Jimmy Walker has gotten pretty accustomed to winning at Waialae Country Club.
The two-time defending Sony Open in Hawaii champion had a little help from Punahou senior Kyle Suppa in picking up another victory on Tuesday.
Suppa holed out an eagle from the fairway on the first hole of the Hawaii Tourism Authority Pro-Junior Challenge and dropped a birdie putt on the last to team with Walker to win the annual pre-tournament event.
“Just get him close and he’ll knock it in,” Walker said after his first appearance in the pro-junior challenge. “That was pretty fun. (Suppa’s eagle) was a great shot and it was going right at it too. It had nowhere to go but in.”
While Walker was on his way to a nine-shot victory to retain the Sony Open title a year ago, Suppa made headlines by making the cut in his first PGA Tour event.
The USC signee’s performance in the local junior season earned him a return to the pro-junior challenge and he turned in the shot of the day from 47 yards out on Waialae’s 10th hole.
Five local juniors paired with pros in the alternate-shot format. After Walker piped his drive down the middle 10th fairway, Suppa’s wedge tracked straight for the pin and fell. He high-fived Walker, who handed his putter to his caddie.
“It looked like a good shot,” Suppa said. “I thought it would be close at least. I didn’t expect it to go in.”
Walker later set Suppa up with a 4-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th hole and the duo finished at 3 under.
Kaiser sophomore Malia Nam also made a birdie putt on No. 18 and partnered with Fred Funk to finish at 1 under. Mid-Pacific junior Zackary Kaneshiro and HaoTong Li also went 1 under, as did the team of Moanalua senior Kyosuke Hara and Punahou graduate Parker McLachlin. Punahou senior Allisen Corpuz and Jerry Kelly went 1 over.
McLachlin won the closest-to-the-pin competition on the par-3 11th with a shot to within 3 feet.
“It’s a lot of fun playing with the pros while you’re competing against your friends,” Suppa said. “The pros are good at making it fun for us. They tell us some jokes while we’re out there, make fun of each other, especially Jerry Kelly.”
Suppa will be back inside the ropes at his home course on Thursday when he caddies for Moanalua senior Shawn Lu, who earned the spot reserved for a local amateur by winning the Governor’s Cup qualifier in November.
Lu caddied for Suppa on Tuesday, and said he’ll have a resource in “knowing the course, (and) mentally everything I have to know about playing in a PGA Tour event.”
“He did really well last year so I’m really excited to have him on the bag. It’ll help me a lot,” Lu said. “I feel like I have the best caddie out there and I just have to perform and do what he tells me to do.”
Last year, Suppa carded two rounds of 1-under 69 to earn a Saturday tee time. There was another cut after the third round and he ended his run with a 71.
“I think I can help him quite a bit,” Suppa said. “I know I had a game plan going in that really worked well. Just making sure you’re hitting the fairways, hitting the middle of the greens, only really going for the pins if you have a wedge in, the first two days at least. … It’s definitely be fun to be inside the ropes again, even if I’m not playing.”
The pro-junior event helps support with Hawaii State Junior Golf Association, which received a $10,000 check from Friends of Hawaii Charities.
“It means the world,” McLachlin, a product of the junior golf program, said of participating in the event. “These kids show so much promise and so much potential — its fun for them to be showcased on a stage like this.”
Lu is scheduled to tee off at No. 10 at 8:50 a.m. on Thursday. McLachlin makes his return to Waialae at 1:20 p.m. at the first tee. Leilehua and UH Hilo graduate Nick Mason will also start at 1:20 at No. 10. Kahului’s Garrett Okamura starts at 1:30 p.m. at No. 1.
SONY OPEN TEE TIMES
Round 1
Tee #1
7 a.m.—Robert Garrigus, Tim Wilkinson, Will Wilcox
7:10—John Huh, Roberto Castro, D.H. Lee
7:20—Johnson Wagner, Sean O’Hair, Ricky Barnes
7:30—Steven Bowditch, Brian Gay, Ryan Palmer
7:40—Padraig Harrington, Camilo Villegas,Seun g-Yul Noh
7:50—Troy Merritt, Fabian Gomez, Brendon Todd
8:00—Ben Martin, Tim Clark, Brian Harman
8:10—Jerry Kelly, David Hearn, William McGirt
