KAPALUA, Maui » Justin Leonard may need Geoff Ogilvy to sleep through today's early starting time in order to catch the 54-hole leader, but don't think he won't be trying to haul him in.

The 36-year-old from Dallas has a dozen PGA Tour wins in his career, including a major at the British Open in 1997 and another huge victory at The Players Championship in 1998.

Best known for his 45-foot birdie putt at Brookline in 1999—often called the shot heard 'round the world—to secure the Ryder Cup for the United States, Leonard knows anything can happen on a golf course. He has seen it firsthand.

“;I was looking at the leaderboards on the back nine, but I never saw Geoff's section, so I didn't know where he was,”; Leonard said. “;And then when I got to 18, I saw he was at 19 under, so it was a little deflating, to say the least.”;

Leonard shot an 8-under 65 to move into a tie for second with D.J. Trahan at 13-under 206. The only problem for Leonard? Ogilvy also shot a 65, leaving Leonard six shots off the pace.

“;Hats off to him,”; Leonard said. “;He's obviously playing great. But I'm just going to go out and try to continue getting the rust off, like I have the last couple of days, and, you know, try to end the week on a good note.”;

Leonard and several other Americans on the leaderboard are trying to snap a string where foreign golfers have captured this winners-only event seven consecutive years. Ogilvy believes it's only a coincidence that foreigners have done so well here and concedes he hasn't won anything yet.

“;There's a lot of us who have played probably more recently than a lot of the American guys,”; Ogilvy said. Leonard hasn't played much golf since the Texas Open in October. “;A lot of the American guys maybe finished at Disney (in November) or something like that two months ago.

“;We finished the Australian Open and that was three weeks ago and they were playing in South Africa recently. Yeah, that would be the only reason, maybe we've played more recently, but probably just a coincidence.”;

Leonard brought the golf clubs out of the closest in December to play at Chevron (Tiger Woods' tournament), but that's hardly enough to shake off all the rust.

“;It was the first time I played since October,”; Leonard said. “;So I practiced for a week or so, then put the clubs up for another couple of weeks to go skiing. I've played pretty nicely the last couple of days.”;

Choi comes to life

K.J. Choi didn't equal the 11-under 62 course record he shot here in 2003, but he wasn't far off the pace after carding a 7-under 66 yesterday to move from a tie for 15th to eighth at 10-under 208.

The defending champion at this week's Sony Open in Hawaii, Choi had a bogey at the first, then reeled off eight birdies, including four in a row on the back nine before bogeying the 16th. He finished with a birdie at the last and seems to be rounding into form for the first full-field event on the PGA Tour.

Parker hanging in

Local boy Parker McLachlin carded his second consecutive 69 to move to 4 under. After going as high as 6 over on Thursday, the Punahou School graduate has played the last 40 holes in 10 under.

He said after yesterday's round that he left a few shots on the course, but was pleased with his performance this early in the year. He remained in a tie for 24th place.