Goosen, Perry open with 64s as windless Waialae succumbs

By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

Different island, radically different golf course, same simple game.

Kenny Perry coaxes his birdie putt toward the cup on No. 17. Perry parred the hole but his 64 tied for the first-round lead of the Sony Open in Hawai'i. Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser

Chris Riley, who shared the opening-round lead with Perry a year ago and was sixth in last week's Mercedes Championships on Maui, is a shot back with Chris DiMarco and Brenden Pappas, another South African. Pretty much the entire PGA Tour is just behind, it seems.

After one week and one round this year, the only real question has become how low can they go, even with Tiger Woods an ocean away?

Ernie Els broke a scoring record last week when he won the Mercedes in 31 under par at Kapalua's shockingly serene, par-73 Plantation Course. After Mother Nature wreaked havoc on the Pro-Am here Wednesday, reducing it to nine holes amid a power outage, she returned to her nearly windless ways.

Without breeze, it is open season on birdies and eagles for tour pros. Waialae's small greens and tight fairways suddenly look bigger and wider. Perry had what he called "one of the easiest rounds of golf I've ever played." Goosen's 64 ended with an eagle as an exclamation point after he launched a 3-iron approach to 15 feet of the final hole.

"It was dead calm for the first seven holes," said Goosen, who teed off at 8 a.m. "The wind picked up after that but it was nothing serious."

Waialae gave up 60 scores in the 60's and 27 eagles — 21 on the ninth hole, a par-5 that played to an average of 4.118. Nearly everybody took a bite out of the toothless Waialae. Goosen, fourth last week, and Perry, who won nearly $2 million last year, just took the biggest bite.

"I hadn't played much and my caddy and I were saying we'd treat it like a practice round," said Perry, playing his first tournament of the year after working on his left-to-right game in the offseason. "I got out there and next thing I knew I started executing flawless shots. I hit some really close. Next thing I know I shoot 30 on the back nine and 64, which was highly unexpected. But I was more in control of my game today than I can ever remember in my life. ... I tried it all today and it all came off perfect."

Els is one of nine tied at 66. He played with Goosen and the two South Africans made partner K.J. Choi's 67 appear only average, which it almost was on a day when 84 players shot par or better.

Els, who moved up to No. 2 in the world behind Woods with last week's win, bogeyed two of his first five holes. That's one more bogey than he had all last week.

"It was a little tough getting into the round early on mentally, especially after last week," Els admitted. "I was really trying to block it out but it was tough to do."

He rallied with birdies on the sixth, seventh and eighth holes, then eagled the ninth. In five rounds in Hawai'i this year Els has five eagles. He had six all last year.

Still, he couldn't catch Perry or Goosen, who is fourth in the world rankings and won on three continents last year. A 15-foot par putt on the fifth hole kick-started his round. He drained birdie putts on four of the next five holes, then "my putter went dry" until he bolted past everyone with his 18th-hole eagle.

Goosen said it was all as easy as he made it look, but added that Els is making the game look even easier. Els was blowing his drives 30 yards past Goosen, after averaging 323 yards off the tee last week.

The crowd surrounding Els at 66 is a diverse group. It includes Shigeki Maruyama, one of 10 Japanese pros playing this week, and Robert Gamez, who has gone 12 years without a win but played well enough last year to regain his playing privileges. Gamez birdied four of his last five.

Australia's Aaron Baddeley, 21, stayed with the older crowd when he hit the ESPN tower on the final hole to salvage par. Baddeley earned his card by closing fast to finish 10th on the Nationwide (then Buy.com) Tour last year. He became the youngest to win the Australian Open in 2000, then won it again the following year.

But it wasn't until now — specifically yesterday morning — that Baddeley felt like he belonged with the best. "I've been through a fair bit the last few years," said Baddeley, who decided at age 13 that his goal was to be on the tour by 21. "My game is ready to be here."

Dicky Pride, who had to be fed through a tube for two months last year, is also part of the crush at 66. He missed four months last season after an attack of gall stones and pancreatitis. He regained the 25 pounds he lost, cruised in yesterday despite parring both the par-5 holes, and started dreaming about his first victory since 1994.

Pride qualified Monday for the Sony, playing Pearl Country Club's front nine in 6-under, then birdying the fifth hole of a playoff to earn his spot. "I felt like I'd already played a tournament," he said. "I probably said two words on those last five holes. It was intense."

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