HONOLULU – Jimmy Walker has a two-shot lead in the Sony Open and knows how to approach the final round.

Don’t let up.

The experience isn’t from Monday at Kapalua, where he had a three-shot lead with five holes to play and wound up losing in a playoff to Patrick Reed. It’s from last year at Waialae, where he emerged from a five-way tie for the lead by closing with a 63 to win.

“Somebody is shooting a low round every day, and you never know where it’s going to come from,” Walker said. “So you’ve got to go out with the expectation you’ve got to shoot a good score tomorrow.”

On Saturday, one of those rounds belonged to Walker.

With a putting performance reminiscent of his final round a year ago, Walker one-putted his last 11 holes on his way to an 8-under 62, giving him a two-shot lead over Matt Kuchar and a chance to become the first back-to-back winner of the Sony Open since Ernie Els in 2004.

“I feel good about what I’m doing,” said Walker, who was at 16-under 194. “Like I said, I can only go out and control what I can do tomorrow, and I can’t put anything on anybody else. I’m going to just keep trying to hit the golf shots, hit the shots I see, put it under the hole, give myself some good looks, make some putts.”

Kuchar, one of three players tied for the lead at the start of Saturday, birdied two of his last three holes for a 68 and was two shots behind.

Without the strong wind typical of this tournament, there has been a score of at least 62 every round. That led Kuchar to say that anyone within six shots of the lead would be a threat in that final round.

If that’s the case, this could very much be up for grabs.

Brian Harman (64) and Troy Merritt (67) were three shots behind, while Tim Clark (68) and Justin Thomas (70) were another shot back.

The 21-year-old Thomas, playing in the final group on the weekend for the first time, twice made key putts to turn double bogeys into only bogeys. He was tied for the lead through 12 holes until going well long on the 13th and scratching out a bogey, then dropping another shot on the 16th before closing with a birdie.

Max Homa, a former NCAA champion from Cal, had a 63 and was five shots behind.

Walker, however, has been steady and good during his two-week stay in paradise. This was his 13th consecutive round under par in the Aloha State, and he was tied for the 54-hole lead last week at Kapalua.

Walker said the loss stung, though he was helped by the short turnaround. And playing good golf puts last week even further in the past.

“It’s nice to get back right where we want to be, having a chance to win, especially after last week,” he said. “I think it’s pretty cool.”

Still, he thought he was losing ground when he was only 1-under par for the day going to the eighth hole. He made his birdie at No. 8 and turned to caddie Andy Sanders and said, “Let’s get going.” And they did.

The key putt was a 12-footer at the par-5 ninth to keep his momentum, and a 20-foot birdie putt on the 10th. Just like that, he was back in the game, and Walker poured it on from there. Only after a tap-in birdie at the 15th did it dawn on him that he had been making a lot of putts.

“I kind of went back through it and I counted eight (one-putts), and then when I hit it up on the green on 16 I thought, `This is going to be a tough one to keep the streak going,'” Walker said.

From 30 feet, the putt was in the center of the cup.

Walker stretched his lead to as many as four shots until he caught a plugged lie in the bunker on the 17th, took two to get out, and then made a 5-foot bogey putt. He escaped trouble from a palm tree on the par-5 18th hole, hit his third shot from 210 yards into 10 feet and finished in style.

Webb Simpson, who joined Kuchar and Thomas atop the leaderboard through 36 holes, finally struggled to make putts and shot 72 to fall six shots behind.

Kuchar three-putted the seventh green for bogey to fall to 1 over on his round, and that was the last shot he dropped. He didn’t make enough birdies to get back into the lead, but he made enough to at least give himself a chance.

Nick Taylor and Roger Sloan share 56th spot at 4-under par.

David Hearn made a 10-foot birdie putt on his last hole that knocked five players out of the 54-hole cut. Seventy players made the Saturday cut at 3-under 207, a group that did not include 16-year-old Kyle Suppa, a junior at Punahou School. Hearn is tied for 61st at 3-under.

HONOLULU – Twenty years ago on Saturday, Arnold Palmer flipped a ceremonial switch to launch a risky venture that cynics saw as an easy punch line.

