The Live Report, Rd. 1: Sony Open in Hawaii
By PGATOUR.COM Staff
The Sony Open in Hawaii is the first full-field event of the 2009 PGA TOUR season. PGATOUR.COM is on the scene in Honolulu. We'll provide updates all day long, so check back often. (All timestamps listed for Eastern Time.) If you want to share your thoughts and join our discussion, click here.
MARUYAMA MAGIC (11:50 p.m.): None of Shigeki Maruyama's three PGA TOUR wins came at Waialae Country Club, but he's still had a lot of success at the Sony Open in Hawaii.
He's had three top-10 finishes in 10 starts at Waialae, including a tie for third in 2005. He is playing in the Sony Open this year on a sponsor's exemption after losing his TOUR card last year when he finished 207th on the money list.
Maruyama is making the most of the opportunity, too, shooting a 65 that gave him a one-stroke lead over Geoff Ogilvy, Boo Weekley, Brian Gay and rookie Webb Simpson.
Maruyama, who battled shoulder and knee injuries last year, played in 18 TOUR events in 2008 with his best finish, a tie for 25th, ironically coming at Waialae. He returned to his native Japan after withdrawing from the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee.
"It was a number of things last year," Maruyama said through an interpreter. "Physically, mentally, emotionally; so that's why I went back to Japan, got my batteries recharged, rested a little bit, got my body back in shape. I feel a lot better now."
Maruyama, whose nickname is the "Smiling Assassin," said he regained that infectious grin when he went back to Japan where he played in nine tournaments, posting two third-place finishes and ended up 36th on the money list.
Since the only status Maruyama has on TOUR is as a past champion, he's considering playing more in his homeland.
"I'm coming onto my 40th birthday, and being from Japan, it's easier for me to play in Japan. Basically, I'm thinking of playing a full schedule in Japan," he said.
"However, I have a home here in the United States. My boy, Sean, goes to school here and if my game progresses to that point where I can be competitive here on the U.S. Tour, I may play more here. But we'll just wait and see on that."
A win on Sunday would give Maruyama the security of a two-year exemption. Would he like to play more in the U.S.?
"Yes," Maruyama said. There's that smile again. -- Helen Ross
THE GOOD, BAD AND THE UGLY (11:05 p.m.): The first round of the first full-field event of the season is now complete and Geoff Ogilvy is making a strong case that he's ready to move into the next tier of players on the PGA TOUR.
Ogilvy, who blew the field away at the Mercedes-Benz Championship last week, is at again, this time on the island of Oahu, where he's one shot back of leader Shigeki Maruyama. Ogilvy's game is A-flight, and if he keeps putting like this -- he took just 24 putts Thursday -- then he's going to continue to be there.
And how about Maruyama? He was ranked 207th on the money list last year, 105th the year before. If he's going to play well, don't be surprised it's at this event. He was T25 last year and in 2005 was T3 here.
Boo Weekley also showed that last season wasn't a fluke and he's going to be around for the forseeable future. He's also just one shot back.
The biggest surprise of the day? The fact that Ernie Els ended the day not only 2 over, but bogeyed Nos. 17 and 18, two of the easiest holes on the course. His string of five top 5s in this event is in serious danger.
What to look for tomorrow: A lot is going to depend on the weather. Some major storms are expected to roll through -- so much so that schools in the already announced they'll be closed Friday. -- Brian Wacker
CROWDED LEADERBOARD (10:45 p.m.): A crowd is forming at Waialae. After four 66s and three 67s were shot in the morning wave, good play continued in the afternoon. Despite blustery conditions and several heavy rain showers, another handful of players have jumped to the top of the leaderboard. At this moment there are 13 players either tied for the lead or a shot back.
Par 70s like Waialae tend to create traffic jams at the top because there are only two par-5s. The easiest hole on the golf course is the par-5 ninth, which is playing nearly an entire shot under par. The home hole, 18, is usually reachable. However, today the tee shot at 18 played back into the wind, causing most of the field to lay up.
Even though the board is crowded, don't expect a playoff on Sunday afternoon unless maybe Ernie Els is in the mix. Since the course was reconfigured to a par 70 a decade ago there have only been two playoffs -- and Els won both of them. -- John Maginnes
DONALD FEELING GOOD AGAIN (10:19 p.m.): Luke Donald called his 67 a "good, solid start."
