Zach Johnson lines up his putt on the 18th green during the second round of the Sony Open golf tourn …
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A new driver, a new swing and Brandt Snedeker is starting to feel just like new.
One of them belonged to Kisner, who rolled in a 12-foot putt to get within one shot of Snedeker.
Fifteen players were separated by only four shots at the halfway point.
The 25-year-old could have held the outright lead had he converted a birdie putt from inside three feet at the last, but despite that miss he remains satisfied with his overall performance. Vijay Singh turns 53 next month and still harbors hopes of becoming the oldest victor in PGA Tour history. This marks the third time he has been ideal in scrambling through two rounds, and the first time since he won at Pebble Beach past year.
He grabbed four more birdies on the way home, at the 12th and 13th, and then finished off his round in style with shots picked up at the last two holes.
The reigning Philippine Open champion wound up with a 139 and missed the cut pegged at 137.
“I played a bunch of practice rounds at Maui and that kind of helped me get more comfortable with it”.
“I feel like I’m playing great, so it should be fun”, Snedeker said afterwards as he bids to win an eighth PGA Tour title.
Kisner will be in the final group for the third time in his last four PGA Tour starts. “I’ve missed a couple of shorter ones, but it’s been good”. I’m going through the ball a little bit stronger.
Morgan Hoffmann of Wyckoff shot a 2-over 70, leaving him nine shots back. And both were right of the fairway on the par-4 third, having to punch out low to avoid the palm trees. But he hung in there long enough to stick his approach 4 feet below the cup on No. 6, and he ended with a 12-foot eagle putt for a 66.
With birdies again likely to be plentiful, Snedeker said he would still try to resist the urge to keep track of what others were doing on Sunday.
Kisner started his round of 66 with consecutive birdies at the fourth and fifth before picking up a further shot at the ninth.
I was proud of the way I stayed patient all day, Kisner said. A slightly quieter back nine saw him add two more birdies, including a 42-foot putt for a birdie-three at the 13th.
Kevin Kisner birdied his last hole for a 66 and was one shot behind.
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It was a bad day for Graeme McDowell, whose run of form came to a juddering halt with a round of 73 that left him on the wrong side of the three-under par cut mark.
