Seamus Power’s 2025 is off to a disappointing start as the Waterford man found himself well down the leaderboard at the halfway point of the Sony Open in Hawaii and goes home early.
Having failed to register a single birdie in his +3 opening round, things were looking brighter as he finally opened his birdie account on his first hole – the 10th – on day two. Sadly, that was as good as it got and after carding 13 straight pars afterwards, he dropped back to level for the day with a bogey on the sixth and then double bogeyed the eighth to slip to +5 overall.
Patrick Fishburn fired a bogey-free 65 for a -5 – his second in succession – to grab a share of the lead alongside American compatriot Denny McCarthy after 36 holes.
“I’ve hit a lot of fairways and feel really comfortable with the putter,” Fishburn said after his round.
“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.
“Feel like I’m rolling the ball really well, so excited for the next two days.”
McCarthy, who began the day one shot ahead of Fishburn on -6, overcame a shaky start which featured two bogeys in his opening three holes to make steady ground up the leaderboard.
“Missed some in close today that I’d normally clean up, so that was a little frustrating,” McCarthy said. “Missed a couple short ones early and bounced back. Made some mid- to long-range putts in the middle of the front nine to get me into the round … everything feels really good.”
Americans Eric Cole and Paul Peterson join Japan’s Kensei Hirata in a three-way tie for third at -9, while 2023 US Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson and 2023 European Ryder Cup team member Sepp Straka are among those a shot further back at -8.
Hideki Matsuyama’s hopes of completing a Hawaiian sweep are hanging by a thread as last week’s The Sentry winner and 2022 Sony Open champion could only manage a one-under 69 and sits tied for 42nd at -4.
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