By

POSTED: Saturday, January 17, 2009

Expecting “;Waterworld”; and getting “;Summer Rain”; instead, the apocalyptic doom predicted to hit the Waialae Country Club yesterday didn't happen during the second round of the Sony Open in Hawaii.

               

     

 

HOLE OF THE DAY: STEVE MARINO, NO. 17                 The par-3 17th is one of the more picturesque holes at the Waialae Country Club and difficult to play in the Kona wind. Coming hard directly into Marino's face, he hit his iron off the tee into the right bunker about 40 feet from the hole. With the sand a little wet and heavy, Marino hoisted his second shot short of the green and right into the Bermuda grass about 20 feet from the cup.

Those who live here pulled the plug on the severe weather channel long ago, but PGA Tour officials took it to heart, moving up certain tees and slowing the greens to help the players deal with the sky-is-falling forecast.

Granted, the wind blew and the rain fell, but it only made things more difficult, not impossible for the 142 golfers in the field. To quote Carl Spackler from “;Caddyshack:”;

“;I'd keep playing. I don't think the heavy stuff is going to come down for quite awhile.”;

Second-day leaders Nathan Green and Tom Pernice Jr. took that message to heart. Green posted his 8-under 132 on back-to-back 66s. Pernice caught him with an eagle at the last to post a 7-under 63 yesterday, a bit of a surprise for the man who becomes eligible for the Champions Tour in September.

The unlikely twosome holds a one-shot advantage on first-day leader Shigeki Maruyama (68) and Brian Gay (67) at 133. Zach Johnson (65) and PGA Tour rookie Webb Simpson (68) are tied for fifth at 6-under 134. There are four golfers tied for seventh at 5-under 135, including Charles Howell III. With seven holes remaining, Howell was in danger of missing the cut at even par for his round, but closed with birdie, birdie, eagle to shoot a 68.

Howell's eagle at the ninth from 13 feet was more conventional than Pernice's at the par-5 closing hole. He hit a knockdown sand wedge from 92 yards right into the cup to put him into contention for his third tour win.

“;The finish was spectacular and it's always a surprise,”; Pernice said.

“;You're not thinking about holing it from the fairway. Yeah, it was tough out there today. Luckily, I scraped it around when I needed to and didn't make any bogeys. I just kind of hung in there. And when I hit some good shots, I made some putts, so you know, it's kind of what you're supposed to try to do in conditions like this and I'm very fortunate that it all worked out.”;

Pernice has been around so long, he played in the 1986 United Airlines Hawaiian Open won by 2010 Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin. Paul Azinger, who just made the cut with a 3-over 73, finished second that year. Pernice missed the cut by seven shots.

“;The people at Waialae have been nothing but gracious ever since we've been coming,”; Pernice said. “;It's a special week. I have a lot of friends and members here at the golf club. It's a very friendly week for us.”;

Waialae has been kind to Green as well. In his first year on tour in 2006, the Aussie finished fifth here to Toms. He played his final round with 2005 Sony Open champion Vijay Singh. Last year, Green tied for 34th. He likes the course, but his on-again, off-again relationship with Bermuda greens will tell the story.

“;I just like the golf course,”; Green said. “;I think I've always hit the ball reasonably low and it's just whether I putt well on the greens as to how I play. I've sort of done reasonably well on the greens so far. They are perfect and the ball is rolling pretty well. I'm sort of hit and miss on Bermuda.”;

Maruyama has been more hit than miss during his tours of duty at Waialae. This is his 11th straight appearance at the Sony. He's only missed the cut twice and even tied for third here in 2005.

