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Azinger has his 'A' game Veteran starts season with 63; leads Sony Open
Posted: Friday January 14, 2000 07:39 AM
HONOLULU (AP) -- Paul Azinger, still trying to recover from the tragic deaths of close friend Payne Stewart and two associates, shot a 7-under-par 63 Thursday for a three-stroke lead over seven players after the first round of the Sony Open. Starting on the back nine of the 7,060-yard Waialae Country Club course, Azinger birdied three of the four par-4s and then used a 7-wood and a 3-wood on the longest hole on the oceanside course, the 551-yard 18th, to get within three feet to set up an eagle to make the turn at 5-under 30. On the back nine, he had a birdie on No. 5 to complete his bogey-free round. Azinger's closest pursuers at 4-under 66 included Jim Furyk, who won this tournament in 1996 when it was known as the Hawaiian Open; John Cook, another Hawaiian Open titleist; Stuart Appleby and 1999 qualifying school graduate Ben Bates. Afternoon starters John Huston, who set the PGA Tour record of 26-under in winning the final Hawaiian Open two years ago, Vijay Singh and Fred Funk also checked in with 66s. Jeff Sluman, the defending tournament champion; Ernie Els, who lost a two-hole playoff to Tiger Woods in last week's Mercedes Championships; Shigeki Maruyama, No. 3 on the Japan PGA Tour money list; Fred Kelly and Esteban Toledo were grouped at 67. Japan PGA Tour player David Ishii, who won the Hawaiian Open in 1990, was at 68 and Corey Pavin, who won Hawaiian Opens in 1996 and 1997, was grouped with 17 others at 70. "I had a pretty tough offseason," said Azinger, who himself faced adversity when he was stricken with lymphoma in his right shoulder in 1993. "I didn't play for awhile and just wanted to make sure I would come back focused. "Today, starting out, I just wanted to make a good score. I just wanted to get focused on getting those distractions out of the way." Azinger was referring to the deaths last October of Stewart and his managers, Robert Fraley and Van Ardan. All were killed in a plane crash in South Dakota. "People say, `Are you over it?' I don't want to get over it," Azinger said. "I want to remember how I felt about their families." With the exception of 14 afternoon starters, almost all of the red numbers were posted by the early players. Of the 72 early starters, 31 finished under par with another matched par.
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