Page 20 - ATD 16Jan2016

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SPORTSSaturday 16 January 2016

Snedeker sets the target at Waialae

DOUG FERGUSON through the second round range that caught part
AP Golf Writer of the Sony Open. of the lip. But he hung in
HONOLULU (AP) — A new Snedeker was at 12-under there long enough to stick
driver, a new swing and 128. his approach 4 feet below
Brandt Snedeker is starting “I feel like I’m playing the cup on No. 6, and he
to feel just like new. great, so it should be fun,” ended with a 12-foot ea-
Coming off a great week- Snedeker said about the gle putt for a 66.
end at Kapalua, Snedeker weekend at Waialae. Kisner was a runner-up in
played bogey-free Friday Kiser kept his wits even as the HSBC Champions and
and rolled in a couple his putts kept missing. He won the RSM Classic at Sea
of long birdie putts that missed three birdie chanc- Island in his final two tour-
carried him to a 5-under es inside 10 feet in his open- naments of 2015, and he
65 and a one-shot lead ing 11 holes, and had sev- started the new year by
over Kevin Kisner midway eral others in the 15-foot finishing ninth at Kapalua
on a weekend where his
putter went cold. Brandt Snedeker hits off the fourth tee during the second round
British Open champion of the Sony Open golf tournament, Friday, Jan. 15, 2016, in Ho-
Zach Johnson had a 66 nolulu.
and was two shots back,
while Scott Piercy had a (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)
66 and was three shots be-
hind. The top four on the Kisner and Snedeker also rough to 4 feet for birdie on
leaderboard all began opened with 63s and they the ninth.
the new year at Kapalua remained tied through 11 Kisner’s frustration was start-
last week.Dating to his final holes. And both were right ing to get noticeable when
two rounds on Maui — 65- of the fairway on the par- he bent over so far that his
67 to tie for third — Snede- 4 third, having to punch hands nearly touched his
ker is 26 under over his last out low to avoid the palm shoes on the fifth, but with
72 holes. trees. Kisner’s shot caught that eagle on the ninth, he
That beats the way he a frond and came down still was only one shot out of
finished the up last year. short of the green, and the lead.
He went to the Australian he pitched to 5 feet and “I was proud of the way I
PGA Championship and missed the par putt. Sne- stayed patient all day,” Kis-
opened with an 84. deker’s shot ran all the way ner said. “That round could
He made a full commit- onto the green, and he have been a few more
ment to an overhaul of his holed a 35-foot birdie putt bogeys if I’d have let not
setup, and Snedeker said for a two-shot lead. holing any of the putts get
he worked hard with Butch On the par-3 fourth, Snede- to me, but stayed patient,
Harmon and then showed ker made a 20-foot birdie kept hitting good shots and
up in Maui early, playing a putt, and then finished with good way to finish it on
couple of practice rounds a good chip out of the 9.”q
with Jordan Spieth. And it
helped that Kapalua’s fair-
ways are among the wid-
est in golf.
“Maui being wide open off
the tee a little bit helped
me get comfortable with
it,” Snedeker said. “And
then I realized this week ...
how it feels, what should
happen, and when I do hit
a bad shot, I kind of know
where it comes from. So
I feel way more comfort-
able with it this week and
excited about it, because
the bad shots haven’t
been near as bad as they
have been.”
Two-time defending cham-
pion Jimmy Walker finished
with nine straight pars for a
68 to finish on 3-under 137,
which appear to be assure
him making the cut. He
was nine back.
Vijay Singh, who opened
with a 63 for part of a five-
way share of the lead,
played in the afternoon.