HONOLULU. – Juvic Pagunsan of the Philippines started his
first PGA Tour event on a sour note, firing a dismal 75 and finding himself 12
shots off the pace in the first round of the Sony Open on Thursday.
Britain’s Luke Donald, with his driving and approach play in
sparkling order, reeled off nine birdies and two bogeys on his way to a
seven-under-par 63 at a breezy Waialae Country Club.
The world No. 10 was one shot ahead of South Korea’s K.J.
Choi.
Pagunsan, the Asian Tour’s Rookie of the Year, had six
bogeys against a lone birdie, made on the par-5 No. 9.
Choi, helped by a 44-foot eagle putt at the ninth, shot a 64
to sit second with world No. 2 Jim Furyk and fellow American Will MacKenzie a
further stroke back in a tie for third.
PGA Tour veteran Jeff Sluman, the 1999 champion, was among a
group of eight bunched on 66 while Michelle Wie’s bid to make the cut was left
in tatters after she opened with a 78.
Despite blustery conditions on the southeastern end of the
island of Oahu, Donald was in prime form and signed off with birdies on his
last two holes.
"I’ve always enjoyed this golf course and I played very
nicely today," the 29-year-old Englishman said after finishing his round at the
par-five ninth.
"I felt I was playing reasonably solidly last week and it
was nice to come here and not get pounded by the wind quite as much today."
Donald finished seventh at the wind-swept Mercedes-Benz
Championship on Maui, the opening event of the 2007 PGA Tour.
"I’m improving," added the Chicago-based player, who
clinched his second PGA Tour title in last year’s Honda Classic.
"I’ve gotten to the stage where I am expecting to be up
there and contending and winning each week that I play."
Furyk, champion at Waialae in 1996, was in upbeat mood after
rattling up five birdies in a blemish-free display on a tight layout with
smallish greens.
"It was a good, solid round," he said. "I made a few good
up-and-downs today but mostly I gave myself a lot of opportunities. It’s tough
to keep the ball in the fairway here."
Of the other big names playing in the first full-field
tournament of the season, US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy of Australia carded a
67 and Fijian world No. 5 Vijay Singh, winner at Kapalua last week, a 71.
Teenage prodigy Wie, playing alongside the men for the 13th
time in a professional event, effectively scuppered her chances of making the
cut after an erratic display of driving.
The 17-year-old Hawaiian missed every fairway on the front
nine before ending the day second-last in the 144-strong field after a haul of
six bogeys, two double-bogeys and two birdies.
"It was very frustrating because I knew, if I got the ball
on the fairway, I could have shot really low today," said Wie, who is bidding
to become the first woman to survive the cut in a PGA Tour event since Babe
Zaharias at the 1945 Tucson Open.
"My irons felt great, my short game felt great and my
putting felt great, and putting is usually the one that lets me down."
She shrugged aside suggestions she might withdraw from
Friday’s second round (Saturday in Manila) because of a long-term wrist injury.
"It is what it is and I’m having acupuncture and
physiotherapy on it every day," she said, referring to her tightly-wrapped
right wrist.
"I’m determined to play through this week."
Wie became the first woman to make the cut on a major men’s
tour in more than 60 years in the Asian Tour’s SK Telecom Open in South Korea
last year.
In her other 11 men’s tournaments, including three Sony
Opens, she has failed to qualify for the weekend.
