Riley, defending champ Taylor part
of 5-way tie for lead at windy Sony Open
[January 17, 2026]
HONOLULU (AP) — The wind arrived early and stayed late Friday in the
second round of the PGA Tour's season-opening Sony Open. Davis Riley
thrived in the difficult conditions in the morning, birdieing the
par-5 18th for a 64 and a share of the lead.
Riley matched defending champion Nick Taylor, Kevin Roy, S.H. Kim
and Adrien Dumont de Chassart at 9-under 131 at Waialae Country
Club.
"I think these conditions are kind of bringing it out in me a little
bit because you have to be creative,” Riley said. “It’s not like
you’re trying to make perfect golf swings every time. There is
definitely some feel and creativity.”
Taylor faced the stiffest wind of the day in the afternoon a day
after shooting a 62 in calmer conditions for a share of the
first-round lead with Roy. The Canadian ran in a 25-foot birdie putt
on the par-4 15th and a 17-footer on the par-4 16th to take the
outright lead, then bogeyed the par-3 17th to slip back.
“The wind was strong and with some gusts,” Taylor said. “A lot of
the holes were relatively crosswind, so it was tough to get the
yardages correctly. Sometimes it would hurt, sometimes it would
help. Almost had to time your shots correctly and get a little bit
of luck, too.”
Last year, Taylor chipped in for eagle on 18 to get into a playoff,
then beat Nico Echavarria with a birdie.
Roy closed with a birdie on the par-5 ninth late in the afternoon.
“When you get wind like that doesn’t really feel like it’s in the
same direction,” Roy said. “It’s just blowing everywhere seems like.
I tried to do a really good job at just trying to plot myself around
the course.”
Dumont de Chassart shot 67, and Kim had a 68 — both in the morning.
Morning starter Maverick McNealy (66) was a stroke back with
afternoon players Takumi Kanaya (66), John Parry (68) and Chris
Gotterup (69).
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Davis Riley acknowledges the crowd on the 18th hole during the
second round of the Sony Open golf event at the Waialae Country Club
in Honolulu, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt York)
“Obviously, tough day out here with the wind,"
Gotterup said.
Jordan Spieth was 3 under after a 69. He pointed to a bogey on 15.
"It was so hard this morning,” Spieth said. “I hit a 7-iron into
that 15th hole. I had maybe 158 hole and I think it went 120 yards
and I played it like 175. So, it was just very challenging at times.
And on the greens it just becomes really hard to make putts when
it’s that windy.”
Vijay Singh made the cut with rounds of 68 and 70. The 62-year-old
Hall of Famer is using a one-time career money exemption to play in
full-field events this year. He's making his 25th start in the event
he won in 2005.
The season started a week later than usual because The Sentry at
Kapalua on Maui was canceled due to water issues.
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