The Golf Channel?

Tennis magazine mocked the idea as “24 hours of chubby guys in bad clothes speaking in jargon that only they understand.” Rick Reilly, in his column for Sports Illustrated, suggested programming that included “Body by Jack,” a workout session with Jack Nicklaus in which he “takes you through a 30-minute routine you can do without getting out of the cart.”

Even the players had their doubts.

“I’m always stunned that there’s enough golf stuff for 24 hours a day,” Paul Goydos said. “I would have thought, `Do we really need a Golf Channel? Is there enough viewership? Enough material?’ I thought it would be a tough row to hoe, in my opinion. They’ve proven me wrong.”

Players today can’t imagine life without Golf Channel.

“That’s all I watch,” Jason Day said. “I say I don’t watch much golf, but I do. Pretty much every day I’m watching Golf Channel.”

The network was launched on Jan. 17, 1995, and could be seen in about 10,000 homes. It began as a premium fee ($6.95) and changed to part of a basic cable package by the end of the year, helping it to reach 1.4 million homes.

Twenty years later, Golf Channel can be seen in roughly 120 million homes in 83 countries and is broadcast in 12 languages around the world. Its offices in Orlando, Florida, have more than quadrupled to 160,000 square feet.

And there is no shortage of programming.

The first tournament it broadcast was the Dubai Desert Classic, which Fred Couples won in 1995. On its 20-year anniversary, Golf Channel will have four hours of live coverage from Rory McIlroy’s season debut in Abu Dhabi; seven hours of taped coverage and four hours of live coverage from the Sony Open (including a pre-game show), along with its popular “Morning Drive” and a news show.

“It’s a big deal,” Palmer said Friday morning from his office at Bay Hill. “Everybody is excited and happy with the channel and all the stuff going on. Who would ever thought 20 years ago … all the things that have happened with Golf Channel?”

Palmer was a co-founder with TV mogul Joe Gibbs, who plans to make an appearance on Golf Channel on Saturday to commemorate the anniversary. Golf Channel began 18 months before Tiger Woods turned pro, so it was blessed with good timing. Comcast eventually bought out the network, and then acquired NBC Universal, which gave Golf Channel even greater resources and branding capabilities.

The most significant moment in its 20 years was when the PGA Tour signed it to a 15-year deal in 2006 that gave Golf Channel rights to Thursday and Friday rounds from the PGA Tour, along with full tournament coverage for the opening three events and the tournaments in the fall. Golf Channel previously had the European Tour and other global events, along with the other three U.S. tours (seniors, women and what is now Web.com).

But there was another turning point equally important in the infancy of the network, a time when even Palmer had his doubts about the future. The question was whether it was prudent for Palmer and his investors to get out and cut their losses.

“We were questioning what we were doing and the viability of what was happening,” Palmer said. “And they said, `How do you feel?’ I said, `Let me say this to you: If I didn’t try to hit it through the trees a few times, none of us would be here.'”

The quote is now on a wall at Golf Channel headquarters, a daily reminder that when you hitch up your pants and go for broke, the reward can be immense.

“Even though we’re now part of a big company, you still want the spirit of how this place was founded to be a living, breathing part of what makes it tick,” Golf Channel President Mike McCarley said. “That culture and everything Arnold represented, that should be part of it.”

McCarley said Golf Channel now is the most affluent network of those devoted to a sport, mainly because of the demographic of those watching.

Davis Love III smiled at the coincidence that a network co-founded by Palmer would benefit from the arrival of Woods, the two players who in different ways made golf appealing to the masses.

“It’s make a big difference for our sport,” Love said.

Golf Channel has kept the newspaper clippings from two decades ago that either panned the idea of a golf channel or predicted failure.

“That was an easy column to write,” McCarley said. “It was the first of its kind. Now every sport has its own network.”

Geoff Ogilvy of Australia was among the skeptics. He remembers when he first came over to America to play in events like the Western Amateur and the Porter Cup. Golf Channel was just getting started.

