American Matt Kuchar on Friday used a hot start to shoot his second-straight 63 and grab the halfway lead at the Sony Open in Hawaii by one stroke over Andrew Putnam.
Kuchar made birdie on his first three holes then closed with his sixth birdie of the day to move to 14-under 126 at the Waialae Country Club.
The 40-year-old is aiming for his second win in three starts on the PGA Tour after claiming the Mayakoba Golf Classic earlier this season. Winning the Mayakoba ended a long winless drought that stretched back to 2014.
“Just two great days. To shoot seven-under back-to-back is unexpected, but certainly awfully exciting,” said Kuchar, who finished his front nine by making an eagle on the par-five hole.
Kuchar is one shot clear of Putnam, who fired a five-under 65, and four strokes ahead of Stewart Cink and Chez Reavie, who shot 62 and 65 respectively, in the tour’s first full-field event of this year.
Kuchar has been one of the most consistent players on the tour over the past few years, finishing in the top 20 in FedEx Cup standings in 2015, 2016 and 2017.
He said that getting an early win in the new season gives him added confidence.
“Last year I probably ground harder than I’ve done in the past,” he said. “I was on the outside of a couple of things and felt like I hadn’t been used to being in that situation.”
“So now being in good shape it’s certainly a nice place to be,” he added.
Kuchar has won just twice in the dozen times he has held the 36-hole lead, but he feels with the way he is playing that he can add to his birdie count.
First-round leader Adam Svensson of Canada made the cut, despite shooting 13 shots worse on Friday following his opening round of 61. The rookie was tied for 20th with a five-under 135 total.
Former major winners Jordan Spieth and Zach Johnson missed the cut by one stroke.
Spieth, who was making this year’s debut, shot a 66 and Johnson had a 68 as they finished with a one-under 139 total.
South African native Rory Sabbatini played his first event under the Slovakian flag and shot a second-round 67 to move to five-under overall, nine shots adrift of Kuchar.
Sabbatini, whose wife is from Slovakia, last week became a naturalized citizen and hopes to play for that country in next year’s Tokyo Olympics.
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