Sony Open R2

January 14-17
Waialae Country Club, Honolulu, Hawaii
$6,600,000
Round 1, Round 3, Round 4

Nick Taylor fired seven birdies and an eagle for an 8-under 62 marred by a single bogey at the 14th on Friday to take a two-shot lead in the Sony Open.

The ideal weather conditions and light breeze led to a packed leaderboard with a group of five players in second place behind Taylor and a further group of eight tied for seventh place three shots behind him. Taylor’s playing partner, Keith Mitchell, also shot a 62 and there were only four holes where neither made a birdie.

”I think it’s probably harder out here to make double (bogey) and there’s a lot of birdie opportunities,” said Taylor. ”You can make four, five, six pars in a row and you’re probably getting lapped, especially with how the fairways are running.”

Among the group in seventh place is overnight leader Joaquin Niemann who followed up his opening 62 with a 69 that consisted of pars, two birdies and a bogey.

“Today was a weird day,” said Niemann. “I didn’t feel like I played bad. I actually hit it pretty good. I just didn’t hit it pretty close. I was all day in between. But I’m still in good position, so just looking forward for the weekend.”

“I’m playing great. I think if I just keep playing the way I’m playing, hitting a lot of greens, giving myself a lot of chances, I’ll be doing good.”

Harris English, winner of last week’s Sentry Tournament of Champions, opened with a 70 on Thursday but recovered with a 64 and is T35 alongside ten others at 6-under.