Even better was the fact that he had no twinges or pain in his left wrist. Donald had surgery to repair a tendon in August and just began hitting full wedges on Nov. 3.
A month later, he played in the Nedbank Challenge and Chevron World Challenge presented by Bank of America. He closed with a 66 in the tournament Tiger Woods hosts and finished eighth, but this is his first start in a full-field event.
"Tough conditions today,' Donald said. "It was quite blustery and a few rain showers didn't help. I played nicely today. I had a nice little run at 10, 11, 12 and made birdie, and that was my round really.
"I played pretty solid most of the day and made a couple of silly bogeys, but I think you are going to do that on days like this. So made plenty of birdies, so it's always a good sign, swinging well, and controlling my trajectory well."
Actually, Donald wasn't giving himself enough credit. He rolled in four straight birdies, not three, starting on the ninth hole. He was just off the fringe on the par-5 ninth hole in two and rolled in a 5-footer for the first birdie, then added putts of 5 feet, 16 inches and 10 feet to move to 3 under. -- Helen Ross
ROUGH CONDITIONS AHEAD? (10:00 p.m.): Things could get interesting tomorrow at the Sony Open in Hawaii. According to the Education Department in Hawaii, all public schools on Oahu, Kauai, Maui, Molokai and Lanai will be closed tomorrow. Only state and district office employees should report to work. Meanwhile, schools on the big island of Hawaii will be open.
By contrast, several schools in Steve Stricker's and Jerry Kelly's native Wisconsin were also closed and may be again tomorrow -- albeit for a far different reason as temperatures across that region dipped well below zero. Chicago resident Luke Donald was happy to be joining Kelly and Stricker in the Aloha state, telling the Golf Channel, with a smile, "I heard it was 1 degree there or something today."
If the winds are gusting as hard tomorrow as they have today in Hawaii, you can expect officials to keep the tee boxes up at Waialae. -- Brian Wacker
TOUGH SCORING (9:48 p.m.): How much different is this week's Sony Open in Hawaii from last week's Mercedes-Benz Championship? About as different as the weather in Hawaii compared to, say, half the country, even if the wind is blowing hard at Waialae.
Approximately two-thirds of the field this week is above par at the moment, compared to very few players last week. That includes John Huston, who's mired at the bottom of the leaderboard at 10 over. Want another example? Only about 40 percent of the players have hit the green on No. 17, a 184-yard par-3.
Meanwhile, there are now eight players tied atop the leaderboard at 4 under. -- Brian Wacker
WELCOME TO THE TOUR (9:20 p.m.): The new leader, at least for the moment, ought to make lots of folks in and around the Jacksonville, Fla., area happy. Rookie Jeff Klauk just moved to 5 under with his fifth birdie of the day through his first 11 holes.
Klauk earned his TOUR card after finishing third on the Nationwide Tour money list. The 30-year-old rookie had five top 10s in 2008, including a win at the Melwood Prince George's County Open.
At the other end of that spectrum is fellow rookie Brian Vranseh, who shot a 43 on the front that featured four bogeys and two double-bogeys.
Meanwhile, Darron Stiles, who struggled to an 8-over 78 today, has withdrawn from the tournament for personal reasons. -- Brian Wacker
HANGING CHAD (8:48 p.m.): Wondering where Chad Campbell is this week? He was in Hawaii, he's just not in the field. That's because Campbell actually forgot to sign up for the tournament and he didn't realize it until he took the eight-hour flight from his home in Dallas to Honolulu.
"Not good," Campbell told the Associated Press on Thursday from his home outside Dallas. "I had actually thought about it on the plane, that there was a chance I didn't commit. I found out when I got off the plane."
Campbell didn't get to Hawaii until Saturday -- the deadline to enter a tournament is Friday. It's too bad, because Campbell was the runner-up here three years ago. Campbell, currently ranked 64th in the world, was also looking forward to a good start to the year and securing a spot in next month's World Golf Championships-Acenture Match Play Championship.
"It's one of my top five favorite tournaments we play all year," Campbell said. "It's one of my favorite golf courses. That's what (stinks) more than anything."