8:20—Chez Reavie, Robert Allenby, Chris Stroud
8:30—Gary Woodland, Jason Gore, Jeff Overton
8:40—Tom Hoge, Thomas Aiken, Satoshi Kodaira
8:50—Bronson Burgoon, Si Woo Kim, Daisuke Kataoka
11:40—Charlie Beljan, Carlos Ortiz, Whee Kim
11:50—Michael Thompson, Chad Campbell, Ryo Ishikawa
Noon—Brendon de Jonge, Daniel Summerhays, Greg Owen
12:10—J.J. Henry, Ben Crane, Keegan Bradley
12:20—Scott Piercy, Russell Henley, Harris English
12:30—Kevin Kisner, Davis Love III, Brandt Snedeker
12:40—Zach Johnson, Jimmy Walker, K.J. Choi
12:50—George McNeill, Fred Funk, Erik Compton
1:00—Kyle Reifers, Jon Curran, Tyrone Van Aswegen
1:10—Sam Saunders, Dawie van der Wal, Hao Tong Li
1:20—Parker McLachlin, Luke List, Toshinori Muto
1:30—Rob Oppenheim, Hiroshi Iwata, Garrett Okamura
Tee #10
7 a.m.—Blake Adams, Shane Bertsch, Steve Wheatcroft
7:10—Carl Petterson, Chad Collins, Scott Pinckney
7:20—Will MacKenzie, Hudson Swafford, Adam Hadwin
7:30—Peter Malnati, Chris Kirk, Vijay Singh
7:40—Russell Knox, Luke Donald, Steve Stricker
7:50—Justin Thomas, Emiliano Grillo, Danny Lee
8:00—Graeme McDowell, Adam Scott, Matt Kuchar
8:10—Jonas Blixt, Graham DeLaet, Zac Blair
8:20—Boo Weekley, Kyle Stanley, Morgan Hoffmann
8:30—Tyler Aldridge, Miguel Angel Carballo, Yusaku Miyazato
8:40—Mark Hubbard, Brett Stegmaier, Miguel Tabuena
8:50—Jamie Lovemark, Hideto Tanihara, Shawn Lu
11:40—Derek Ernst, Shawn Stefani, Cameron Smith
11:50—Lucas Glover, Daniel Berger, Francesco Molinari
Noon—Marc Leishman, Pat Perez, Spencer Levin
12:10—John Senden, Scott Stallings, Rory Sabbatini
12:20—David Lingmerth, James Hahn, Stewart Cink
12:30—Nick Taylor, Jason Dufner, Stuart Appleby
12:40—Alex Cejka, Webb Simpson, Kevin Na
12:50—Colt Knost, Jim Herman, Tony Finau
1:00—Mark Wilson, Charles Howell III, Patton Kizzire
1:10—Sung Kang, Michael Kim, Byron Meth
1:20—Derek Fathauer, Hyung-Sung Kim, Nick Mason
1:30—Henrik Norlander, Harold Varner III, Nick Killpack
Round 2
Tee #10
7 a.m.—Charlie Beljan, Carlos Ortiz, Whee Kim
7:10—Michael Thompson, Chad Campbell, Ryo Ishikawa
7:20—Brendon de Jonge, Daniel Summerhays, Greg Owen
7:30—J.J. Henry, Ben Crane, Keegan Bradley
7:40—Scott Piercy, Russell Henley, Harris English
7:50—Kevin Kisner, Davis Love III, Brandt Snedeker
8:00—Zach Johnson, Jimmy Walker, K.J. Choi
8:10—George McNeill, Fred Funk, Erik Compton
8:20—Kyle Reifers, Jon Curran, Tyrone Van Aswegen
8:30—Sam Saunders, Dawie van der Wal, Hao Tong Li
8:40—Parker McLachlin, Luke List, Toshinori Muto
8:50—Rob Oppenheim, Hiroshi Iwata, Garrett Okamura
11:40—Robert Garrigus, Tim Wilkinson, Will Wilcox
11:50—John Huh, Roberto Castro, D.H. Lee
Noon—Johnson Wagner, Sean O’Hair, Ricky Barnes
12:10—Steven Bowditch, Brian Gay, Ryan Palmer
12:20—Padraig Harrington, Camilo Villegas, Seung-Yul Noh
12:30—Troy Merritt, Fabian Gomez, Brendon Todd
12:40—Ben Martin, Tim Clark, Brian Harman
12:50—Jerry Kelly, David Hearn, William McGirt
1:00—Chez Reavie, Robert Allenby, Chris Stroud
1:10—Gary Woodland, Jason Gore, Jeff Overton
1:20—Tom Hoge, Thomas Aiken, Satoshi Kodaira
1:30—Bronson Burgoon, Si Woo Kim, Daisuke Kataoka
Tee #1
7 a.m.—Derek Ernst, Shawn Stefani, Cameron Smith
7:10—Lucas Glover, Daniel Berger, Francesco Molinari
7:20—Marc Leishman, Pat Perez, Spencer Levin
7:30—John Senden, Scott Stallings, Rory Sabbatini
7:40—David Lingmerth, James Hahn, Stewart Cink
7:50—Nick Taylor, Jason Dufner, Stuart Appleby
8:00—Alex Cejka, Webb Simpson, Kevin Na
8:10—Colt Knost, Jim Herman, Tony Finau
8:20—Mark Wilson, Charles Howell III, Patton Kizzire
8:30—Sung Kang, Michael Kim, Byron Meth
8:40—Derek Fathauer, Hyung-Sung Kim, Nick Mason
8:50—Henrik Norlander, Harold Varner III, Nick Killpack
11:40—Blake Adams, Shane Bertsch, Steve Wheatcroft
11:50—Carl Petterson, Chad Collins, Scott Pinckney
Noon—Will MacKenzie, Hudson Swafford, Adam Hadwin
12:10—Peter Malnati, Chris Kirk, Vijay Singh
12:20—Russell Knox, Luke Donald, Steve Stricker
12:30—Justin Thomas, Emiliano Grillo, Danny Lee
12:40—Graeme McDowell, Adam Scott, Matt Kuchar
12:50—Jonas Blixt, Graham DeLaet, Zac Blair
1:00—Boo Weekley, Kyle Stanley, Morgan Hoffmann
1:10—Tyler Aldridge, Miguel Angel Carballo, Yusaku Miyazato
1:20—Mark Hubbard, Brett Stegmaier, Miguel Tabuena
1:30—Jamie Lovemark, Hideto Tanihara, Shawn Lu.
