Ryan Palmer was finished for the day and walking along the ocean
when Zach Johnson called out to him.
"Hey, what's this about you stealing my ammo?'' Johnson said.
Palmer laughed, walked into the press room and took a seat on
the front row to listen in on the interview. He already has learned
so much this week from Johnson, the defending champion at the Sony
Open.
Earlier in the week, looking for something to read, Palmer
came across an article about Johnson on how to treat each day
separately without looking too far ahead and being consumed with
results. He took that to the golf course, opened with a 65, then
treated the second round Friday like it was a new day and he was
starting at even.
Palmer did just as well, closing with two birdies for a
4-under 66 that gave him a one-shot lead over Johnson, Chad
Campbell and Robert Allenby going into the weekend.
"Just remember to reciprocate one day,'' Johnson told him.
Palmer was at 9-under 131, atop a crowded leaderboard so
typical after two days at Waialae, and in some familiar company.
It was sheer coincidence that he read a story about Johnson
and was one shot ahead of him. Stranger still was Campbell was in
the group one shot behind. Palmer and Campbell live five minutes
apart in the Dallas suburbs. They left early to escape the cold,
spending a few days in the California desert to play two of the
courses used for next week's Bob Hope Classic.
The stakes are higher at the Sony Open, although neither let
on who claimed the cash last week.
"Let's call it a push. It was give-or-take $5,000 on the last
hole,'' Campbell said with a wink and a smile.
Campbell, who had a 64, is happy to be in Honolulu for
reasons beyond the fact Waialae is one of his favorite courses. A
year ago, he was on the plane to the middle of the Pacific Ocean
when he realized he forgot to formally enter, and he had to turn
around and go home.
Asked if he found that funny, Campbell deadpanned, "Not
really.''
A coincidence, at least?
"More of an inconvenience,'' Campbell said.
Worse yet is Campbell loves this oceanside course, a classic
design that tends to identify who has the best all-around game that
week.
"It reminds me of Colonial,'' Campbell said, which is where
Palmer is a member.
Johnson, meanwhile, looked every bit the part of defending
champion with eight birdies. He looked anything but that with one
bad break on the 17th hole that led to a triple bogey.
Feeling heavy sand under his feet from a deep bunker, he
didn't realize there was hardly any sand at all until his ball
sailed over the green into a plugged lie in another bunker. It was
so bad that Johnson had to play back toward the tee to get it out
of the bunker, chipped poorly and fell down the leaderboard. Then,
one he thought was a perfect tee shot tumbled into the rough and he
wound up with par. Then came a three-putt bogey.
"I've never thrown it in, but I've been really anxious to get
off the golf course,'' Johnson said. "At that point, I was really
close.''
He turned it around with a 6-iron into 12 feet on the second,
one of his best shots in an otherwise great round, and that settled
him. Johnson finished with two birdies and was right back in the
hunt.
Also at 8-under 132 was Allenby, who came to Hawaii after two
straight victories in South Africa and Australia to close out the
year. He severely twisted his ankle stepping off a curb Monday and
has been hobbling around. He also is playing more conservatively
than usual, and it might be helping.
"I'm managing my way around the golf course,'' Allenby said.
"When you feel good, you play a little more aggressively. Now I'm
backing off a little bit, hitting into little areas, hoping to make
up-and-down or hit it close. I've still got the confidence I could
win the tournament.''
Seventeen players were separated by four shots going into the
weekend.
Steve Stricker, who has gone 24 holes without a bogey, had a
67 and was joined in the group at 7-under 133 by John Merrick (68)
and Jeff Quinney (67). Another shot back was Davis Love III, who
birdied his last hole for a 69, and Masters champion Angel Cabrera
(68), who had coach Charlie Epps on the bag when his caddie was
sick.
Paul Goydos, the 2007 winner at Waialae, had a tournament-low
63 and was in the group at 135.
With so much drama at the top of the leaderboard, the bottom
carried some excitement, too. Aaron Goldberg, a Monday qualifier in
his first PGA Tour event, was in the middle of the pack until he
made double bogeys on the 16th and 17th holes, chopped up the easy
18th and stood over a 5-foot putt to make the cut. He made it.
Among those not so fortunate was John Daly (71) and
19-year-old Tadd Fujikawa, who was around the cut line until
hitting into the canal and then hitting a tree for double bogey on
the par-5 ninth, the easiest hole on the course.
Rickie Fowler, the 21-year-old rookie who came to Honolulu
with much hype, shot 75-72 and missed the cut.
The trick for Palmer is to keep following Johnson's advice
and start from scratch on Saturday.
"It's kept me calm,'' Palmer said. "I'm not going to sit here
and say I'm not going to think about being in the lead. Who doesn't
think about it when they tee off on Saturday in the final group.
I'll just go play golf and see what happens.''
