Goosen, Baddeley tied for lead in Sony Open
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• Today's Tee Times
By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer
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| Retief Goosen nearly hit his tee shot out of bounds of the par-5 ninth hole. He made par and is tied with Aaron Baddeley for the second-round lead.
Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser SONY OPEN 2 p.m. ESPN |
Moments after Goosen fired a 4-under-par 66 at Waialae Country Club yesterday, pulling to 10-under 130 for the tournament, he was telling anyone who could hear his soft voice that Ernie Els was the South African to beat.
Never mind that Goosen and Baddeley are a shot up on Els (65), Australian Peter Lonard (65) and Chris DiMarco (66) — the lone American in the top six — and two up on Japan's Shigeki Maruyama (66).
Look past the fact that the precocious Baddeley, 21, shot yesterday's best round (64) under the toughest conditions on tour this year. "I like it like this," Baddeley said about the rare 15- to 20-mph south/southwest winds. "Growing up in Australia it was rare to get a day with no wind."
And ignore that Goosen, another South African, is ranked fourth in the world and won the 2001 U.S. Open.
Els is the man. Just listen.
"Ernie is playing very well. I watched what he did last week and it was very impressive," Baddeley said. "Ernie is swinging great right now and he is definitely still the favorite at this point in time."
Goosen was just as humble.
"I'm definitely hitting the ball quite nicely and reading the greens pretty good as well," Goosen said. "But I would say that Ernie is hitting the ball slightly better than me the last couple days. I'm just holing a few more putts.
"The way he's playing now, if he gets the putter going he's probably going to be the guy to beat."
No one could beat Els last week, when he went a record-low 31-under par to overwhelm the wind-less Mercedes Championships on Maui. After yesterday's not-quite-Kona breeze, the first six rounds of the PGA Tour season has yet to see Hawai'i's legendary tradewinds.
It has seen a lot of Els, who "fiddled it around" early yesterday, then had birdie possibilities all over his back nine. He sank seven birdie putts in the round and missed four more from inside 10 feet.
Els' 2003 scoring average is a gaudy 65.33 while his under-par average is a gaudier 6.66. His remarkable surge actually started last year, when he won his last two events. In his last three stroke-play tournaments, Els is 61-under par with nine consecutive rounds in the 60s — a streak that has taken him to the No. 2 ranking in the world behind Tiger Woods.
Baddeley and Goosen, however, are ahead now. Goosen called yesterday's round "as good" as Thursday's 64 in virtually no wind. He birdied his first three holes and played the final 15 in 1-under, taking his first bogey of the week when he was stuck next to a tree at the 16th. He parred the easiest hole on the course — the par-5 ninth, which played downwind yesterday — when he nearly yanked his drive out of bounds.
Els called that Goosen's only bad swing in the two days they played together.
"Retief is playing awesome," Els said. "He's hardly missed a shot; he's putting great and he's going to be tough this weekend. Saying that, there are a lot of guys bunching up at the back so it should be quite a finish."
Baddeley moved up to the PGA Tour via finishing Top 10 on the Nationwide Tour money list last year. He won the 1999 Australian Open as an amateur, defended in 2000, then captured the Greg Norman Holden International the following year.
But, even after beating Norman, Sergio Garcia and Colin Montgomery for those titles, it is only now that he feels comfortable living among and launching drives with the big boys. He called his round yesterday "patient with a capital P" and proceeded to answer questions with wisdom beyond his years.
"Those experiences I have had the last two years held me in good stead for this year," Baddeley said. "With playing out here full-time and things like that where I have learned what works for me during a golf tournament.
"This is where you dream of being. My first event with my tour card and being tied for the lead after 36 is fantastic. We are only half way and I am just going to go out tomorrow and keep doing what I have been doing."
What weird wind did blow yesterday kept the cut from going historically low. There were 77 players who made it to the weekend at even-par 140 — the same cut as last year and 2000. It was a stroke lower in 2001 and two higher in the inaugural 1999 Sony Open. After Thursday's first round, 84 players were at par or better.