“Coming from Australia, we had four channels and we didn’t have any cable,” Ogilvy said. “I thought this was cool, but no chance anyone was going to watch. They had all these infomercials, like Orlimar Trimetal. Remember that? So I was like, `Who’s going to watch this?’ But in the last 10 years when they got the tour deal, I think it really kicked on. Now it’s a legitimate channel – really legitimate.

“ESPN was the same,” he said. “I remember when they started, they showed Aussie Rules football because it was the only thing they could afford. ESPN only got there when they started showing real sport, and Golf Channel is probably the same. It’s a big channel now. It’s a big part of our tour.”

How far has Golf Channel come?

There are sheer numbers. Golf Channel had the rights to 23 domestic tournaments when it began (mostly the LPGA and Nike tours) and 41 events from Europe, South Africa and Australia. This year, it will televise 189 events from the major tours around the world. It began with 180 employees and now has nearly 700; McCarley said 13 employees have been there from the start.

And there are intangibles. On the day before it celebrated its 20-year anniversary, Palmer watched his grandson, Sam Saunders, compete on the PGA Tour on a network that he helped to start.

CITY OF LAKE MACQUARIE, New South Wales, Australia – Team Canada member Corey Conners finished at 17-under par, four strokes ahead of runner-up finisher Andrew Mccain of the U.S., en route to winning the Lake Macquarie title Saturday at Belmont Golf Club.

Conners, who recently turned 23, never looked back after earning a share of the lead with an opening round 67—highlighted by an eagle on the 460-yard par-5 10^th.

The Listowel, Ont., native kept his foot on the gas in the following rounds, carding three consecutive scores of 68 to close out the win. The Kent State graduate was the lone Canuck in the field.

This tournament marks the second of three in Conners’ stint Down Under. He finished T12 a week earlier in the Australian Master of the Amateurs, an ‘A’ ranked event on the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR). Following this week’s win, Conners will head to the city of Mascot to tee-it-up in the Australian Amateur.

Conners returns to North America the following week to continue his tour as he looks to defend his Jones Cup title at the Ocean Forest Golf Club in Sea Island, Ga.

Click here for full scoring.

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates – Martin Kaymer turned what promised to be an exciting weekend duel with Rory McIlroy into a procession at the Abu Dhabi Championship.

Seeking a fourth title in eight years in Abu Dhabi, Kaymer shot a 7-under 65 in the third round on Saturday to extend his overnight lead from one stroke to six. He moved to 20-under 196 overall – a record-low total here after 54 holes.

The U.S. Open champion’s pace was too hot for McIlroy, whose putting failed to match his tee-to-green play as he shot 71. The top-ranked McIlroy is eight strokes behind Kaymer and dropped from third into a share of fifth.

Belgium’s Thomas Pieters shot 70 to stay second and will play in the final group Sunday for the second straight day.

HONOLULU – Webb Simpson is one of those players who won’t break anything that doesn’t need fixing. But with change on the horizon because of a new rule that will outlaw the anchored stroke he uses for his belly putter, he opted for a radical solution.

He broke his putter.

“Snapped it over my knee,” Simpson said. “It’s a thick, heavy shaft, so I gave it all I had over my knee. It was a clean, flush break.”

A clean break, indeed.

So determined to change on his own terms instead of waiting until the new rule takes effect in 2016, Simpson made sure he couldn’t go back to the putter that helped to bring him a U.S. Open title, a spot on the last two Ryder Cup teams and a spot in the Tour Championship each of the last four years.

So far, it’s working out just fine.

He broke the putter before going to the Dunlop Phoenix in Japan late last year, and he brought a conventional putter to Hawaii for the first PGA Tour event of the year. He opened with a 62 in the Sony Open, and then made three birdies over the last five holes Friday for a 66 and a share of the lead with Matt Kuchar (63) and 21-year-old rookie Justin Thomas, who shot a 61.

Kuchar is always around the top of a leaderboard as one of the most consistent players in golf. Thomas ordinarily would have been the biggest surprise at Waialae, especially the way he finished – birdie-birdie-eagle to join the leaders at 12-under 128.

All things considered, Simpson was the player who never imagined being tied for the lead.

