DIVOTS

Love those eagles

Waialae yielded 35 eagles over four rounds, 34 coming at holes 9 and 18, both par 5s. The exception occurred when Davis Love III holed his shot from 118 yards out on the 16th hole to highlight a round of 67 on his way to a fifth-place finish at 11-under 269. The ball hit past the pin, then spun back into the cup.

“;I said I better hit it past the pin, so I snuck it back a little bit and just got lucky,”; said Love, one of five players who shot four rounds in the 60s. “;That was exciting. It made up for a couple of putts I missed and I was able to finish the round.”;

Thorny situation for Estes

It was an expensive day for Bob Estes, who struggled to a 78 yesterday to drop 37 places. He had three double-bogeys, but he could still find a positive in the trials.

His tee shot on the fifth hole drifted right, hit a cart path and bounded into the shrubs running alongside the Kalanianaole Highway onramp. He put on a jacket to protect himself while searching through the thicket, took an unplayable lie and his drop stuck in the soft soil. Ducking under a limb, his next shot traveled about 25 feet. Two swings later, he put his approach within a foot of the cup.

“;So it was a good 6,”; Estes said.

Payday for Hayashi

Hilo's Kevin Hayashi earned $9,900 in his first paycheck from a PGA Tour event. Hayashi made the cut to play a weekend round in the Sony Open for the first time. But he didn't survive a second cut on Saturday and finished in 80th place.

Maggert in a rush

Jeff Maggert played like a man who couldn't wait to get off the course. Indeed, he had a good reason or two.

Playing as a solo with the first tee time (8 a.m.), Maggert battled a stomach virus while grinding out a final-round 75—285. He finished in under 2 1/2 hours, nearly an hour ahead of the next pairing of Stewart Cink and Ryuji Imada.

“;I didn't know if I was going to make it all the way around today,”; said Maggert, who hurried off to try to catch an early flight. “;I was kind of whupped from the long week, didn't have much energy.”;

He left having turned in what was then the longest drive of the day, a 285-yarder on No. 18. At 10:18 a.m., he had no competition.

Goose cuts loose

South African Retief Goosen had the best round of the week yesterday with a closing 8-under 62. Needing at least a birdie at the last to have a chance to win, he managed only a par with a disappointing second shot into the green.

“;That shot was a little bit between a five and a six,”; Goosen said of his iron shot from about 222 yards. “;It's not a bad place to be on this hole, you know. I went with a six and probably tried to hit it maybe a little bit too hard and came out of it. I hit a great bunker shot, but played too much break on the putt.”;

He still finished alone in fourth at 12-under 268 for the week, but had he posted an eagle to shoot 60, that might have given the leaders more than they could shoot for down the stretch. Goosen opened with a bogey, but still managed to overcome it the rest of the way.

“;You know you want to get off to a good start, make you feel like you could get a round going and I made bogey,”; Goosen said. “;I then hit a very good second into the second to about 2 feet and I'm on my way.”;

Stricker, Howell get close again

Steve Stricker enjoys the classic design of the Waialae Country Club, and his scores here back that up. He has posted seven top-15 finishes here in 11 starts. This is the second time he has finished a solo third.

The Wisconsin native also has ties for fourth in 2007 and 2008, a tie for seventh in 1998 when it was the Hawaiian Open and two ties for 14th in 1994 and 2000.

And don't forget Charles Howell III. After an opening-round 73 left him in a tie for 102nd place, his closing rounds were 66-66-64 to garner him a tie for fifth. In nine career starts here, Howell has top-five finishes in 2010 (T5), 2009 (fourth), 2007 (T2), 2005 (T3) and 2002 (T4).

Ernie still has it

South African Ernie Els continued his torrid pace at Waialae Country Club. The man who won here back to back in 2003 and 2004 finished in a tie for 12th at 8-under 272. He has managed rounds in the 60s 24 out of 28 times. He has recorded top-10 finishes in five of seven appearances.

Inside the numbers

Yesterday's scoring average of 69.282 was the lowest of the week, dropping the cumulative total to 70.062. The par-4 second hole was the toughest this week at 4.270. The easiest was the par-5 ninth at 4.437. The statistical leaders of the week were Bubba Watson in driving distance at 322.1 yards, with Paul Goydos winning the accuracy award at 78.57 percent (44 of 56).

Greens in regulation was a tie between Robert Allenby and John Merrick at 79.2 percent (57 of 72) with Brian Gay winning the putts per round at 26.00.

Paul Arnett, Cindy Luis and Jason Kaneshiro, Star-Bulletin