So much for local knowledge.

The five local golfers figured they'd get a little home-course advantage over the rest of the Sony Open in Hawai'i field.

Wrong.

Strong kona winds — 180-degree opposite of the northeast trades that usually whip through Waialae Country Club — took away any edge. Of the five, only Tadd Fujikawa came closest to par with a 1-over 71, bouncing back after opening with a double-bogey.

Lorens Chan, a 14-year-old 'Iolani School freshman, came in with a 72, while Hawai'i's two PGA touring pros needed to birdie their final hole to each shoot 73. John Lynch, the Aloha Section PGA player of the year, posted a 78, starting with triple-bogey 7 and bogey.

But it was the wind, and a pending windstorm that could postpone today's second round, that dominated the conversation yesterday.

"I played this golf course 300 times and I played it in this kind of wind, like, five times," said McLachlin, who called it "really weird." He added, "It felt like a brand new golf course out there for me. It kinda took away a little bit of my sort of local knowledge and local advantage."

Fujikawa, who wowed 'em in the 2007 Sony Open, also used the word "weird" in describing the kooky opposite winds that led PGA officials to move up the tees at the first, fifth and eighth holes. Who could tell, judging by the scores at par-4 holes.

"It's what we call a kona wind," Fujikawa told a Golf Channel interviewer, "total opposite of what it normally is. I'm not really used to it, it's a really weird feeling. It was tough out there."

"I'm not really used to playing this kind of wind," said Chan, whose parents are Waialae members. "The speed of the wind, how strong it was, was kind of normal but just the direction was kind of throwing me off."

Wilson, whose last competitive round was in October, came home last month to celebrate his 39th birthday and play practice rounds at Waialae. A lot good that did. "I laughed about it," he said about the winds of change.

Still, guys were still playing well yesterday, according to Wilson, who blamed an errant driver that led to a round that included five bogeys.

"I'm just not hitting the driver that well so I got in trouble a lot with it and paid the price. It's hard to give away that many shots if you don't keep it in the fairways. I'm sure I've got to probably shoot 3 under at least to have a chance to make the cut," said Wilson, who missed the cut the last three years.

"It wasn't an easy day and it doesn't look like it'll get any easier. It was just survive, just get through it and survive," said McLachlin, who's tied for 98th with Wilson as they jockey to be among the low 70 and ties to survive the 36-hole cut.

"I think I always put a lot of pressure on myself to play before the hometown fans. Sometimes for me, it's easier to be at a U.S. Open or something like that where I can just get in my zone and focus," McLachlin said. "I'm just trying so hard for the hometown fans and trying to do so well. Sometimes that gets me out of my game a little bit. I think tomorrow will be a lot better than today. It can't be much worse. To finish with a birdie on 16 and 18 is a good sign. Hopefully, I'll give them (the fans) more to cheer about tomorrow."

That left it to Fujikawa and Chan, the two teenagers in the PGA Tour's first full-field event, to captivate the local fans.

Fujikawa played the final 17 holes in 1-under-par after his double-bogey 6 at the first hole, which was dead into the wind and compounded by a second shot that hit a tree. Fujikawa thought about punching it back out to the fairway, but got a "little bit greedy," he said.

"Starting with a double-bogey is tough, but bouncing back is a really good feeling and it gives me a lot of confidence into tomorrow. Overall, I thought I played really well. Putting was good," said Fujikawa, who one-putted eight greens. "I'd be more happy with even (par) but I'll take 1 over."

Chan, the lone amateur in the field, said his short game saved him yesterday, especially his bunker shots. "I had three of them and I got up and down on all of them."

Chan tapped in from 15 inches at the fifth hole and 16 inches at 16th to save pars, eliciting praise about his short game from Ricky Barnes, the 2002 U.S. Amateur champion who was playing in the same threesome: "If he can maintain that short game he had today, he's got a good career ahead of him," Barnes said.

Bill Kwon can be reached at billkwonrhs@aol.com