“I didn’t have much expectation coming here, to be honest with you,” he said. “I wanted to just build on what I’ve been working on and hoping that we’re doing the right stuff, and with the putter, it was just a matter this week of wanting to get comfortable on the greens, wanting to get comfortable on long putts, short putts, everything. That was the goal. I didn’t really care how I played this week.

“I wanted to get through the West Coast Swing building on what I’ve been working on, so to be in the lead is a huge bonus.”

Change was easier than he imagined.

Simpson picked up a belly putter for the first time in 2004 at Pinehurst during a family holiday. He didn’t like his inconsistent putting at Wake Forest, saw the belly putter and made everything on the practice greens. He was afraid to break it out at Wake Forest for fear of being ribbed. Not many were using one at the time.

His U.S. Open title at Olympic Club in 2012 made him the second player, after Keegan Bradley in the 2011 PGA Championship, to win a major using a belly putter.

It helped slightly that he had what Simpson considered a mediocre season on the greens.

“I finished somewhere in the 50s,” he said of his putting rank on tour. “If I was top 10 in strokes gained with the belly putter, it would have been tough to want to change. But I wanted to make a change. I’m always trying to get better. The element was that I didn’t want to be forced to switch. I didn’t want to be in a position where I felt like somebody was telling me how I can play the game. So I wanted to go ahead and do it.”

Simpson started to throw the broken pieces out. His wife, Dowd, suggested it go in the trophy case because of all the rewards he reaped with it. So maybe there’s room in the case for another trophy from the Sony Open.

There’s still plenty left to do, however.

Kuchar looked solid as ever and loves being on the greens at Waialae – smooth, small and relatively flat. It’s a big contrast from the big, sloping greens at Kapalua with plenty of grain. Kapalua also has wide fairways, and Waialae is more on the claustrophobic side.

As for Thomas? He’s not sure how he wound up tied for the lead.

The 21-year-old out of Alabama is considered one of the top rookies. Thomas knows he can play this well. He just had a hard time remembering the final few hours.

“It was probably the best zone and best focus I’ve ever been in,” Thomas said. “I knew I was playing well, but I really didn’t know how many under I was for the day, and I just kind of kept playing. It doesn’t happen very often in golf, and it’s really fun to happen. It’s probably maybe only the second time it’s ever happened to me.”

The other time was at a junior event. He was 8.

It sets up for a dynamic weekend at Waialae.

They were two shots clear of Tim Clark (65) and Troy Merritt (64). Defending champion Jimmy Walker had a 66 for his 15th consecutive round in the 60s in Hawaii. That put him in a group four shots behind, very much in the picture on a course where the leaders tend to be bunched up until the back nine on Sunday.

Calgary native and Monday qualifier Roger Sloan is the leading Canadian. Sloan has a share of 56th at 3-under.

David Hearn and Nick Taylor are a shot back of Sloan at 2-under. The pair are in a group sharing 69th spot.

Graham DeLaet and Adam Hadwin failed to make the 36-hole cut.

Announced today and available now for pre-order at PING-authorized golf shops across the globe, PING’s 2015 line seeks to offer game-changing innovation without trade-offs in key areas and important attributes.

“Engineering performance without sacrifice means as we achieve more distance, for example, there’s no tradeoff in forgiveness, accuracy or feel,” noted John A. Solheim, PING Chairman & CEO in a release. We’re excited to offer this game-changing technology that will lead to great shot-making and lower scores for golfers of all abilities.”

Glide Wedges

As their name suggests, the Glide Wedges are meant to do just that – glide through the turf and provide short-game performance and increased trajectory control on shots of every length. Developed using a hands down approach from grip to sole, these wedges aim to optimize versatility and control. The Dyla-wedge grip is longer to encourage players to grip down for improved control over ball flight. The chrome-plated 431 stainless steel head repels moisture to increase friction in an effort to improve spin and consistency even in wet conditions.

