Sony Open: 3 things to know after Round 2 in Hawaii

Nick Taylor

Nick Taylor hits his tee shot on Friday on the 7th hole at Waialae Country Club.

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Five players are two shots back. Eight are three back. Three are four back. Seventeen players are five back. Who’s contending? Who isn’t? Here are three things you need to know after Friday’s second round of the Sony Open at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu.

Nick Taylor leads 

One player is no shots back. 

Nick Taylor, behind an seven-birdie-one-eagle stretch over his final 12 holes, shot an eight-under 62, tied for the day’s low round, for a 12-under total and the two-stroke lead. At 10 under are Webb Simpson, Stewart Cink, Russell Henley, Chris Kirk and Vaughn Taylor

On the 503-yard, par-5 9th — Taylor’s finishing hole after starting on the back nine — Taylor hit his drive below the netting that separated the hole from the driving range to the left, was able to receive a drop, then birdied the hole after he chipped to within about 3 feet on his third shot. 

“I’ve putt well the last two days,” Taylor said. “Early on today, the first four or five holes, I made some nice par putts. I was one over, and then I started hitting it better and giving myself opportunities and kept making putts.”

Five players are tied for second 

Cink, after a 63, heads the players tied for second. Henley shot a 64, Simpson and Kirk a 65, and Taylor fired a 66.     

At 9 under are Collin Morikawa, Hideki Matsuyama, Joaquin Niemann, Billy Horschel, Marc Leishman, Charley Hoffman, Brendan Steele and Peter Malnati.

Adam Scott is five shots back 

Among other players, Adam Scott shot a seven-under 64 and is five shots back, and Sergio Garcia is seven strokes behind. 

Among the players missing the cut, at four under, were Abraham Ancer, Matt Kuchar and Vijay Singh

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Nick Piastowski

Nick Piastowski

Golf.com Editor

Nick Piastowski is a Senior Editor at Golf.com and Golf Magazine. In his role, he is responsible for editing, writing and developing stories across the golf space. And when he’s not writing about ways to hit the golf ball farther and straighter, the Milwaukee native is probably playing the game, hitting the ball left, right and short, and drinking a cold beer to wash away his score. You can reach out to him about any of these topics — his stories, his game or his beers — at nick.piastowski@golf.com.