Spieth misses cut after losing lead

Chris Kirk in the lead might have been the only shred of normalcy in the Sony Open.

Jordan Spieth started Friday with a share of the lead. He walked off the 18th green at Waialae in a minor state of shock after missing the cut.

“I felt I had a really bad deck of cards today,” said Spieth, the first player since Matt Every in Bay Hill in 2020 to go from a share of the 18-hole lead to an early exit. “It was a weird, weird day.”

He had a 5-over 75 after opening with a 64.

Rory Sabbatini birdied the 18th hole in the morning and was within one shot of the lead as he headed to the front nine.

He hit his tee shot out-of-bounds. Double bogey. He pulled his drive into the water on No. 2. Double bogey. He pulled his second shot on No. 3 into the same water and got the same score. He shot 41 on the final nine for a 74 and missed the cut by 1.

J.J. Spaun had a happier time until the end, when one bad swing sent his tee shot into the canal on the par-5 ninth, leading to a bogey on the easiest hole at Waialae. He still shot 64 and was one shot behind.

Kirk dropped only one shot in his round of 5-under 65, putting him at 11-under 129 for a one-shot lead over Spaun and Taylor Montgomery, the PGA Tour rookie who is playing his eighth tournament of the season and only once has finished out of the top 15.

Kirk was among those tied for the lead when he began the second round. He birdied the first three holes and, aside from a bogey on No. 6, didn't have too much press. But he can appreciate the difficulty of trying to maintain good form from one day to the next.

“It's so difficult to be great at this game professionally in the mental side,” he said. “I don't know if I did a good job today or not, but thankfully did on the back nine. I always remind myself that pressure is a privilege when you start feeling a little bit of nerves.”

Spieth wasn't sure what he was feeling. He was even for the day, right in the mix, when things started to fall apart.

“I've never led a tournament and missed the cut before,” Spieth said. “Just got the ball in the wrong spots at the wrong places.”

Continental Europe extends Hero Cup lead:

Continental Europe will take a twopoint lead into the final day of the Hero Cup after extending its advantage over Britain & Ireland in the afternoon foursomes on Saturday.

The inaugural tournament is giving European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald a chance to assess players under match-play pressure ahead of the contest with the United States outside Rome in September.

Francesco Molinari's team was a point ahead overnight and maintained that advantage when the teams took 2.5 points each from the five foursomes matches on Saturday morning at Abu Dhabi Golf Club.

Continental Europe then finished the afternoon 3-2 to take a 8.5-6.5 lead ahead of the Sunday singles.