The 36-hole leaders actually have the highest score in four years. Paul Azinger, Brad Faxon and John Cook went into the weekend at 12-under the past three years; Azinger and Faxon won while Cook was overtaken by Jerry Kelly last year. Cook, who won the 1992 Hawaiian Open, is five back going into today. Jim Furyk, the 1996 Open winner, is four back.
• • •
$4.5 million Sony Open in Hawai'i
Par-70 (35-35), 7,060 yards, Waialae Country Club
- Retief Goosen 64-66—130
- Aaron Baddeley 66-64—130
- Peter Lonard 66-65—131
- Chris DiMarco 65-66—131
- Ernie Els 66-65—131
- Shigeki Maruyama 66-66—132
- Briny Baird 68-65—133
- Tim Herron 68-66—134
- Harrison Frazar 67-67—134
- Chris Riley 65-69—134
- Jim Furyk 67-67—134
- Fred Funk 66-68—134
- Brenden Pappas 65-69—134
- Kenny Perry 64-71—135
- Robert Gamez 66-69—135
- Tim Petrovic 68-67—135
- John Cook 67-68—135
- Loren Roberts 67-68—135
- Corey Pavin 67-68—135
- Tag Ridings 70-65—135
- Anthony Painter 69-66—135
- Andrew Magee 71-65—136
- Brent Geiberger 70-66—136
- Jerry Kelly 68-68—136
- Jeff Sluman 68-68—136
- Joe Durant 67-69—136
- Chris Smith 66-70—136
- Charles Howell III 70-66—136
- Chad Campbell 66-70—136
- Yasuharu Imano 67-69—136
- Vijay Singh 67-70—137
- Steve Lowery 68-69—137
- Sergio Garcia 67-70—137
- Steven Alker 71-66—137
- Rod Pampling 68-69—137
- Dicky Pride 66-71—137
- John Rollins 68-69—137
- Robert Allenby 68-69—137
- John Huston 68-69—137
- Jason Gore 70-67—137
- Ben Crane 68-70—138
- Tom Lehman 68-70—138
- Dan Forsman 68-70—138
- Jonathan Byrd 68-70—138
- Mark Wilson 72-66—138
- Dudley Hart 70-68—138
- Craig Perks 68-70—138
- K.J. Choi 67-71—138
- Cameron Beckman 69-69—138
- Jason Buha 69-69—138
- Arron Oberholser 70-68—138
- Stuart Appleby 68-71—139
- Brian Gay 72-67—139
- Rory Sabbatini 70-69—139
- Robin Freeman 70-69—139
- Notah Begay III 70-69—139
- Yusaku Miyazato 68-71—139
- Jeff Brehaut 70-69—139
- Andy Miller 67-72—139
- Chris Anderson 70-69—139
- Bart Bryant 72-67—139
- J.L. Lewis 68-71—139
- Olin Browne 69-70—139
- Hidemichi Tanaka 71-68—139
- Carl Paulson 70-69—139
- Shaun Micheel 69-70—139
- Thomas Levet 70-70—140
- Esteban Toledo 71-69—140
- Pat Perez 70-70—140
- Akio Sadakata 68-72—140
- Alex Cejka 70-70—140
- Vance Veazey 73-67—140
- David Peoples 71-69—140
- John Maginnes 71-69—140
- Brad Faxon 70-70—140
- Jeff Maggert 68-72—140
- Scott Laycock 70-70—140
Failed to qualify
- David Berganio, Jr. 69-72—141
- Fred Couples 71-70—141
- Ian Leggatt 72-69—141
- Len Mattiace 72-69—141
- Rich Beem 70-71—141
- Matt Kuchar 72-69—141
- Frank Lickliter II 70-71—141
- David Gossett 71-70—141
- Geoff Ogilvy 70-71—141
- Darron Stiles 70-71—141
- Joel Edwards 73-68—141
- Carlos Franco 71-70—141
- Stewart Cink 68-73—141
