Quick look at the Workday Charity Open

HONOLULU, Hawaii - There was a new addition to Waialae Country Club on the eve of the Sony Open in Hawaii - a row of white out-of-bounds stakes between the 18th and 10th holes inside the property. PGA TOUR Officials took the eleventh-hour step - and sent a text blast to all competitors at around 7 p.m. local time - after seeing a bunch of players cutting the corner off the tee on the par-5 dogleg left 18th by hitting into the 10th fairway. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Featured Groups roundtable They were then able to just wedge the ball up and over some palm trees to set up relatively easy eagle looks due to the fact there are none of the usual grandstands during the COVID-19 spectator-free event. "The funny story was I [was] playing my Pro-Am yesterday and Justin Leonard who is a really good buddy just happened to be on that green we were playing. He goes, “Hey, do you think about going down No. 10?”," Billy Horschel said Thursday after an opening round 5-under 65 had him just three shots back of the morning wave lead. "In years past that never even crossed my mind. I’m like, “No.” Then he said, “Well a lot of guys are. They are having like flip wedges into the green.” So, I was like, “Well, maybe I’ll have to look at it when I get on the tee.” But somewhere around 7 p.m. last night, we got a text saying that there was an internal OB now on No. 18, which is smart. I think the hole should be played the way it was designed and not take advantage of whatever you want to take advantage of." Brendan Steele, who hooked his second shot on the 72nd hole from the fairway a year ago on his way to falling into a playoff he would lose to Cameron Smith, was happy to see the move. He was particularly happy the stakes run out some 50 yards from the green meaning they're really only in play off the tee and his wild shot from a year ago would not have been as severely punished. "The only thing was a little troublesome about it was we didn’t know where they were going to be," Steele said after shooting an impressive 5-under 65 of his own as he looks for redemption. "I was hoping that they would do the right thing and only put them where guys would try to go in between the trees down 10 fairway and not where if you over-hook one trying to get it going left that it would actually go out of play... they did a good job. "I wouldn’t have been out-of-bounds (last year). But if you know it’s out-of-bounds, you probably don’t hit it over there, either." Defending champion Smith - after an opening 67 - couldn't resist a little tongue in cheek humor having remembered Steele's shot last year that ended up getting significant free relief because of the grandstands. "I think it’s a great idea. Too many guys hitting it down there, anyway," he smirked in fun. "It would be a significant advantage to hit it down 10. I hit the best possible drive today and I had 9-iron in. If I had hit it down 10, I would have had gap wedge in, like 20- or 30-yards' difference." The new penalty area stung at least one player in the opening round with Rory Sabbatini hooking his tee ball left into the death zone before having to re-tee and battle his way to a bogey.

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WILMINGTON, N.C. – Francesco Molinari resumed pole position while FedExCup leader Dustin Johnson barely made the cut as players completed their second rounds at the weather-delayed Wells Fargo Championship at Eagle Point Golf Club early Saturday morning. Molinari went 1 under for his seven holes, bogeying his last — the difficult, par-4 ninth — to card an even-par 72. He was at 6 under, one ahead of Billy Hurley III (69), Seamus Power (71), who finished Friday, and John Peterson, who played his last six holes in even par Saturday. “I managed to stay patient, just keep doing my thing,” Molinari said. “Holed a couple of nice putts, 17 and 18 last night, and then played well at the restart this morning. So, obviously, I’m pleased with where I am at the moment.” MORE: Live leaderboard | Third-round tee times | Weather Hub Rookie Jon Rahm, who is fourth in the FedExCup standings and finished his second-round 71 on Friday, was part of a large group of eight players at 4 under par, just two back. The 68 players who hadn’t completed their second rounds were in position by 7:30 a.m. and the horn blew to resume play in calm, cool conditions—much more benign than the day before. Although the attendance at Eagle Point has been robust, most people were still pouring their coffee and buttering their toast as Johnson stood on the 14th tee to resume his second round in the early-morning chill. He made a routine par, his birdie putt barely sliding by the cup, and birdied the par-3 15th hole. At that point he was 1 under par and going in the right direction. Over the next two holes, however, Johnson seemed to show the rust accumulated since he hurt his lower back falling down a flight of stairs the Wednesday of Masters week. Johnson blew his drive way right and bogeyed 16, and badly hooked his wedge approach to bogey 17, too. When he failed to birdie the par-5 finisher, Johnson could take comfort only in the fact that he had 36 more holes to figure it out as he goes for his fourth victory in his last four starts. His second-round 75 left him at 1 over, just good enough to make the cut, and ended his streak of 13 straight rounds of even par or better in stroke-play tournaments. He was seven behind. Adam Scott also barely made the cut at 1 over par. Phil Mickelson, who was disappointed in his double-bogey finish Friday to shoot 72, is at 1 under par overall and five off the lead. He is making his 20th PGA TOUR start in North Carolina, where he has never won. There are 43 players under par and within five of the lead going into the last 36 holes.

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