Yuan makes most of opportunity, shares Sony lead

DOUG FERGUSON

The Associated Press

HONOLULU — Carl Yuan soaked up the views at the Sony Open, not just his name atop the leaderboard when he finished his second round Friday but just being in Hawaii to start his PGA Tour season.

If not for Jon Rahm, the 26-year-old Yuan wouldn’t be here.

Yuan finished at No. 126 in the FedEx Cup last November by one point and was getting ready to earn his card back through Q-school. And then Rahm bolted for the Saudi riches of LIV Golf. The tour suspended Rahm and removed him from the FedEx Cup standings.

Yuan moved up one spot to No. 125, had his full card and got into the Sony Open. And then he posted a 5-under 65 on Friday, finishing with a two-putt birdie on the par-5 closing hole at Waialae, for a three-way share of the lead.

“I was very thrilled,” Yuan said. “It gives me another chance to improve and get better.”

Yuan was at 9-under 131. Former Oklahoma State star Austin Eckroat had a 66 and Byeong Hun An, coming off a strong start at Kapalua last week, shot 64 to join him.

The big drama as darkness fell was the cut. Joel Dahmen had a 5-foot birdie putt on his final hole that would have moved the cut to 3-under 137. He missed, letting 17 players into the weekend, a group that includes Hideki Matsuyama, who birdied his last two holes.

Among those missing the cut was Gary Woodland, playing for the first time after his Sept. 18 brain surgery to remove a benign tumor that was causing anxiety and fear of dying.

Woodland’s voice choked during his Golf Channel interview when he talked about the support he had while trying to overcome such a frightening period.

“There was a time where I didn’t know if this was going to be possible,” said Woodland, who shot a second straight 71 on Friday. “It was a good week for me from a mental standpoint. I needed to be mentally sharp to get where I want to be in the world. It’s coming back.”

Stewart Cink, the 50-year-old whose two-week Hawaii swing includes the PGA Tour Champions opener next week on the Big Island, had a 65 and was among nine players who were one shot behind going into what figures to be a hectic weekend.

That includes Chris Kirk, who won last week at Kapalua. He shot another 66 in his bid to become only the third player to sweep the two Hawaii events.

Yuan’s rookie year was a struggle, but the Chinese player at least saved himself in the fall. He finished the regular season at No. 151, but did enough over the last three months to at least give himself a chance. But he was bumped out by Ryan Moore in the final event.

He played a practice round at the TPC Sawgrass to get ready for Q-school — “My wife was going to caddie for me and it was raining,” he said — and then later that night got word that Rahm was suspended and he was in.

Yuan wasn’t overly concerned because he would have had limited status. As it turns out, even some of the rookies with full cards didn’t get into the Sony Open.

“Before I learned the news, I was really trying to get myself ready and come out and play good in Hawaii and on the West Coast and try to earn myself back on tour,” Yuan said. “Luckily I got full status, but I’m still trying to do the same thing and come out here and play the best I can.”

