The Starter: Round 2, Sony Open in Hawaii

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Jan. 16, 2009
By PGATOUR.COM staff

The first group will soon tee off in today's second round of the Sony Open in Hawaii, the first full-field event of the 2009 season. Here's how it sets up:

Groups We're Watching

Tee time	Players
1:20 pm ET (8:20 am in Hawaii)		Shigeki Maruyama, Notah Begay III, Nathan Green Maruyama didn't make a bogey on Waialae's tough front nine. Can he hang onto the lead? Track 'em
5:30 pm ET (12:30 pm in Hawaii)		Geoff Ogilvy, Kenny Perry, Boo Weekley Ogilvy held the lead for most of the first round. He seems almost invincible early in the season. Track 'em
12:20 pm ET (7:20 am in Hawaii)		Luke Donald, Cliff Kresge, Greg Chalmers Donald, making his first PGA TOUR start since last June, shot a smooth 67 in the first round. Track 'em

FOR NOW, SECOND ROUND MOVING ON AS SCHEDULED
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents
HONOLULU -- With wind gusts in excess of 55 mph in the forecast on Friday, no one knows quite what to expect for the second round of the Sony Open in Hawaii.

A cold front will move across the island on Friday, bringing with it 20-30 mph sustained winds, the gale-force gusts and potentially heavy downpours. The weather had already deteriorated Thursday afternoon with periods of rain and gusts of more than 30 mph.

Friday's forecast

Rain/wind
Temp: 77 high/67 low
Cloudy with a 50 percent chance of rain. Winds will come from the west at 20-25 mph.

Schools on the island of Oahu -- as well as Kauai, Maui, Molokai and Lanai -- have already been closed on Friday because of the high winds that are expected. The tournament will go on as scheduled, if possible, with the first tee times at 7:15 a.m. local time.

"We're just going to come in and see what we've got," PGA TOUR Tournament Director Mark Russell said philosophically. "We're going to pull the roll off the greens and single cut in the morning.

"We're going to take every precaution we can and try to play."

Russell and the other rules officials will closely monitor the situation on Friday. Tees will undoubtedly be moved up on some holes, as they were for the first round, and pin placements might be adjusted depending on the conditions.

During play, the rules staff will be watching to see if balls move on the greens or if they are unable to stay on the tees. If that happens, officials will have no choice but to halt play as they did during the final round of the 2007 Verizon Heritage.

"If we couldn't play golf under the rules, we wouldn't play," Russell said. "... This is like Hilton Head a couple of years ago. It was a very dangerous situation."

At the same time, Russell held out hope.

"Of course, they never miss a weather prediction," he said with a smile.

LAST WEEK HELPED GAY GET A HEAD START ON '09
We hear a lot about the benefits of winning on the PGA TOUR: Two-year exemption, lifetime membership at TPC courses, etc.

Another? A stress-free tuneup for your season.

Gay

After 10 years on TOUR, Brian Gay broke through last year in the Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun, earning him a spot in the season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship.

Gay's appearance in the Mercedes-Benz Championship helped him bring a better game for the Sony Open in Hawaii, a tight course that fits his accuracy-minded style of play.

The problem is, Gay has never been fully prepared to play at Waialae. He usually takes time off in the offseason and uses the Sony Open to shake off the rust.

There's no rust this week. Gay shot 66 on Thursday and looks to be a threat if high winds don't threaten the second round.

"I went probably a month without playing and I played a few rounds right before new years, but I got the warm-up at Kapalua last week," Gay said. "I've always loved coming to this golf course, but I've really never been ready. But like I said, I've never really been ready because I don't play a lot of golf in the off-season. You've really got to take the time to get away and get ready for the season."

SOMETIMES, PROS HIT THREE-WOODS INTO PAR-4s, TOO
One interesting note on Gay's round: Gay, one of the shortest hitters on TOUR, teed off on No. 1 on Thursday, a 480-yard par-4 that ranks among the toughest opening holes on the circuit. Gay only hit his drive about 250 yards -- barely over halfway to the hole.

No problem. Gay smoked a 3-wood to 16 feet and drained the putt. "[It] was nice to get off to a birdie there. There are plenty of bogeys on that hole today," Gay said.

He's right. Gay's birdie was one of only two on the day. Its 4.646 stroke average easily made it the toughest hole on the course.

The Film Room

	PGA TOUR Today Win McMurry recaps the first round and looks ahead to Friday. Watch it
	Battling the elements Leader Shigeki Maruyama speaks to Michael Collins from the PGA TOUR Network. Watch it
	The big hitter J.B. Holmes talks about where he gets the power and speed in his swing. Watch it