Campbell did manage to squeeze in one round of golf at a course in the area, however, before catching a flight back to Dallas. -- Brian Wacker
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
MARUYAMA MAKES A MOVE (8:35 p.m.): After finishing 207th on the money list in 2008, it's safe to say Shigeki Maruyama wasn't on many people's radar coming into this week. Maybe he should have been. His best finish of last year? A T25 at, where else, the Sony Open in Hawaii. Two years ago, he finished T3 here with an ace on the fourth hole during the third round.
Right now, Maruyama is 4 under through his first nine holes, despite increasingly windy and difficult conditions. He has birdies on Nos. 2, 4, 7 and 8 with just 12 total putts. -- Brian Wacker
TOUGH TRACK (8:15 p.m.): How hard is to hit the fairways at Waialae Country Club on a windy day? Ask 2008 Rookie of the year Andres Romero or Rory Sabbatini. They were among six players in the morning wave to only hit four of the 14 fairways. The 7,044-yard layout is short by today's standards on the PGA TOUR and only changes elevation by a few feet. However, on a windy day a player can feel claustrophobic standing on several of these tees.
No surprise that the strait-hitting Zach Johnson led the way in the morning wave with 11 of 14 fairways hit. Interestingly enough, Sabbatini actually clipped Zach by a shot. Zach shot 69, while the fiery South African scrambled his way to 68. -- John Maginnes
SO MUCH FOR SUPERSTITION (8:00 p.m): Geoff Ogilvy may be tied for the lead at the Sony Open in Hawaii, but it looks like he won't be growing a beard this time.
He didn't shave after grabbing the first-round lead at last week's season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship and he went on to win the tournament. He found a razor after he came to Oahu, though, and there was no stubble Thursday as he shot 66 at windswept Waialae Country Club.
"I shaved last night," Ogilvy said. "I had a decent day so maybe I have to run the opposite superstition this week. I quite like the feeling of clean shaven, so I'll stick to it this week maybe." -- Helen Ross
TALENTED TRIO (7:50 p.m.): Geoff Ogilvy, Boo Weekley and Kenny Perry would probably have won a best-ball competition Thursday at the Sony Open in Hawaii.
The three were a combined 9 under with Ogilvy and Weekley tied for the lead at 4 under with Brian Gay and rookie Webb Simpson.
"It's nice when your whole group is going well," said Ogilvy, who won the Mercedes-Benz Championship. "Boo is always fun to play with, and Kenny is one of the nicest guys in the world, so it was a nice group and nice that we all had a good one."
Weekley agreed.
"We fed off each other a little bit here and there," Weekley said. "(Geoff is) a well-rounded player. He's pretty solid. Right now he's feeling the magic. He's feeling his swing, what he's doing.
"If I can just hang with him, I think I might have a chance." -- Helen Ross
WIND HAVING AN EFFECT (7:35 p.m.): Tim Wilkinson is from Palmerstown, New Zealand, so the 5-foot7, 160-pounder is comfortable playing in the wind. Not that it would be his preference.
He got up early to prepare for his 7:20 a.m. tee time, and the second-year TOUR pro immediately realized it was going to be a tough day.
"It was windy right from then start," Wilkinson said "I woke up this morning about 4:15 and it was blowing pretty hard. I think it will be the same for everyone today.
"Course is good, little soft for the moment, but I think the wind will dry it out. Soft was good, though, because we had a little bit of control with iron shots."
Wilkson birdied two of his last three holes to shoot a solid 68 that left him two strokes off the lead. He says he plays more conservatively when the wind his gusting like it did at Waialae on Thursday.
"You don't go at as many flags (in the wind) -- I know I don't, anyway," Wilkinson said. "Par's a good score out there. That's really the goal: give yourself a good shot at par every hole and hopefully, you might make a couple of birdies." -- Helen Ross
ELS OFF TO ROUGH START (7:20 p.m.): Of the 20 rounds Ernie Els has played at the Sony Open in Hawaii, only two of them have been in the 70s. That may be about to change unless Els turns things around today.
Through his first six holes, Els is 3 over. That's not exactly what you expect from Els at Waialae, where he's won twice and hasn't finished outside the top 5 in five trips here.
On the par-4 first hole, Els' approach flew the green before he two-putted for bogey. On the par-4 fifth, Els found the hazard on his second shot before hitting his approach shot into a greenside bunker. He then two-putted for double-bogey.