• Available in standard sole (SS), thin sole (TS), and wide sole (WS).
• 13 loft/sole options: SS: 47º, 50º, 52º, 54º, 56º, 58º, 60º; TS: 58º, 60º; WS: 54º, 56º, 58º, 60º
• Dyla-wedge grip: ¾-inch longer, grip-down markings at 1 3/8″ intervals, softer tapering profile
• Stock shaft: CFS Wedge (stiff flex, 118g)
• Canadian MSRP: $165 w/steel shaft; $190 w/graphite shaft

G30 LS Tec (Low-Spin Technology) Driver

The newest addition to the industry-leading  G30 driver family combines lower spin with a high MOI for increased flight control and distance on off-centre performance. Turbulator Technology on the crown is mean to reduce aerodynamic drag on the downswing to assist in increasing clubhead speed. The thin T9S titanium face increases ball velocity in an effort to improve distance. The club’s Trajectory Tuning+ Technology provides players with the ability to add or subtract 1 degree of left for greater customizability.

• Lofts: 9° & 10.5° (5 settings: Standard, +0.6º, +1º, -0.6º, -1º)
• Std. length: 45.75″, Std. swingweight: D3, Head weight/size: 206g, 460cc
• Stock graphite shaft: PING TFC 419D (Soft R, R, S, X); Optional shafts (Std. length: 45.25″): Tour 65 and Tour 80 (R, S, X) provide low spin with a stable feel.
• Canadian MSRP: $450 ($35 upcharge for Tour 65 and Tour 80 shafts)

Cadence TR Putters

The next generation of the True Roll (TR) Technology grooves can be found in the face inserts of the Cadence TR putters. Designed to match a golfer’s stroke tempo and feel preference, the line features blue aluminum inserts for traditional-weight models to match mid-to-faster tempos and heavier black models for slower-tempo strokes. The line features eight models, including four new designs.

NEW Anser W (High-MOI blade, alignment line extends through face)

• Traditional, 350g; Heavy, 375g
• Slight Arc stroke type; lie angle +/- 4º
• Canadian MSRP: $220

Anser 2 (Blade, clean top rail and single alignment line)

• Traditional, 340g; Heavy, 365g
• Slight Arc stroke type; lie angle +/- 4º
• Canadian MSRP: $220

Anser 2 CB (Counter-balanced, 38″ std. length, 50g counterweight, 17″ grip)

• Traditional insert only, 400g
• Slight Arc stroke type; lie angle +/- 4º
• Canadian MSRP: $280

NEW B65 (Face-balanced blade, Anser-style hosel and rounded design, single alignment line)

• Traditional, 340g; Heavy, 365g
• Straight stroke type; lie angle +/- 4º
• Canadian MSRP: $220

NEW Tomcat C (Center-shafted mid-mallet, sight line and ball-width alignment guides)

• Traditional, 355g; Heavy, 380g
• Straight stroke type; lie angle +/- 2º
• Canadian MSRP: $220

Shea H (Heel-shafted mid-mallet, rounded shape w/single alignment line)

• Traditional, 345g; Heavy, 378g
• Strong Arc stroke type; lie angle +/- 4º
• Canadian MSRP: $220

NEW Rustler (High-MOI mallet with alignment line extending from top rail to back of putter)

• Traditional, 350g; Heavy, 383g
• Straight, Slight Arc, Strong Arc stroke types (achieved by different shaft bends); lie angle +/- 2º
• Canadian MSRP: $255

Ketsch (Machined aluminum mallet, milled TR grooves, 17-4 SS sole plate, ball-width alignment aid extending from top rail to back of putter)

• Traditional, 355g; Heavy, 388g
• Straight, Slight Arc, Strong Arc stroke types (achieved by different shaft bends); lie angle +/- 2º
• Canadian MSRP: $260

Rhapsody Women’s Line

The Rhapsody family offers lighter overall system mass resulting in higher lofts and improved distance to improve overall performance and inspire confidence in its users.

