Sony Open in Hawaii: Second-Round Notebook

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HONOLULU -- K.J. Choi's second-round 65 came as somewhat of a surprise given his recent history in the second round of the Sony Open. Entering this week, Choi had averaged 67.17 in six opening rounds at Waialae, but had only broken 70 in the second round once (2002 -- 65).

Kevin Na's second-round 64 earned him a spot in the final group on Saturday. (Benc/WireImage)

Inside the Numbers

36-Hole Leaderboard

Player Score 1. K.J. Choi 129 -11 2. Kevin Na 131 -9 3. Steve Marino 132 -8 T4. Fred Funk 133 -7 T4. Jimmy Walker 133 -7 T6. Heath Slocum 134 -6 T6. Brian Gay 134 -6 T6. Brad Adamonis 134 -6 T6. Chez Reavie 134 -6 T6. Alejandro Canizares 134 -6 T6. Jerry Kelly 134 -6

K.J. Choi has won almost every time he has held at least a share of the 36-hole lead on the PGA TOUR. They came at the 2006 Chrysler Championship, the 2005 Chrysler Classic of Greensboro, the 2002 Tampa Bay Classic and the 2002 COMPAQ Classic of New Orleans. The only time he lost when holding the 36-hole lead occured at the 2007 Barclays, when Steve Stricker rallied to win.

K.J. Choi is in position to extend his streak of three straight seasons with at least one victory to four. Tiger Woods (1996-2007) leads the way with wins in 12 straight seasons, Vijay Singh (2002-07) has six winning seasons in a row, Phil Mickelson (2004-07) has assembled four straight winning seasons and K.J. Choi (2005-07) and Jim Furyk (2005-07) have three

Kevin Na's second-round 64 to get to 9 under par earned him a spot in the final group with leader K.J. Choi on Saturday. It will be only the second time the two have played in a final group together. At the 2005 FBR Open, Na played in the final group Sunday with Choi and Phil Mickelson, finishing second to Mickelson.

Even though he hit just 5 of 14 fairways in round two, Na made up for it on the greens, as he needed only 22 putts. His 64 tied the low round of the week.

Steve Marino's 36-hole total of 8-under 132 might come as a bit of a surprise to those who feel driving accuracy is a premium at Waialae. While Marino has hit 20 of 28 fairways thus far, he finished 136th in Driving Accuracy on the PGA TOUR in 2007.

Two-time PGA TOUR winner Heath Slocum is off to a good start at the Sony Open with rounds of 65-69--134. The bad news for Slocum: Only once in his TOUR career has he recorded a single top-10 finish in the first five starts of his year. The good news: That happened last year when he finished in the top-10 at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic and the FBR Open.

Fred Funk's second-round 64 and 36-hole total of 7-under 133 has him in position to add his name to the list (again) of the PGA TOUR's oldest winners. Funk's win at last year's Mayakoba Classic put him fifth on the list with a win at the age of 50 years, eight months, and 11 days. Funk will be 51 years, six months, and 30 days this Sunday. Should he win, he would be third on that list behind Sam Snead and Art Wall, respectively.

The top rookies so far this week are Brad Adamonis (66-68--134, tied for sixth), Chez Reavie (68-66--134, tied for sixth), Alejandro Canizares (67-67--134, tied for sixth), and Dustin Johnson (68-68--136, tied for 20th).

Defending champion Paul Goydos carded rounds of 70-73--143 and missed the cut. Goydos tied for 22nd at the 1997 Bay Hill Invitational in his only other title defense on the PGA TOUR.

Carlos Franco's second-round 69 featured 22 total putts, which is four shy of the all-time PGA TOUR record of 18, which is shared by six players.