Patrick Fishburn and Denny McCarthy, two 30-something players each seeking his first PGA Tour win, share the lead at the midpoint of the Sony Open in Hawaii.
Fishburn produced a second consecutive 5-under-par 65 at Waialae Country Club on Friday. McCarthy carded a 66, and he is also at 10-under 130 for the tournament.
Eric Cole (3 under in second round), Paul Peterson (3 under) and Japan’s Kensei Hirata (7 under) are tied for third place at 9 under.
Lee Hodges (6 under), Alex Smalley (6 under), Zach Johnson (4 under), J.J. Spaun (4 under) and Austria’s Sepp Straka (4 under) share sixth place at 8 under.
Fishburn started his bogey-free round with a hot streak on the back nine, as he recorded three consecutive birdies from No. 12 to No. 14. After the turn, he added birdies at No. 5 and No. 9.
The 32-year-old Utah native said the key to his strong two rounds was “probably just keeping the ball in the fairway. I’ve hit a lot of fairways and feel really comfortable with the putter. First round I made a few long ones and today felt like everything was kind of going where I wanted it to on the greens.
“Just a matter of judging the wind and the break. Feel like I’m rolling the ball really well, so excited for the next two days.”
Fishburn is competing in his 28th career PGA Tour event, and he has never finished higher than third place.
He said of his strategy for the weekend, “Just to continue what I’ve been doing. … Just kind of take what the course gives me and be aggressive when I can, but try to continue to have good course management and hopefully roll a few in.”
McCarthy, a 31-year-old Maryland native, is in his 191st start on Tour. He has registered two runner-up results, at the 2023 Memorial and the 2024 Valero Texas Open.
On Friday, he started birdie-bogey-bogey, then was bogey-free the rest of the way, adding five more birdies.
“I played really well,” McCarthy said. “I played better than yesterday, I think, tee to green. Hit way more fairways today. Missed a lot of short putts, but I guess made up for it. Made a couple longer bonus putts. … Everything feels really good.”
Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, coming off a record-breaking victory at The Sentry last week in Kapalua, Hawaii, is tied for 42nd place at 4 under after a 1-under 69 on Friday. Matsuyama captured the Sony Open championship three years ago.
–Field Level Media