“;The greens were a little slower today than they were yesterday,”; Maruyama said. “;But I hit the ball well. I'm real happy to be where I am right now. The conditions were just as tough as they were the first day. The wind direction was pretty much the same. It's just a little different. A couple of squalls came through and the rain made it difficult.”;

---

SECOND-ROUND RESULTS

At Honolulu
Purse: $5.4 million, par-70

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Nathan Green	66-66	—	132
Tom Pernice, Jr.	69-63	—	132
Shigeki Maruyama	65-68	—	133
Brian Gay	66-67	—	133
Zach Johnson	69-65	—	134
Webb Simpson	66-68	—	134
Steve Marino	68-67	—	135
Geoff Ogilvy	66-69	—	135
Boo Weekley	66-69	—	135
Charles Howell III	67-68	—	135
David Toms	70-66	—	136
Stewart Cink	71-65	—	136
David Mathis	68-68	—	136
Briny Baird	69-67	—	136
Wil Collins	69-67	—	136
Luke Donald	67-70	—	137
George McNeill	69-68	—	137
Adam Scott	71-66	—	137
K.J. Choi	68-69	—	137
Brian Davis	69-68	—	137
Chris Stroud	67-70	—	137
Hideto Tanihara	72-65	—	137
Troy Kelly	71-66	—	137
Kevin Na	72-65	—	137
Ted Purdy	69-69	—	138
Cliff Kresge	69-69	—	138
Steve Stricker	70-68	—	138
Greg Owen	71-67	—	138
Jeff Klauk	69-69	—	138
Marc Leishman	72-66	—	138
Troy Matteson	71-67	—	138
Tim Wilkinson	68-70	—	138
Cameron Beckman	72-66	—	138
Kenny Perry	69-69	—	138
D.J. Trahan	71-67	—	138
Rory Sabbatini	68-70	—	138
Glen Day	70-68	—	138
Kevin Streelman	70-69	—	139
Jerry Kelly	67-72	—	139
Sean O'Hair	71-68	—	139
Jarrod Lyle	70-69	—	139
Scott Piercy	67-72	—	139
Jimmy Walker	73-66	—	139
Tim Herron	68-71	—	139
Michael Letzig	69-70	—	139
Bill Haas	68-71	—	139
Bob Estes	72-67	—	139
Harrison Frazar	69-70	—	139
Steve Lowery	71-68	—	139
Michael Allen	72-68	—	140
Jeff Overton	71-69	—	140
Brendon Todd	69-71	—	140
Junpei Takayama	71-69	—	140
Scott Sterling	71-69	—	140
Spencer Levin	71-69	—	140
Tag Ridings	71-69	—	140
Bart Bryant	71-69	—	140
John Merrick	70-70	—	140
Chez Reavie	70-70	—	140
Arjun Atwal	69-71	—	140
Tadd Fujikawa	71-69	—	140
Matthew Borchert	73-67	—	140
Tim Petrovic	69-72	—	141
Joe Durant	73-68	—	141
Tim Clark	71-70	—	141
Alex Cejka	72-69	—	141
Arron Oberholser	68-73	—	141
Richard S. Johnson	70-71	—	141
Ernie Els	72-69	—	141
Matt Bettencourt	73-68	—	141
Casey Wittenberg	71-70	—	141
Azuma Yano	71-70	—	141
Jeff Quinney	71-70	—	141
Andres Romero	73-68	—	141
Ryuji Imada	71-70	—	141
Paul Azinger	68-73	—	141
D.A. Points	68-73	—	141
Tommy Gainey	71-70	—	141
Failed to Qualify
Vaughn Taylor	71-71	—	142
Bubba Watson	72-70	—	142
Dean Wilson	73-69	—	142
Jeff Sluman	73-69	—	142
John Senden	72-70	—	142
Chris DiMarco	72-70	—	142
Daniel Chopra	71-71	—	142
Brendon de Jonge	67-75	—	142
Derek Fathauer	73-69	—	142
Aron Price	71-71	—	142
Billy Mayfair	73-69	—	142
Pat Perez	71-71	—	142
David Berganio, Jr.	69-73	—	142
Will MacKenzie	74-68	—	142
Joe Ogilvie	70-72	—	142
Davis Love III	72-70	—	142
Peter Lonard	70-72	—	142
Paul Goydos	73-70	—	143
Marc Turnesa	71-72	—	143
Chris Couch	72-71	—	143
Gary Woodland	68-75	—	143
Hiroshi Iwata	72-71	—	143
Jason Dufner	72-71	—	143
Shintaro Kai	72-71	—	143
Peter Tomasulo	73-70	—	143
Loren Roberts	74-70	—	144
Mark Wilson	71-73	—	144
Johnson Wagner	76-68	—	144
Robert Garrigus	70-74	—	144
Kirk Triplett	74-70	—	144
Brad Faxon	71-73	—	144
Greg Chalmers	73-72	—	145
Corey Pavin	75-70	—	145
Greg Kraft	73-72	—	145
Carl Pettersson	73-72	—	145
Tomohiro Kondo	73-72	—	145
Heath Slocum	76-69	—	145
Matt Kuchar	73-72	—	145
James Nitties	74-71	—	145
Bill Lunde	72-73	—	145
Colt Knost	75-70	—	145
Alex Aragon	73-72	—	145
Sang-moon Bae	74-71	—	145
Bo Van Pelt	72-74	—	146
Rich Beem	73-73	—	146
Kris Blanks	74-72	—	146
Scott Gutschewski	76-71	—	147
Nicholas Thompson	73-74	—	147
Leif Olson	74-73	—	147
Ricky Barnes	74-73	—	147
Lorens Chan	72-75	—	147
Martin Laird	75-73	—	148
J.B. Holmes	73-75	—	148
Notah Begay III	74-74	—	148
John Lepak	76-72	—	148
Rick Price	77-71	—	148
Eric Axley	73-76	—	149
James Oh	73-77	—	150
John Lynch	78-72	—	150
Parker McLachlin	73-77	—	150
Jeff Maggert	77-74	—	151
John Mallinger	76-75	—	151
Brian Vranesh	81-71	—	152
Tyler Aldridge	76-77	—	153

