Day: January 12, 2019

Jordan Spieth finds fight but misses cut at Sony Open in HawaiiJordan Spieth finds fight but misses cut at Sony Open in Hawaii

HONOLULU, Hawaii – Jordan Spieth felt like he was trying to win the Sony Open in Hawaii late Friday but in reality he was fighting to make the cut. He failed either way. But the 11-time PGA TOUR winner was cautiously optimistic going forward as he found some fight in his game and his putting turned around from a poor first day. After a scratchy opening 3-over 73 on Thursday, Spieth did his best to make a run to the weekend but his 66 would fall just a shot short. Three birdies in the final four holes just wasn’t enough and at one under total Spieth was sent home early. “I love the way we fought back there at the end. That was fun. I felt like I was trying to win a golf tournament just to make the cut, which is not really something I want to get used to, but early in the season when I started the day 17 shots back, it was something where I could actually feel some pressure and make adjustments, too,â€� Spieth explained. “I’ve missed cuts before and gone on and won my next event; I’ve finished runner-up my next event. It’s not like an all-tell. I knew coming in that the game was off and needed to kind of start to fine tune. So I’m in a good space given what happened. “It’s a learning experience, but I’m tired of learning experiences though.â€� In a week where his putting was put under the microscope Spieth rebounded from a -2.878 (ranked 136th) Strokes Gained: Putting Thursday with a +2.506 (ranked ninth) effort Friday. RELATED: Round 2, Sony Open in Hawaii It was much improved although he was left to rue a costly three-putt on the 12th hole and a tough 10-foot birdie try on 17 that curled away late. The former FedExCup champion believes it could have been even better had he trusted himself earlier.  “I put a really bad stroke on a par putt on six today. I had been thinking about my stroke on every putt I had hit from yesterday until that hole, and I just told myself, just point, aim, and shoot and stop thinking,â€� Spieth said. “Because I’ve been working on my stroke so much that I’m thinking about doing the path of the stroke and if you think about the stroke you’ve got no touch or feel. “From there on, just point, aim, shoot, and I just started making everything. Wish I had figured that out like the third hole in the tournament not 30-something holes in.â€� Spieth is still trying to get his long game in order also claiming he had “three or four different golf swingsâ€� during the week when he’s never played prior with “more than just one feel.â€� He is hopeful he’ll be better prepared when he tees it up at the Farmers Insurance Open on January 24. He started the week at 191st in the FedExCup and will not add to his tally in Hawaii as he looks to rebound from missing the TOUR Championship for the first time in his career last season. “I didn’t play well, but it was kind of trying to find what I need to work on to then dial it in,â€� he explained. “The move I’m trying to do with my swing, it’s most difficult and impossible to do on course. Just the timing of it is just not consistent yet. “I’m trying to just develop a way to make this downswing-feel work. Once it clicks, I’ll be right back where I need to be. Until then, it’s a little inconsistent in the long clubs. “For not playing well at all and being on the bad end of the draw, to miss the cut by one is reassuring.â€�

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Birdie run gives Kuchar 1-shot Sony Open leadBirdie run gives Kuchar 1-shot Sony Open lead

Matt Kuchar ran off four birdies in five holes to start his second round Friday on his way to a second consecutive 63 and a one-shot lead over Andrew Putnam heading into the third round in Hawai’i.

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Kuchar takes 1-shot lead at Sony Open in HawaiiKuchar takes 1-shot lead at Sony Open in Hawaii

