Patrick Fishburn (-10) and Denny McCarthy (-10) chose different paths this Friday to reach the same place: the top of the leaderboard at the Sony Open in Hawaii. An early boost for the giant from Ogden and a good reaction after a lukewarm start for the golfer from Rockville led them into the weekend of the first full-field tournament of the season on the PGA Tour sharing the lead in search of their first victory on the circuit.
The golfer from Brigham Young University, who started the second round of the tournament from the 10th tee, made three consecutive birdies between the 12th and 14th to position himself. He then sealed his bogey-free round with two more birdies in his last five holes, reaching double digits. The University of Virginia player, on the other hand, missed a couple of relatively short putts for him, making two consecutive bogeys on the 2nd and 3rd, after starting the day with a birdie, but soon found the solution.
Leave the putter in the bag.
Patrick Fishburn chips in from off the green to tie for the lead @SonyOpenHawaii
📺 Golf Channel | #OpeningDrive pic.twitter.com/WjcPPlMInY
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 11, 2025
A great eight-metre birdie putt on the 5th hole, showing why he is one of the best putters on the circuit, was the start of his path to a 66-stroke card, for which he needed four more birdies, two before reaching the halfway point of his round and another two on the back nine, with which he also reached a 10-under that could have been better after missing a final two-metre attempt on the 18th. He will need to fine-tune his best tool for the weekend.
Both, in any case, closed the cut day at the top of the leaderboard with a one-shot lead over Kensei Hirata (-9), who signed a sensational 63 to climb more than 40 positions, and Eric Cole (-9), who surrendered the top spot with a round of 67, missing a putt of just over a metre for birdie on the par-five 18th at Waialae. Also one shot behind is the ‘rookie’ and globetrotter Paul Peterson (-9), ready to start his adventure on the PGA Tour in style after travelling half the world.
Ben Griffin in the hole ⤵️🕳️
Harry Higgs on the call 🎙️📺 Golf Channel | #OpeningDrive pic.twitter.com/HRat9oAptO
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 11, 2025
The cut was set at three under par and, surprisingly, up to 15 players who were present last week in Maui at the tournament of champions will miss the weekend. Among them, Billy Horschel (-2), Chris Kirk (PAR), and Austin Eckroat (-2). Hideki Matsuyama (-4), winner at the Sentry, lost momentum with a round of 69 in his attempt to make a clean sweep at the Hawaiian start of the season, but he will continue playing and with 36 holes ahead and his ability, he cannot be ruled out yet.
Fishburn, one of the leaders, is enjoying his second season on the tour after finishing 104th in the overall standings last year (in 2025 only the top 100 will retain their card). It’s his second Sony Open, where he debuted a year ago as part of the Korn Ferry graduates. McCarthy, a ‘veteran’ with nearly 200 tournaments under his belt, starts with a different status (he made it to the FedEx playoffs in August and finished 35th), but he is also looking to open his win account.
21-year-old amateur Luke Clanton missed just his 2nd cut on TOUR in his 9th career start @SonyOpenHawaii.
He now has as many missed cuts as runner-up finishes 😳 pic.twitter.com/UvgKQLlBwp
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 11, 2025
A coveted title for them and their three immediate pursuers, who have yet to win on the PGA Tour, and it comes with the added prize of an invitation to the Masters. However, the competition over the weekend will be intense because up to 25 players are within a four-shot margin with 36 holes to play, including some stars from the Ryder Cup in Rome like Austrian Sepp Straka (-8) and the American captain Zach Johnson (-8), just shy of half a century and with the Champions Tour awaiting him.
Special mention also for Gary Woodland (-6), who returned a year ago after undergoing brain surgery to remove a lesion that caused him seizures and unfounded fears of dying. His swing is gradually improving, and he assures that he sees golf more clearly, adding the doses of patience to his game that he so needed. “I’m heading in the right direction, but I have things to improve,” he said. An interesting Friday in which young amateur Mao Matsuyama (+8) improved with 72 strokes but bid farewell to his debut on the PGA Tour.
