British Open champion Zach Johnson is right where he wants to be — near the top of the leaderboard.
Johnson has a healthy respect for Waialae Country Club. In his 10 previous appearances at the Sony Open in Hawaii he has earned $1.278 million, including a victory here in 2009. His next best finishes are a tie for eighth in 2014 and a tie for 12th in 2010.
The 38-year-old from Iowa City, Iowa, will tee it up today tied for third with Zac Blair, Luke Donald and Chez Reavie, just two shots off the lead of 36-hole leader Brandt Snedeker, at 10-under 130. Johnson’s precision game is suited for the tight, narrow fairways where accuracy rules.
“On a course like this, as tight as it is, getting the ball in the fairway is a premium,” Johnson said. “And the more I get the ball in the fairway, certainly the more comfortable I can become with my irons and be more aggressive.
“I hit some really, really good ones today that they didn’t turn out 5 feet (from the hole), but they were all in the right barrel, right shot shape. We’re in Hawaii, man. It’s good in Hawaii.”
Playing on through
It’s not often that players among the 32 who showed up on Maui to play in the Hyundai Tournament of Champions also tee it up in the Sony Open the following week and the CareerBuilder Challenge a week later in La Quinta, Calif.
Count Zach Johnson among the half-dozen golfers who will be doing just that to start the calendar year. The other five are Alex Cejka, James Hahn, David Lingmerth, Peter Malnati and Troy Merritt.
Johnson will be playing through to the weekend. Joining him are Hahn, who is tied for 12th at 8-under 132, and Lingmerth and Malnati at 4-under 136. Merritt and Cejka missed the cut.
Allenby out of the contest
Robert Allenby had hoped for a triumphant return to Oahu, where he has had a modicum of success in the past. It wasn’t meant to be.
The Aussie, who woke up in some bushes near Ala Moana a year ago after possibly being drugged at a nearby restaurant, shot a closing 68, but still missed the cut by four shots. He will be in the field next week in California.
Donald making a run
Luke Donald returned to Waialae in 2015 after a four-year hiatus that had the Northwestern product starting his year in Europe instead. From 2002 until 2010, the Sony Open was a regular stop for Donald — he earned $729,004 in eight appearances.
His best finish was a tie for second in 2007. He also has two ties for 13th in 2002 and 2005. Donald said last year that he had good memories at Waialae and was prepared to start his year here again en route to playing the West Coast swing.
The former world No. 1 is off to a good start here again. He begins his weekend tied for third with Johnson, Blair and Reavie.
“I think whenever you have a break, you don’t quite know how you’re going to come out,” Donald said. “But I think I feel excited about the work I’ve been doing and I feel like I’m not having to think about my swing quite as much as I did last year and I can just kind of play golf.”
Just 3 rookies make it
Emiliano Grillo is rolling in his rookie season.
The 23-year-old from Argentina hasn’t slowed down after winning the season-opening Frys.com Open in his first event as a full-time tour member.
Grillo, who entered the Sony Open eighth in the FedEx Cup standings, rattled off consecutive 67s to easily make the cut Friday at 6 under.
Only nine rookies entered the first full-field event of 2016, with just three making the cut.
Harold Varner III, an East Carolina alumnus, made it into the weekend with a 2-under 68 on Friday to sit on the 3-under cut line.
Texas A&M alumnus Bronson Burgoon also just made it at 3 under after birdieing the par-3 seventh with a tee shot that nestled less than 3 feet from the cup.
———
Paul Arnett, Star-Advertiser
