HONOLULU — At one point of his first start as a newly minted full-fledged member of the PGA Tour, Chan Kim was praying he didn’t finish dead last.
He finished the week hoping to get just a few more feet from his stubborn golf ball.
Kim, the former Kaimuki High standout, shot a 6-under 64 on Friday to give himself a chance at making an improbable cut at the Sony Open in Hawaii.
He was in a tough spot after his 75 in foul conditions Thursday plus a couple of pars to finish that suspended round early Friday. By the time he reached No. 18 with a two-day score of even par – six birdies against one bogey for Round 2 – he knew he needed an eagle to reach the projected cut line of 2 under.
His drive went 288 yards to the joint of the left-facing dog leg, and he smacked his approach shot 250 yards onto the green, about 46 feet and slightly uphill from the hole.
As his subsequent putt stopped around 44, the 33-year-old covered his face with a hand.
“Never going to go in if you leave it short, right?” Kim mused afterward.
Just like his response to Thursday’s unfortunate carom off the flagstick on a near-ace on his second hole (“just golf,” as he described it), Kim was able to get through the moment in good spirits. It probably helped that he was within a few minutes’ drive of Ala Wai Golf Course, where the 2006 HHSAA champ honed his skills as a youth before leaving the Islands for Arizona to finish high school and play at Arizona State.
He came agonizingly close to another ace on Friday at the par-3 No. 4, and later spoke to the PGA about those what-if moments.
He called the week’s experience “incredible” and expressed pride in being a full-time PGA member for the first time at 33. He’d spent eight years on the Japan Tour, then successfully passed through the Korn Ferry Tour and Q-School last year.
“Seeing a whole bunch my family, friends that came out to watch, definitely helped me settle down a little bit,” Kim said. “(It) helped me today in keeping calm, just trying to do the best I could to try and make the cut for them.
“Came pretty close … I'm proud of how I handled myself and just got to move on.”
That’s the beauty of life on Tour: He can flush the result and get right back at it the next week. Up next is the The American Express in La Quinta, Calif.
Meanwhile, the other two Hawaii golfers in the field tried to make the most of the rare opportunity to compete with the likes of major winners Hideki Matsuyama and Zach Johnson. University of Hawaii senior Blaze Akana and Big Island pro Hunter Larson, like Kim, had vastly improved second rounds in clear conditions. However, they were too far out of contention for the cut to begin the day, as Akana went 79-71 and Larson 88-79 to finish in the bottom five.
It was the second straight Sony appearance for the Kamehameha graduate Akana, who got in both times by winning an event for local amateurs.
He said it didn’t compare to competing at the college level.
“Every time I get to step foot in a PGA Tour event it’s a great experience,” Akana said. “I try to use it as a confidence going forward just knowing that I'm able to hit some shots under this amount of pressure with the big crowds watching.”
Larson resolved to win another Aloha Section PGA championship to earn his way in again and have a better future showing now that his nerves were calibrated to the high-stakes setting. He, like Akana, had a gallery of loyal followers.
“It's awesome. A little bit emotional,” Larson said of his two-day experience. “Those people must love me, because the type of golf I was playing, to walk 18 holes and follow me. Those are very close friends, family. I'm so grateful. They obviously would've wanted me to play better but they continue to do support me.”
Carl Yuan of China, a 26-year-old University of Washington alumnus, topped a crowded leaderboard at 9 under after shooting a 5-under 65, one better than his 66 Thursday. Defending champion Si Woo Kim of South Korea entered Saturday four shots off the lead.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.