Sunday's 36-hole finish gives every player a chance at Sony

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Chris Condon/PGA TOUR

There shouldn't be much standing around for Stuart Appleby and others in Sunday's 36-hole Sony Open finale.

HONOLULU -- Playing 36 holes in one day in the first full-field event of the PGA TOUR season?

That's like mowing the yard the minute you return from vacation. Or taking a calculus pop quiz the first day of school. Or spending $40 to fill up the gas tank right after you buy that new car.

Second-round coverage

MARUYAMA RISING: Shigeki Maruyama is making the most of his sponsor's exemption, one (long) day away from perhaps his first win in seven years. Story AN EARLIER START: Roland Thatcher didn't have job security until the last week of 2010. He's hoping for a less suspenseful 2011. Story CAN HE CLOSE?: Chris DiMarco isn't having problems making cuts. It's landing the big paychecks that is hard. Story

SONY OPEN

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ROUND 2 VIDEO

Micheel makes year's first ace
Finau holes approach for eagle
Love eagles par-5 18th
Campbell eagles par-5 9th
Appleby holes chip for birdie

You know you'll need to do those things at some point. But so soon?

OK, it's no big deal for TOUR pros to play 36 holes in one day. They've all done it at some point in their careers. But the fact that it comes so early in the year no doubt will be a bit jarring.

If you've been in hibernation mode for the past few months, Sunday's final day of the Sony Open in Hawaii offers a long wake-up call.

"I don't think any guys in the offseason were out there hoofing it 36," said Steve Marino, one of the top contenders going into Sunday. "We're all going to be in the same boat."

The 36-hole finish became necessary after heavy rains wiped out Thursday's play, pushing everything back one day. Since next week's Bob Hope Classic is a five-day event that starts Wednesday in California, there is an urgency to squeeze all 36 holes into Sunday. Making things interesting is the weather forecast, with a chance of showers in the afternoon at Waialae.

Japan's Shigeki Maruyama and Australia's Stuart Appleby will enter the day with the lead at 10 under. Three Americans -- Marino, Roland Thatcher (an Auburn University alum, so you know he's on a roll) and Mark Wilson are the closest pursuers, two shots back.

Maruyama, who has made just nine TOUR starts the previous two years but has played the Sony Open every year since 1999, knows he's in for a long day.

"I'm getting older," the 41-year-old Maruyama, playing on a sponsor's exemption, said through his interpreter, "and 36 holes is going to be a struggle tomorrow."

His biggest problem? "My feet," he said with a smile.

For most players, though, the biggest challenge isn't a physical one. Waialae is a flat course, so walking 36 holes here doesn't have the same degree of difficulty as walking 36 holes at, say, the hilly Plantation Course at Kapalua.

Staying focused for 36 holes -- especially the final 36 holes -- in the compact time frame may eventually decide who remains in contention once we get to the back nine in the afternoon. Patience will be required. No highs. No lows. And don't force things.

"Absolutely, mentally it'll be a good test," said Appleby, who birdied his final three holes late Saturday to join Maruyama atop the leaderboard. "... There's a lot of golf left. We're really only at the halfway stage of the tournament."

Indeed, players near the top will need to resist the urge to throttle too soon, lest they wear themselves out before they even reach crunch time.

"You think it's Sunday and there's only one round left, but there's actually 36 holes left," said Chris DiMarco, who is tied for 11th, four shots off the lead. "The bottom line is you want to give yourself a chance going into the last nine holes on the 63rd through 72nd hole. That's what my goal is -- to kind of have a chance when I make the turn for my last round and have a chance on the back nine to win the tournament."

On the flip side, though, the players who just slid inside the cut line need to understand that a real opportunity remains to win the tournament.

Going into a normal Sunday, those back in the pack are playing mostly for positioning and bigger paychecks, not the championship trophy. But this Sunday, they can step to the first tee with real dreams of glory.

With the cut nearest to 60, Saturday's cut line was 3 under, which means each of the 56 players still left is within seven shots of the lead. That's not an insurmountable deficit to make up over 36 holes.

Asked if everybody has a chance on Sunday to win, Appleby replied: "It's not a silly question."

Appleby noted that a player currently at 3 under could have consecutive 7-under rounds on Sunday. That player would then finish at 17 under -- a good enough score to win seven of the previous nine Sony Opens. Last year, Ryan Palmer won at 15 under.

Palmer, incidentally, is one of those guys who made the cut on the number at 3 under. So did Jonathan Byrd, last week's winner of the Hyundai Tournament of Champions.

"Sometimes if you're the guy that has the hot stretch, you can run it for 36 holes, and that's why anything can happen tomorrow," Thatcher said. "Anybody who's made the cut has got a decent chance to play for the championship tomorrow."

That's why Sunday could be fascinating. The amount of twists and turns will be doubled. Moving Day and Championship Day have been rolled into one.

"You hope the viewers and the listeners enjoy the tournament tomorrow because who knows who's going to win," Wilson said. "(It's) anybody's ballgame."

As Marino mentioned, everybody's in the same boat. They all have to play 36 holes in one day. And they all have a chance to win.