
72
|
| Richard S. Johnson |
35-37 |
-- |
72
|
| Bob Heintz |
38-34 |
-- |
72
|
| Rich Barcelo |
37-35 |
-- |
72
|
| Darron Stiles |
35-37 |
-- |
72
|
| Craig Kanada |
37-35 |
-- |
72
|
| Michael Allen |
36-37 |
-- |
73
|
| Aaron Baddeley |
39-34 |
-- |
73
|
| Peter Lonard |
37-36 |
-- |
73
|
| Azuma Yano |
37-36 |
-- |
73
|
| Brandt Snedeker |
37-36 |
-- |
73
|
| Joe Ogilvie |
39-34 |
-- |
73
|
| Jeff Maggert |
39-34 |
-- |
73
|
| Wes Short, Jr. |
36-37 |
-- |
73
|
| Chris Couch |
37-36 |
-- |
73
|
| John Mallinger |
36-37 |
-- |
73
|
| Jim Rutledge |
38-35 |
-- |
73
|
| Scott Gutschewski |
37-36 |
-- |
73
|
| D.J. Trahan |
39-35 |
-- |
74
|
| Dicky Pride |
38-36 |
-- |
74
|
| Kevin Hayashi |
36-38 |
-- |
74
|
| Jason Bohn |
38-36 |
-- |
74
|
| Paul Sheehan |
37-37 |
-- |
74
|
| Steve Wheatcroft |
39-36 |
-- |
75
|
| Bill Haas |
37-38 |
-- |
75
|
| Juvic Pagunsan |
37-38 |
-- |
75
|
| Chris Stroud |
39-36 |
-- |
75
|
| David Chin |
39-37 |
-- |
76
|
| Bryce Molder |
38-38 |
-- |
76
|
| Hideto Tanihara |
37-39 |
-- |
76
|
| John Huston |
40-37 |
-- |
77
|
| Brian Miller |
39-38 |
-- |
77
|
| Michelle Wie |
43-35 |
-- |
78
|
| Abe Mariano |
40-43 |
-- |
83 |