_______________

PGA TOUR SONY OPEN

Friday’s Second Round

At Waialae Country Club

Byeong Hun An 67-64–131 -9

Austin Eckroat 65-66–131 -9

Carl Yuan 66-65–131 -9

Stewart Cink 67-65–132 -8

Cameron Davis 62-70–132 -8

Ben Griffin 70-62–132 -8

Stephan Jaeger 65-67–132 -8

Chris Kirk 66-66–132 -8

Kurt Kitayama 70-62–132 -8

Keith Mitchell 68-64–132 -8

Taylor Montgomery 64-68–132 -8

Grayson Murray 69-63–132 -8

Matthieu Pavon 66-66–132 -8

Akshay Bhatia 69-64–133 -7

Keegan Bradley 67-66–133 -7

Harris English 66-67–133 -7

Patton Kizzire 68-65–133 -7

Andrew Putnam 68-65–133 -7

Taiga Semikawa 68-65–133 -7

Joseph Bramlett 69-65–134 -6

Jake Knapp 69-65–134 -6

Troy Merritt 68-66–134 -6

Aaron Rai 65-69–134 -6

Sam Stevens 67-67–134 -6

Matt Wallace 67-67–134 -6

Ludvig Aberg 70-65–135 -5

Zac Blair 70-65–135 -5

Tyrrell Hatton 70-65–135 -5

Russell Henley 69-66–135 -5

Seonghyeon Kim 71-64–135 -5

Si Woo Kim 69-66–135 -5

Ben Kohles 66-69–135 -5

Luke List 67-68–135 -5

Alex Noren 66-69–135 -5

Ben Silverman 67-68–135 -5

Webb Simpson 65-70–135 -5

Brendon Todd 66-69–135 -5

Tyson Alexander 70-66–136 -4

Nicolas Echavarria 68-68–136 -4

Will Gordon 69-67–136 -4

Harry Hall 68-68–136 -4

Billy Horschel 68-68–136 -4

Yuto Katsuragawa 68-68–136 -4

Taylor Pendrith 69-67–136 -4

Chandler Phillips 70-66–136 -4

J.T. Poston 70-66–136 -4

Patrick Rodgers 70-66–136 -4

Robby Shelton 69-67–136 -4

Greyson Sigg 67-69–136 -4

Scott Stallings 66-70–136 -4

Nick Taylor 69-67–136 -4

Alejandro Tosti 66-70–136 -4

Erik Van Rooyen 69-67–136 -4

Dylan Wu 67-69–136 -4

Emiliano Grillo 71-66–137 -3

Brian Harman 69-68–137 -3

Ryo Hisatsune 69-68–137 -3

Charley Hoffman 70-67–137 -3

Mark Hubbard 70-67–137 -3

Kyoung-Hoon Lee 69-68–137 -3

Robert Macintyre 71-66–137 -3

Maverick McNealy 68-69–137 -3

Justin Rose 67-70–137 -3

Norman Xiong 66-71–137 -3

Eric Cole 66-72–138 -2

Corey Conners 70-68–138 -2

Parker Coody 68-70–138 -2

Joel Dahmen 71-67–138 -2

Tyler Duncan 68-70–138 -2

Lanto Griffin 70-68–138 -2

Nick Hardy 69-69–138 -2

Garrick Higgo 72-66–138 -2

Michael Kim 69-69–138 -2

Justin Lower 70-68–138 -2

Hideki Matsuyama 70-68–138 -2

Denny McCarthy 68-70–138 -2

Matthew NeSmith 69-69–138 -2

Seamus Power 72-66–138 -2

Adam Svensson 71-67–138 -2

Davis Thompson 73-65–138 -2

Martin Trainer 71-67–138 -2

Brandon Wu 68-70–138 -2

Missed cut

Jacob Bridgeman 72-67–139 -1

Cameron Champ 68-71–139 -1

Lucas Glover 71-68–139 -1

Adam Hadwin 67-72–139 -1

Kensei Hirata 70-69–139 -1

Tom Hoge 72-67–139 -1

Chan Kim 75-64–139 -1

Ben Martin 70-69–139 -1

Ryan Moore 71-68–139 -1

Ryan Palmer 73-66–139 -1

C.T. Pan 72-67–139 -1

Chad Ramey 70-69–139 -1

Alex Smalley 70-69–139 -1

Sahith Theegala 72-67–139 -1

Carson Young 69-70–139 -1

Kevin Yu 68-71–139 -1

Pierceson Coody 73-67–140 E

Matt Fitzpatrick 69-71–140 E

Doug Ghim 72-68–140 E

Max Greyserman 70-70–140 E

Zach Johnson 68-72–140 E

Takumi Kanaya 74-66–140 E

Chez Reavie 74-66–140 E

Matti Schmid 72-68–140 E

Jimmy Stanger 72-68–140 E

Kevin Streelman 70-70–140 E

Justin Suh 73-67–140 E

Josh Teater 72-68–140 E

Jhonattan Vegas 69-71–140 E

Matt Kuchar 68-73–141 +1

Nate Lashley 71-70–141 +1

David Lingmerth 70-71–141 +1

Peter Malnati 71-70–141 +1

David Skinns 71-70–141 +1

J.J. Spaun 71-70–141 +1

Callum Tarren 69-72–141 +1

Hayden Buckley 72-70–142 +2

Tyler McCumber 70-72–142 +2

Andrew Novak 72-70–142 +2

Camilo Villegas 72-70–142 +2

Gary Woodland 71-71–142 +2

Alexander Bjork 72-71–143 +3

Rico Hoey 71-72–143 +3

Aguri Iwasaki 73-70–143 +3

Martin Laird 75-68–143 +3

Ben Taylor 72-71–143 +3

Vince Whaley 76-67–143 +3

Paul Barjon 73-71–144 +4

Rintaro Nakano 73-71–144 +4

Brandt Snedeker 71-73–144 +4

Robert Streb 70-75–145 +5

Sami Valimaki 74-71–145 +5

Will Zalatoris 76-69–145 +5

Kevin Kisner 75-71–146 +6

David Lipsky 71-75–146 +6

Ryan Brehm 78-69–147 +7

Vincent Norrman 75-72–147 +7

Davis Riley 76-71–147 +7

Blaze Akana 79-71–150 +10

A. Dumont De Chassart 77-73–150 +10

Joe Highsmith 75-77–152 +12

Hunter Larson 88-79–167 +27