- Jay Don Blake 72-70—142
- Greg Chalmers 73-69—142
- Doug Barron 72-70—142
- Kaname Yokoo 71-71—142
- Aaron Barber 74-68—142
- Craig Barlow 70-72—142
- Jesper Parnevik 73-69—142
- Spike McRoy 69-73—142
- Paul Azinger 72-70—142
- Dave Stockton, Jr. 73-69—142
- Regan Lee 73-69—142
- Ty Tryon 73-69—142
- Taichiro Kiyota 71-71—142
- Todd Barranger 73-69—142
- Jonathan Kaye 71-72—143
- Steve Jones 75-68—143
- John Morgan 68-75—143
- Joel Kribel 74-69—143
- Pat Bates 70-73—143
- Paul Goydos 72-71—143
- Todd Fischer 73-70—143
- Dean Wilson 74-69—143
- Luke Donald 73-71—144
- J.J. Henry 73-71—144
- Howard Twitty 72-72—144
- John Senden 72-72—144
- Larry Mize 69-75—144
- Marco Dawson 71-73—144
- Tom Pernice, Jr. 69-75—144
- Craig Parry 68-76—144
- Richard Johnson 71-73—144
- Gene Sauers 74-71—145
- Katsunori Kuwabara 73-72—145
- Patrick Moore 70-75—145
- Per-Ulrik Johansson 73-72—145
- Glen Day 73-72—145
- Tom Byrum 73-73—146
- Kenichi Kuboya 69-77—146
- Craig Stadler 72-74—146
- Bob Burns 69-77—146
- Patrick Sheehan 72-74—146
- Tomohiro Kondo 69-77—146
- James McLean 72-75—147
- Brian Bateman 73-74—147
- Gavin Coles 74-73—147
- Heath Slocum 74-74—148
- Jim Carter 75-73—148
- Jose Maria Olazabal 75-74—149
- Joe Phengsavath 76-76—152
- Kirk Nelson 73-79—152
- Ron Castillo 78-75—153
- Douglas Bohn 79-76—155
- Royden Heirakuji 80-78—158
Bold names indicate players with ties to Hawai'i
• • •
8:11 a.m.—Scott Laycock. 8:19—Brad Faxon, Jeff Maggert. 8:27—David Peoples, John Maginnes. 8:35—Alex Cojka, Vance Veazey. 8:43—Pat Perez, Akio Sadakata. 8:51—Thomas Levet, Esteban Toledo. 8:59—Carl Paulson, Shaun Michael. 9:07—Olin Browne, Hidemichi Tanaka. 9:15—Bart Bryant, J.L. Lewis. 9:23—Andy Miller, Chris Anderson. 9:31—Yusaku Miyazato, Jeff Brehaut. 9:39—Robin Freeman, Notah Begay III. 9:47—Brian Gay, Rory Sabbatini. 9:55—Arron Oberholser, Stuart Appleby. 10:03—Cameron Beckman, Jason Buha. 10:11—Craig Perks, K.J. Choi. 10:19—Mark Wilson, Dudley Hart. 10:27—Dan Forsman, Jonathan Byrd. 10:35—Ben Crane, Tom Lehman. 10:43—John Huston, Jason Gore. 10:51—John Rollins, Robert Allenby. 10:59—Rod Pampling, Dicky Pride. 11:07—Sergio Garcia, Steven Alker. 11:15—Vijay Singh, Steve Lowery. 11:24—Chad Campbell, Yasuharu Imano. 11:33—Chris Smith, Charles Howell III. 11:42—Jeff Sluman, Joe Durant. 11:51—Brent Geiberger, Jerry Kelly. Noon—Anthony Painter, Andrew Mageo. 12:09—Corey Pavin, Tag Ridings. 12:18—John Cook, Loren Roberts. 12:27—Robert Gamez, Tim Petrovic. 12:36—Brenden Pappas, Kenny Perry. 12:45—Jim Furyk, Fred Funk. 12:54—Harrison Frazar, Chris Riley. 1:03—Briny Baird, Tim Herron. 1:12—Ernie Els, Shigeki Maruyama. 1:21—Peter Lonard, Chris DiMarco. 1:30—Retief Goosen, Aaron Baddeley.