Rhapsody Women’s Driver

• Loft: 12° (5 loft settings: Standard, +0.6º, +1º, -0.6º, and -1º)
• Stock graphite shafts: PING ULT 220 (Lite, 51g; Ultra Lite, 40g)
• Std. length: 45″, Std. swingweight: C7, Head weight/size: 194g, 460cc
• Canadian MSRP: $450

Rhapsody Women’s Fairway Woods

• Available 3W (18º), 5W (22º), 7W (26º)
• Stock graphite shafts: PING ULT 220 (Lite, 49g; Ultra Lite, 39g)
• Canadian MSRP: $250

Rhapsody Women’s Hybrid/Iron Set

• Available irons 5-9, PW, UW, SW
• Available hybrids 4H (22º), 5H (26º), 6H (30º)
• Stock graphite shafts: PING ULT 220 Irons: (Lite, 51g; Ultra Lite, 44g) Hybrids: (Lite, 58g; Ultra Lite 50g)
• Canadian MSRP: $143.75 per club

Rhapsody Women’s Putters 

• Available in Anser 2 (Slight Arc), B60 (Slight Arc), and Craz-E (all stroke types)
• Canadian MSRP: $220 (Anser 2, B60); $255 (Craz-E) Adjustable-length upcharge: $40

ADELAIDE, Australia – The host Australians pleased the home crowd on Friday at The Grange Golf Club, thumping South Africa 5-2 to remain undefeated en route to winning their fifth Astor Trophy.

“We came in this week not really knowing what to expect, especially in a match play format against some girls we hadn’t really seen before, and they just really came together well,” said Cutler, Australia’s Team Manager. “When you think we’ve lost two of the best amateurs we’ve seen in years, it was a fantastic achievement and perhaps the greatest part of it was that it shows the depth of talent we’ve got coming through.”

With the victory, Australia has won the Astor Trophy in four of the last six times it has been contested. They put an end to Great Britain & Ireland’s bid to win their third straight title, coming from behind to take away their early lead.

On the sidelines with a final round bye, GB&I finished with 15.5 matches won—3.5 behind Australia. New Zealand finished in third (15) and South Africa followed in fourth (12).

Meanwhile, the Canadian quintet’s effort to pick up their first win of the tournament was stopped short by New Zealand, falling 5-2. Canada’s Development Squad halved one of the morning foursome matches while losing the other, 2&1.

Once again, Canada showed some life in the afternoon single matches. Naomi Ko, a Victoria, B.C. native, halved her match against Munchin Keh to remained undefeated in singles. Jaclyn Lee (Calgary), the reining Alberta Ladies Amateur champion, cruised past Chantelle Cassidy with a dominating 7&5 victory.

The Canadian contingent will look to get back on track next week when they tee-it-up at the Australian Amateur, running from Jan. 20–25.

Click here for full scores.

Team Canada looks on during the closing ceremony. (Via Facebook/ Golf Australia)

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates – Rory McIlroy made his first competitive hole-in-one as a professional as part of a brilliant back nine that propelled his pursuit of Martin Kaymer in the second round of the Abu Dhabi Championship on Friday.

The world No. 1 threw his hands in the air and high-fived playing partner Rickie Fowler after his 9-iron from 177 yards at the par-3 15th landed a yard from the hole, hopped right and trickled into the cup.

“It never left the pin,” McIlroy said after ticking off one of the few things he’d yet to achieve in his golf career.

A 6-under 66 – completed with a 15-foot birdie putt at No. 18 – moved McIlroy into third place on 11 under, two shots behind Kaymer, to set up a potentially thrilling duel over the weekend between two players who won three of last year’s majors.

McIlroy will do well to dislodge Kaymer, though.

The U.S. Open champion followed up a first-round 64 with a 67 to give himself a great chance of a fourth title at the National Course – where he won in 2008, ’10 and ’11.

Kaymer, who maintained his one-stroke lead from overnight, is a strong front-runner – as shown by his wire-to-wire victories in last year’s U.S. Open and in Abu Dhabi in `08. He is even threatening to challenge his own record low total in this tournament, set in ’11 when he shot a 24-under 264.

“It’s one of the only tournaments where you stand on the first tee and you pretty much know you have birdied every single hole,” said Kaymer, whose second-round highlight came on his 10th hole when he chipped in for birdie from a greenside bunker.

Separating Kaymer and McIlroy on the leaderboard is Thomas Pieters, a strapping 22-year-old Belgian who is starting to fulfil his potential after an impressive college career in which he was NCAA champion in 2012.

Pieters, seeking a first European Tour win, shot a 67 for 12 under.