TODAY'S TEE TIMES

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

8:03 a.m.	D.A. Points	Tommy Gainey
8:12 a.m.	Ryuji Imada	Paul Azinger
8:21 a.m.	Jeff Quinney	Andres Romero
8:30 a.m.	Casey Wittenberg	Azuma Yano
8:39 a.m.	Ernie Els	Matt Bettencourt
8:48 a.m.	Arron Oberholser	Richard S. Johnson
8:57 a.m.	Tim Clark	Alex Cejka
9:06 a.m.	Tim Petrovic	Joe Durant
9:15 a.m.	Tadd Fujikawa	Matthew Borchert
9:24 a.m.	Chez Reavie	Arjun Atwal
9:33 a.m.	Bart Bryant	John Merrick
9:42 a.m.	Spencer Levin	Tag Ridings
9:51 a.m.	Junpei Takayama	Scott Sterling
10 a.m.	Jeff Overton	Brendon Todd
10:09 a.m.	Steve Lowery	Michael Allen
10:18 a.m.	Bob Estes	Harrison Frazar
10:27 a.m.	Michael Letzig	Bill Haas
10:36 a.m.	Jimmy Walker	Tim Herron
10:45 a.m.	Jarrod Lyle	Scott Piercy
10:54 a.m.	Jerry Kelly	Sean O'Hair
11:03 a.m.	Glen Day	Kevin Streelman
11:12 a.m.	D.J. Trahan	Rory Sabbatini
11:21 a.m.	Cameron Beckman	Kenny Perry
11:30 a.m.	Troy Matteson	Tim Wilkinson
11:39 a.m.	Jeff Klauk	Marc Leishman
11:48 a.m.	Steve Stricker	Greg Owen
11:57 a.m.	Ted Purdy	Cliff Kresge
12:06 p.m.	Troy Kelly	Kevin Na
12:15 p.m.	Chris Stroud	Hideto Tanihara
12:24 p.m.	K.J. Choi	Brian Davis
12:33 p.m.	George McNeill	Adam Scott
12:42 p.m.	Wil Collins	Luke Donald
12:51	David Mathis	Briny Baird
1 p.m.	David Toms	Stewart Cink
1:09 p.m.	Boo Weekley	Charles Howell III
1:18 p.m.	Steve Marino	Geoff Ogilvy
1:27 p.m.	Zach Johnson	Webb Simpson
1:36 p.m.	Shigeki Maruyama	Brian Gay
1:45 p.m.	Nathan Green	Tom Pernice Jr.