HONOLULU — The easygoing vibe in Hawaii is a perfect fit for Matt Kuchar, who spends as much as a month at a time on the islands when his schedule allows. The Sony Open in Hawaii is more about work than play, and he’s having just as much fun. Kuchar ran off four birdies in five holes to start his second round Friday, handled the par 5s at Waialae again and finished with another round of 7-under 63 to take a one-shot lead over Andrew Putnam. “To shoot 7 under back-to-back is unexpected, but awfully excited,” Kuchar said with the same smile he wears for most any occasion. Kuchar was at 14-under 126, matching the lowest 36-hole score of his PGA TOUR career. He also had a 126 in Las Vegas in 2008. Putnam, playing in the afternoon, had a bogey-free 65 and was one shot behind. Chez Reavie (65) and Stewart Cink (62) were four behind. Jordan Spieth had a short week after a long break from golf. In his 2019 debut, Spieth had a 66 and missed the cut by one shot. Needing to birdie the last four holes to qualify for the weekend, Spieth ran off two birdies, missed a 10-foot birdie putt and then narrowly missed chipping in for eagle. “I loved the fight,” Spieth said. “I feel like I was trying to win the tournament trying to make the cut, which is not something I want to get used to.” He returns in two weeks at Torrey Pines. No one had a more memorable round than Reavie. He holed out for eagle three times from the fairway — a sand wedge from 101 yards on No. 10 at the start of his round; a 9-iron from 149 yards on No. 16, and a gap wedge from 135 yards on No. 6. The PGA TOUR only began keeping hole-by-hole records in 1983, and no one had ever made three eagles in one round on par 4s since then. Reavie didn’t think all that much about it until he piped a drive on No. 8 and hit a wedge that covered the flag. “It was on a good line, and that was the only time it crossed my mind — `Wow, could we make another one?'” he said. “The other two, I just hit the shot I was trying to see and it was going at the hole. Never expected it to go in. It’s always a surprise when it disappears.” So odd was this round that Reavie made more eagles than birdies, and the one shot that made him think the ball might go in the hole led to a par. “Apparently, I need to go buy a lottery ticket today,” Reavie said. That would be a good idea, except Hawaii doesn’t have a lottery. For now, he has to figure out how to make up four shots on Kuchar. Cink made nine birdies in his round of 62. Marc Leishman (64) and Ted Potter Jr. (65) were at 9-under 131. Kuchar sometimes comes to Hawaii with his wife and two kids even when he’s not playing golf. He has been to five of the islands, and plans to stay another few weeks after the Sony Open. He likes it better when he can play a few tournaments. He became eligible for the winners-only field at Kapalua last week by winning at another beach resort — Mayakoba — last year, opening with rounds of 64-64, the kind of start he has enjoyed at Waialae. Clearly, the 40-year-old is in a better spot than when he had gone more than three years without winning and was left off the Ryder Cup team for the first time in 10 years. He felt as though he was grinding too hard, and that’s not a trait he wears well. DIVOTS: Keith Mitchell had a hole-in-one on the seventh hole with an 8-iron from 176 yards. … Of the five players over 50 in the field, Steve Stricker and Davis Love III made the cut. Stricker holed a 55-foot eagle putt on his last hole to make it on the number.

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Matt Kuchar takes 1-shot lead at Sony OpenMatt Kuchar takes 1-shot lead at Sony Open

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Leaderboard: Second round of Sony OpenLeaderboard: Second round of Sony Open

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Stewart Cink looking to end droughtStewart Cink looking to end drought

HONOLULU, Hawaii – Stewart Cink is looking to continue a trend from 2018 on the PGA TOUR. The 45-year-old hasn’t won on TOUR for nearly nine and a half years but he was a keen observer last year as no less than 11 players broke significant win droughts. On Friday at the Sony Open in Hawaii Cink put up an 8-under 62 to move to 10 under, within striking distance of Matt Kuchar’s 14 under lead. Indeed Kuchar (1,667 days) was one of the players to break a drought in 2018. Charles Howell III (4,292 days), Paul Casey (3262 days), Kevin Na (2,472 days), Keegan Bradley (2,227 days), Ted Potter Jr. (2,045 days), Ian Poulter (1,975 days), Tiger Woods (1,876 days), Phil Mickelson (1,687 days), Webb Simpson (1,666 days) and Gary Woodland (1,646 days) also snapped the famine. Sunday would represent 3,466 days since Cink claimed the 2009 Open Championship in a playoff over Tom Watson for his sixth TOUR win. He had his chances last season. Cink finished T4 at the FedEx St. Jude Classic, T2 at the Travelers Championship and T4 at the PGA Championship last summer showing there is plenty of life in his game. On Friday he needed just 24 putts on the way to nine birdies with just a lone bogey. “It was a great day out there. Really all facets of the game were firing,â€� Cink enthused. “Drove it well and hit a lot of good irons. Rolled in a lot of putts from the range that really makes a difference in your score, which is like, say, 10 to 20 feet. Had a lot of putts like that and made a lot today. “That’s kind of a hallmark of my game over my whole career, is I do have a lot of putts in that range because usually I’m one of the better ball-strikers. When you see them going in the game feels a little bit easy.â€� Indeed Cink gained over two and a half strokes on the field in Strokes Gained: Putting Friday. He was 15 of 18 inside 20-feet.

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