That's a pretty stunning start when you consider that Els was in contention at an albeit entirely different Kapalua course last week and his below record at the Sony Open in Hawaii. One more thing: Els is going through some issues with the putter. Keep an eye on that this week. -- Brian Wacker
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LUMPY'S BACK (7:04 p.m.): The temperatures were below zero when Tim Herron left his home in Minnesota.
He played in the Tommy Bahama Challenge last week then flew to Oahu on Saturday to prepare for the Sony Open in Hawaii.
Renewed confidence is his putter has brightened his outlook -- "That's what makes the game fun," Herron said -- and he managed a solid 68 Thursday that left him two strokes off the lead.
The man they call Lumpy made four birdies and dropped just two shots to par on an increasingly blustery day. Several holes were played up because of the wind and Herron said that made things a little more fair.
"I've played where it's blown this hard, but it's just a different direction," he said. "It's warm enough where you can penetrate a few shots. ... What was really nice, it was really playable today.
"The TOUR staff really set the golf course up well, as in moving the tees preparing for the wind." -- Helen Ross
AZINGER ON THE BOARD (6:50 p.m.): Former U.S. Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger has played in just 22 events the past two years -- some of that a product of his captaincy.
One of those, however, has consistently been the Sony Open in Hawaii. He's off to a good start this year with a round of 2-under 70 that included four birdies.
The man who replaced Azinger as captain, Corey Pavin, is also in the field. So far, Pavin is 1 over through is first six holes. -- Brian Wacker
WAGNER'S WOES (6:35 p.m.): Little different start to the week for Johnson Wagner this week. Wagner is 4 over through his first three holes today, having made a mess of No. 1 for double-bogey and found the water off the tee on No. 2. He added another bogey on No. 3.
In contrast, Wagner, a third-year player who recorded his first career victory in Houston last year, birdied three of his first seven holes en route to a 5-under 68 that included an impressive eagle on the 18th at last week's Mercedes-Benz Championship. -- Brian Wacker
LEADERBOARD UPDATE (6:15 p.m.): Add Webb Simpson to the list of those in the clubhouse at 4-under for the day -- along with Geoff Ogilvy, Boo Weekley and Brian Gay. Simpson, who turned pro after a teriffic career at Wake Forest, began his day with a birdie on his first hole, No. 10, before adding three more to close out his round on the front nine. A bogey on the par-4 16th was his lone blemish.
Simspon made it to the PGA TOUR after finishing T7 at q-school. He did, however, play six TOUR events in 2008, making the cut in three of them, with a T31 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational as his best finish. -- Brian Wacker
WEEKLEY UPDATE (5:45 p.m.): Boo Weekley is the early clubhouse leader after firing an opening-round 4-under 66 at Waialae.
Some quick statistics: Despite finding the fairway just 42 percent of the time, Weekley took just 25 putts and was much better than the field average in both greens in regulation and putting average.
His GIR shouldn't come as much of a surprise, however. Weekley ranked 22nd on the PGA TOUR in that category in 2008. His putting average was another story -- he ranked 188th. Translation? When Weekley has the flat stick rolling, he's usually in contention.
Weekley has company, by the way. Mercedes-Benz Championship winner Geoff Ogilvy is also in at 4 under. Below is a look at Ogilvy's card. -- Brian Wacker
HOWELL IN THE HUNT (5:30 p.m.): Charles Howell III has admittedly underachieved in his career, but so far today he's building on some late 2008 momentum to move up the leaderboard -- he's 2 under with three birdies and a bogey through 16 holes.
Howell, who finished T3 at the Turning Stone Resort Championship and T10 at the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open last season, is seeking his first win since 2007 and the third of his career.
"I would be the first to say that I've underachieved," Howell said at Turning Stone last year. "That hasn't been because of the lack of a work ethic or trying or caring or doing anything I can to get better. Whatever happens in my career, I know that I've worked as hard as I damn could."
One reason he's playing well this week: Putting. Through the first 16 holes, he took just 23 putts. Howell ranked 144th in putting average last year. -- Brian Wacker
BOO MAKING BIRDIES: (5:05 p.m.): Boo Weekley has a history of playing well early in the season on the PGA TOUR, and he's off to a solid start in the Sony Open in Hawaii.
Perhaps the conditions -- flat terrain, small greens and plenty of wind -- reminds him of Harbour Town Golf Links, where he's won the last two years .
