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Report and results of the second round of the Sony Open in Hawaii

Yuan capitalises on the opportunity in Hawaii that Rahm ‘gifted’ him

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Carl Yuan © PGA Tour
Carl Yuan © PGA Tour

When Jon Rahm decided to leave his stage at the PGA Tour to sign for LIV Golf, it sparked a myriad of reactions, both for and against. Although if we had to choose who was most pleased by the golfer’s decision from Barrika, it would be hard to choose between his family, Greg Norman, the head of the Saudi tour, or the young Chinese golfer Carl Yuan (-9). Because to the Olympic player, unwittingly, Jon gave him a great opportunity…

Yuan was ranked 126th in the FedEx Cup at the end of the year. He had fallen out of the list of players who get full playing rights for the 2024 tour. But the Spaniard’s departure from the circuit, with his removal from the points list, allowed the player born in Dalian, in the province of Liaoning, to climb one position in the table and get into that coveted top 125 to play regular tournaments of the PGA Tour without limitations.

This ‘jump’ has allowed him to be this week at the Sony Open in Hawaii and Carl is showing that he neither wants to waste it nor is he willing to have to suffer so much this year to guarantee his card. This Friday, at the Waialae Country Club, he closed his second round with a birdie to hand in a card of 65 strokes, five under par, with six birdies and a bogey, with which to become co-leader of the tournament alongside the American Austin Eckroat (-9) and the South Korean Byeong Hun An (-9).

“I was very excited about what happened. It gave me another chance to keep improving,” confessed Yuan to the official media of the circuit as soon as he finished his round. His debut year on the PGA Tour was tough, he finished the regular season in 151st place, but in the FedEx Fall he did enough to dream of retaining the card. Although he ended up losing it by just one position, in favour of Ryan Moore.

He played a practice round at Dye’s Valley, at the TPC Sawgrass, to prepare for the circuit’s Q-School. “My wife was going to caddy for me and it was raining,” he said, But that same night he received the news that Rahm was suspended and he was in. And although he was not particularly worried because he could have continued playing with a limited status, even some rookies with full cards have been left out of this Sony Open.

“Before I heard the news, I was trying to prepare and play well in Hawaii and on the West Coast to try to get back on the circuit,” said Yuan. “Luckily I got full status, but I’m still trying to do the same and come out here and play the best I can,” he concluded.

Ten players one stroke from the leaders

After the trio leading the tournament, a long list of up to 10 players, just one stroke behind, including, among others, Cam Davis (-8), leader after the first 18 holes who today needed eight more strokes than yesterday to complete the course, and Stewart Cink (-8), 50 years old, who will spend a couple of weeks in Hawaii to play the tournament that starts the Champions Tour season.

Ben Griffin (-8) and Kurt Kitayama (-8), the best of the day in Honolulu with rounds of 62 strokes, and Grayson Murray (-8), with 63, also sneaked into this numerous tied fourth place. As did Keith Mitchell (-8), finishing his round with an eagle and taking advantage of the strong wind from Thursday gradually easing over the course as the hours passed.

The German Stephan Jaeger (-8) and the French Matthieu Pavon (-8) are the best Europeans, also in this group, while the emerging Ludvig Aberg (-5) recovered more than 40 positions to rank 26th tied with a round of 65 strokes. Matt Fitzpatrick (PAR), Camilo Villegas (+2), Gary Woodland (+2), back after his serious health problem, Will Zalatoris (+5) or the debutant Dumont de Chassart (+10) missed the cut, which was set at two under par.

Check the live results of the Sony Open in Hawaii