Among the players to miss the cut – at 2 under – in the first tournament in the annual Desert Swing were defending champion Pablo Larrazabal, No. 2 Henrik Stenson and Italy’s Matteo Manassero. Fowler shot a 75 to drop to 2 under and just make the weekend.

McIlroy recalled making 10 hole-in-ones, the last coming in a pro-am two years ago. His first came at the age of 9 and was also a 9-iron, on that occasion from 106 yards at his home course in Holywood, Northern Ireland.

But one of the most thrilling feats in golf had evaded him in competitive professional play until he stepped up at No. 15, slightly downbeat after missing very makeable birdie putts on Nos. 13 and 14.

He stayed in his pose as the ball drew in, kicked right on landing and took a couple of small bounces before plopping in.

“I didn’t need to get the putter out on that hole,” said McIlroy, who walked up to the cup, repaired his pitch mark and scooped the ball out to whoops and hollers from the crowd.

McIlroy was delighted with his ball-striking on a day that revived memories of his stunning year in 2014, when he won two majors and returned to No. 1. He has quickly shaken off the rust following time off over Christmas.

“Ball-striking, couldn’t really fault it,” McIlroy said. “Just really happy with how I’m playing.”

Kaymer is playing even better, though. Out early in benign conditions – sunny and without a hint of wind – Kaymer’s unforgiving driving and iron play was as strong as in the first round but his putting wasn’t as prolific.

His bogey-free score contained five birdies and should have been lower, with a 3-footer on No. 6 (his 15th) one of a number of birdie chances spurned.

“My game feels like there’s isn’t much that will go wrong,” said Kaymer, who is 100 under par for his last 30 rounds on the National Course.

Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger shot a 65 for the lowest score of the second round.

The lasting legacy of Albert H. Murray has taken its rightful place alongside a number of the nation’s most prized and treasured items celebrating Canada’s storied history with golf. Ian Murray has generously donated a number of his grandfather’s keepsakes to the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame and Museum in an effort to share the past of one of the country’s golfing greats.

“Albert has had a tremendous impact on the sport of golf in Canada and we are thrilled to add these pieces to our collection in recognition of his many successes,” said Meggan Gardner, curator of the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame and Museum.

Raised in Toronto, Albert H. Murray’s love of the game began at an early age. At 10, he began his journey with the sport by caddying for George Cumming and serving as his apprentice. A short five years later in 1902, he would become Canada’s youngest professional golfer – a distinction he still holds to this day.

In the summer before his 21st birthday, Murray would parlay his passion for the sport and his skill on the course into his first of two Canadian Open Golf Championships – he remains the youngest player to win the event. The 1908 gold medal commemorating the victory is among the memorabilia that is now housed in the Hall of Fame. A total of three gold medals – including those from the 1924 CPGA Championship and the 1930 NHL Pro-Am Tournament in Montreal – highlight the collection donated by Albert’s grandson Ian.

The newest additions join the younger Murray’s previous contributions – a pair of priceless scrapbooks amassing the accolades of Albert and his brother Charles. The Hall of Fame siblings were pioneers of the sport and their gifts to the game go beyond their exceptional play.

The two were founding members of the Canadian Professional Golfers Association in 1911. The following year, Albert would go on to become the organization’s first president. The brothers changed the very landscape of the game having designed or re-modeled the layouts of over 50 courses in Canada and the United States.

For more on Albert H. Murray, please visit Ian Murray’s site here.

Albert H. Murray’s Canadian Golf Hall of Fame profile can be viewed here.

Additional information regarding the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame and Museum can be found here.

The items donated by Ian Murray include:
The 1908 Canadian Open gold medal.
A Gold pocket watch from the members of Outremont in recognition of Albert’s victory at the 1908 Canadian Open.	An autographed black and white photograph of Albert H. Murray circa 1910.
The 1924 Canadian Professional Golfers (CPGA) Championship gold medal.
The 1930 National Hockey League Pro-Am Tournament gold medal.
A matchstick case engraved “A.H. Murray Sept 15th 1917 Patriotic ProfessionalMatch Quebec”. These patriotic matches were held during WWI to raise money for the Red Cross.	A cigarette case engraved “To AHM from the BAD club 1931”.