Weekley birdied three out of four holes on Waialae's difficult front side, moving him to 3 under on a blustery day on the North Shore.
This is Weekley's fourth career start at Waialae, with a best finish of T20 in 2007. -- Ryan Smithson
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ROOKIE WATCH (4:50 p.m.): Among the players under par early Thursday are a couple of rookies -- James Nitties and WIl Collins.
Nitties and Collins are tied for second at 2 under through 11 and nine holes, respectively.
Meanwhile, fellow rookie Ricky Barnes, a former U.S. Amateur champ, was under par until a bogey on No. 11. Nitties and Collins are q-school grads, while Barnes claimed the final spot off the Nationwide Tour money list. -- Helen Ross
GAY CLIMBS UP LEADERBOARD (4:40 p.m.): Brian Gay has forged an early two-stroke lead thanks to a four-birdie, no bogey effor through his first 13 holes. Two of those birdies came on the front nine, so don't be surprised if he makes one or two more before the day is over.
A little background on Gay: He has just one career PGA TOUR victory and it came in his 293rd career start at last year's Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya. However, he had five more top 10s, including at the Byron Nelson Championship and Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. -- Brian Wacker
SLOCUM STRUGGLING (4:15 p.m.): Those of you with Heath Slocum on your fantasy team may want to turn away for a second. Slocum, who had five top 10s and was 61st in FedExCup points last year, is 5 over through his first 14 holes today.
Slocum shot a 40 on the back nine that included three bogeys and a double on the 477-yard, par-4 13th, where he three-putted from just over 11 feet. -- Brian Wacker
WELCOME TO THE TOUR (3:55 p.m.): One of the names that popped up early on the Sony Open leaderboard was Gary Woodland, who started on No. 10 and went on to birdie the first hole of his PGA TOUR career.
Woodland is one of 10 players in the field this week making his first start on TOUR. Woodland, 24, earned his TOUR card the hard way -- he advanced from the first stage of q-school all the way to the finals, where he finished tied for 11th.
Woodland, who has a sociology degree from Kansas, doesn't even have much experience on the Nationwide Tour. He entered a total of just six Nationwide Tour events in 2007 and 2008, making the cut in only two of them.
That lack of experience didn't hurt him early in the first round. Playing with fellow rookies Webb Simpson and John Lepak, Woodland birdied two of his first four holes and played his first nine holes in 1 under. -- Ryan Smithson
OGILVY AT IT AGAIN (3:35 p.m.): It didn't take long for Geoff Ogilvy to find the leaderboard. The winner of last week's Mercedes-Benz Championship is tied atop the leaderboard after posting three birdies and a bogey through his first nine holes (the back nine at Waialae).
Last week, of course, it took three rounds before Ogilvy made a bogey. -- Brian Wacker
WINDY WAIALAE (3:20 p.m.): The weather at Waialae Country Club is beautiful right now, but this is the relative calm before the storm. The breezes that currently are winding through the palm trees are expected to increase later in the afternoon as a cold front starts to move through the island.
The winds are expected to be so strong that local officials have closed the north and west shores of Niihua, Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Maui and the Big Island until 6 p.m. on Friday. That includes the popular Leeward and North Shore beaches, where the waves are expected to reach 20-25 feet.
The high wind watch begins at 6 p.m. Thursday. Rain and sustained winds of up to 40 mph are expected with possible gusts of 50-60 mph. -- Helen Ross
PERRY ON PAR (3:10 p.m.): Kenny Perry is teeing it up this week with some pretty lofty goals. The 48-year-old Kentuckian, who won three times on the PGA TOUR last year to get to 12 career victories, said he's aiming for 20.
"When I turned 40, I've won nine times in my 40s. And for whatever reason, my game came more to me," Perry said at last week's Mercedes-Benz Championship. "My short game came to me. Usually you lose your short game at 40. My chipping is still not great, but the putter is what has really turned my career around, I think, these last few years. I feel very confident, very comfortable over the putts now."
So far at Waialae, however, he's only even par through his first eight holes, having teed off on the easier back nine. In fact, Waialae's back nine is one of the easiest players on TOUR will face all year and the last five holes are among the easiest on the course. For example, the field averaged par or better on Nos. 14-18 in 2008. -- Brian Wacker
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