Smith recovers from early wobble for 3-shot lead at Kapalua
KAPALUA, Hawaii — The scenery off Kapalua suggests a chill vibe. The scoreboard at the Sentry Tournament of Champions delivered a clear message to get a move on it.
Cameron Smith took that to heart Friday.
Smith opened with two straight bogeys to not only lose his oneshot lead, but fall completely off the first page of the leaderboard. And then the Australian made a sensational recovery, capped by four straight birdies at the end for a 9-under 64 and a three-shot lead.
“Few poor shots, a silly three-putt on the second,” Smith said. “I had to hit the reset button.”
Smith was at 17-under 129 and matched the 36-hole record at Kapalua first set by Ernie Els in 2003 when he blew away the winners-only field and won by eight shots.
Smith doesn’t figured to have it that easy on the weekend.
Blessed with another day of ideal scoring conditions — a warm sun, very little wind by Hawaii standards and preferred lies as the Plantation Course recovers from rain — all 38 players were at par or better. The average score was 67.8, nearly two shots better than Thursday.
Jon Rahm, the No. 1 player in the world, didn’t miss a fairway or a green the entire round and posted another 66, leaving him three shots behind along with Daniel Berger (66).
Patrick Cantlay, the FedEx Cup champion and PGA player of the year who had not competed since the Ryder Cup in late September, missed an 8-foot birdie putt on the final hole and had to settle for a 67. He was four shots behind and had reason to be optimistic.
The longest of Cantlay’s six birdie putts was just under 6 feet. He missed four birdie putts from about 10 feet or shorter.
“I played great and got absolutely nothing out of it,” Cantlay said. “It just means my game is in a good spot and I’m well-positioned for a good weekend.”
So is Rahm, who had not been at a tournament since he missed the cut in Spain on Oct. 15, wanting to take a big breather. The ideal that he got off the plane on Maui, went to the golf course and played like he never went away is a bit overcooked.
He practiced. He worked on his body and his game. And he’s playing like he never went away.
“If anybody expected any rust — which I did a little bit — it really isn’t there,” Rahm said.
Anything worse than 68 meant losing ground.
Phil Mickelson, the 51-year-old PGA champion who’s at Kapalua for the first time in 21 years, got within one shot of the leaders as they were just starting. It was never going to hold up, and Lefty didn’t help his cause with a wild drive on the 17th that led to bogey and then finishing his round by missing a 3-foot par putt. Those bogeys gave him a 69. He was tied for 30th.