HONOLULU — The wind arrived early and stayed late Friday in the second round of the PGA Tour’s season-opening Sony Open. Davis Riley thrived in the difficult conditions in the morning, birdieing the par-5 18th for a 64 and a share of the lead.
Riley matched defending champion Nick Taylor, Kevin Roy, S.H. Kim and Adrien Dumont de Chassart at 9-under 131 at Waialae Country Club.
WPIAL product Neal Shipley improved in the second round, carding a 72 after opening Thursday with a 76, but missed the cut.
“I think these conditions are kind of bringing it out in me a little bit because you have to be creative,” Riley said. “It’s not like you’re trying to make perfect golf swings every time. There is definitely some feel and creativity.”
Taylor faced the stiffest wind of the day in the afternoon a day after shooting a 62 in calmer conditions for a share of the first-round lead with Roy. The Canadian ran in a 25-foot birdie putt on the par-4 15th and a 17-footer on the par-4 16th to take the outright lead, then bogeyed the par-3 17th to slip back.
“The wind was strong and with some gusts,” Taylor said. “A lot of the holes were relatively crosswind, so it was tough to get the yardages correctly. Sometimes it would hurt, sometimes it would help. Almost had to time your shots correctly and get a little bit of luck, too.”
Last year, Taylor chipped in for eagle on 18 to get into a playoff, then beat Nico Echavarria with a birdie.
Roy closed with a birdie on the par-5 ninth late in the afternoon.
“When you get wind like that doesn’t really feel like it’s in the same direction,” Roy said. “It’s just blowing everywhere seems like. I tried to do a really good job at just trying to plot myself around the course.”
Dumont de Chassart shot 67, and Kim had a 68 — both in the morning.
Morning starter Maverick McNealy (66) was a stroke back with afternoon players Takumi Kanaya (66), John Parry (68) and Chris Gotterup (69).
“Obviously, tough day out here with the wind,” Gotterup said.
Jordan Spieth was 3 under after a 69. He pointed to a bogey on 15.
“It was so hard this morning,” Spieth said. “I hit a 7-iron into that 15th hole. I had maybe 158 hole and I think it went 120 yards and I played it like 175. So, it was just very challenging at times. And on the greens it just becomes really hard to make putts when it’s that windy.”
Vijay Singh made the cut with rounds of 68 and 70. The 62-year-old Hall of Famer is using a one-time career money exemption to play in full-field events this year. He’s making his 25th start in the event he won in 2005.
The season started a week later than usual because The Sentry at Kapalua on Maui was canceled due to water issues.