HONOLULU – Webb Simpson had a hard time sleeping on the eve of his first PGA Tour event of the new year. He sounded like a rookie, not a former U.S. Open champion and member of the last two Ryder Cup teams.

That’s about what he felt like with a conventional putter in his hand.

One year from now, Simpson won’t be able to play with the belly putter he has used since 2004 because of the new rule that outlaws an anchored stroke. So he decided to get an early start on the change and go with a conventional putter for the opening round of the Sony Open.

Turns out, there was no reason to sweat.

Simpson made birdie on half of the holes at Waialae, matched the front-nine record with a 28 and posted an 8-under 62 to share the lead with Paul Casey. They were one shot ahead of Camilo Villegas and Robert Streb on a peaceful day just down the beach from Waikiki.

Simpson majored in religion at Wake Forest, and he said that religion “gets thrown around a lot” in sports. But he was serious about it on Thursday.

“Today was a big day for me,” Simpson said. “I was extremely nervous – first round on the PGA Tour with a short putter. But I just had a couple (Bible) verses in my yardage book today that I kept reading, and I stayed calm. All thanks to God for giving me strength to just get through today.

“Today was a hurdle I felt like I needed to get over, and just real thankful.”

Casey returned to these shores for the first time in a decade, and it would be easy to suggest he should never have stopped coming. That would be to ignore that he missed the cut in 2005, and that as a European Tour member, he tends to be halfway around the world in the Middle East this time of year.

Casey gave up his European membership this year because he was being run ragged across the world, has slipped out of the top 50 (making joint membership on two tours difficult) and just had a his first child and wants to be closer to home.

The decision felt easier when he also made nine birdies to share the lead with Simpson. Casey made two birdies to end the back nine, and then piled up three more birdies to start the front nine. And when he rolled in a 12-foot birdie putt on No. 5, he was at 8 under with four holes to play.

Considering that the par-5 ninth is really more like a long par 4, he was close to thinking about a 59. But then he three-putted for bogey on No. 6 and happily accepted a very good start to his 2015 campaign.

“For as long as I’ve been professional, I’ve been a member of the European Tour,” Casey said. “For a long, long time now, I’ve been trying to play both the PGA Tour and the European Tour, and some years I’ve done it brilliantly, and other years I’ve failed miserably, and I just didn’t want to keep putting myself in kind of a position where I’m struggling to fly around the world.”

Thursday was not much of a struggle for anyone. The typical wind has been nothing more than a rumor, and while it looked like paradise under a blue sky, the lack of trade wind has allowed for “vog” – a fog that consists of volcanic ash – to pollute the day.

It just didn’t do anything for the scores.

Rory Sabbatini had a 64 and was two shots behind. Jason Day, Matt Kuchar and Tim Clark were among those at 65. Another shot behind was Jimmy Walker, who is Oklahoma-born, Texas-bred and might want to seriously consider a piece of real estate in Hawaii. Walker, the defending champion, posted his 14th consecutive round in the 60s in the Aloha State, which computes to 54-under par or an average score of 67. No matter the math, it’s good golf.

But no one was more pleased than Simpson, mainly because he was using what felt like a foreign object for the most important club in his bag. He used the conventional putter last year in Japan, but there was something about a PGA Tour event that made him nervous.

“It was one of my best putting rounds I’ve ever had, to be honest,” he said. “I’ve been putting well with it, but it’s easy to putt well at your home course playing with your biddies. So today there was a lot of pressure. Didn’t sleep that great last night, but had a good morning, talked to my wife, good warmup, and it was big to see a few putts go in early. Real thankful for how the day unfolded.”

Brantford, Ont.’s David Hearn was low Canadian after the opening-round following a 67.

Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C. and Calgary’s Roger Sloan were at even-par following matching 70s.

Graham DeLaet had a 72. The Weyburn, Sask. native has not finished an event since the Frys.com Open in October of 2014, having to WD twice due a sore neck.

Another Abbotsford, B.C. boy, Adam Hadwin, fired a 3-over 73.