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Smith carded a 9-under 64 after opening with a 65 Thursday at
the Plantation Course at Kapalua. His one-shot lead after one
round grew to a three-stroke advantage over world No. 1 Jon Rahm
of Spain and Daniel Berger.
Smith's 17-under 129 matches the 36-hole record set by South
Africa's Ernie Els in 2003.
It didn't look like Smith's day early on. He bogeyed the first
two holes and slipped down the leaderboard while other players
were shooting low. At the par-5 fifth hole, he chipped in for
eagle from just off the green -- his second straight day eagling
the hole -- to get his round on track.
Smith said he didn't feel comfortable at the driving range while
warming up before the round, but he kept his head down.
"There's no point bashing clubs around and doing all that
stuff," Smith said. "It was definitely frustrating, but kept the
head on, and I knew there was plenty of birdies out there seeing
everyone go low."
He finished the day with nine birdies, six of them coming on a
bogey-free back nine.
Rahm posted his second bogey-free 66 in a row to move into a tie
for second at 14 under. If Rahm finishes the tournament in first
or second place, he will fend off Collin Morikawa and maintain
his No. 1 spot in the Official World Golf Ranking for another
week.
Berger matched Rahm's 66, eagling the par-5 15th hole while
maintaining a clean card. He was paired in a group with Smith
for the first two rounds.
"Cameron had a tough start and then he pulled it together on the
end of the back nine," Berger said. "It's always easy to play
with someone when they're making a ton of birdies and you're
seeing balls go in the hole, and he made every putt he looked at
today and I think he's going to be a tough guy to beat this
weekend, but it's not impossible."
Patrick Cantlay (bogey-free 67) is alone in fourth place at 13
under. Japan's Hideki Matsuyama made a push on the back nine
with four straight birdies at Nos. 13-16. He carded a 65 and is
tied for fifth at 12 under with Sungjae Im of South Korea (67).
The tournament only invites players who won an event in the
previous season, and there is no 36-hole cut. Other low scores
among the 38-man field Friday included Sam Burns (64), Ireland's
Seamus Power (65) and South Korea's Si Woo Kim (65), each of
whom are tied at 10 under. That seven-way tie also features
Brooks Koepka and Xander Schauffele.
Patrick Reed also shot 64 and is at 8-under 138.
Phil Mickelson, who chose to play the event for the first time
since 2001, posted a 69 Friday and could have been lower had he
not bogeyed the last two holes. At 6 under, he is in a tie for
30th.
--Field Level Media
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