HONOLULU — 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.
But imagine showing up on the first tee on a PGA Tour event located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and seeing your high school principal watching. Rita Kear, retired from San Dimas High School, happened to be on vacation with her husband.
“I saw her on the first tee and I was like, ‘Oh my God, is that Mrs. Kear?’ Sure enough was,” Spaun said. “Small world.”
A strange world Friday, at least down the shore from wild, wack
