Emphatic eagle, chip-in highlight late heroics by several players to make Sony cut

A whopping 16 players advanced to the weekend at the Sony Open by a single shot.

Most of them did so with some late heroics.

That group, which stands T-59 at 1 under, included Hideki Matsuyama, Billy Horschel and Sahith Theegala.

Matsuyama, who won the 2022 title at Waialae Country Club, birdied each of his last two holes, Nos. 8 and 9. The birdie at the par-3 eighth came via chip-in.

Horschel got up and down from the sand at the par-5 18th, draining a 13-footer to keep his season-opening tournament going.

Theegala was well below the cut line as he turned on Friday, but he birdied four holes on the back nine, including No. 18 after sending his second shot into the grandstand, getting free relief and chipping close for the easy birdie.

“I definitely felt the nerves down the stretch there,” Theegala said after his round, not knowing yet if he’d make the cut. “I knew I needed probably one more to get in, and it’s so windy out there; the small putts are scary. Yeah, it was good to get the nerves going again. It’s been a while. So, yeah, hopefully I make it. And, yeah, regardless of what happens, it’s definitely a round that I’m going to look back on and use as a confidence boost for the start of this year.”

There were more clutch finishes, too. Rookie Zach Bauchou birdied four of his last five holes to finish at 1 under. Fellow first-year member Emilio Gonzalez birdied each of his last two to end up on the number, as did Marty Dou, who was in the final group off No. 1.

Other players at 1 under who birdied their final hole on Friday: Webb Simpson, Keith Mitchell, Johnny Keefer, Rico Hoey, Matt McCarty and Chad Ramey.

Then there was rookie William Mouw, who didn’t birdie his closing hole, the par-5 ninth; he eagled it. With 195 yards left for his second shot, Mouw hit it to 10 feet and with plenty of speed to spare, drained his eagle putt to move from 1 over to 1 under.

On the flip side, several big names missed the cut, including Collin Morikawa, who missed a 7-footer for birdie at No. 18 that would’ve pushed him into the weekend. Keegan Bradley also finished at even par, while Luke Clanton (1 over), Michael Brennan (4 over) and Neal Shipley (8 over) were among the early exits. The most shocking missed cut was probably rookie John VanDerLaan, who opened in 63 but followed in 78 to miss by two.