Stuart Appleby opens early lead (1 Viewer)

[truebluefan]

The Sony Open took a while to get started. So did Stuart Appleby.

Appleby was humming along Friday on rain-soaked Waialae Country Club, no bogeys on his cards but not many birdies, either. That changed when he holed a 163-yard shot from the fairway and a 35-foot putt on the next green to finish with a 6-under 64.

That gave him a one-shot lead over nine players from Matt Kuchar and Justin Rose to a pair of rookies in Nathan Smith and Ben Martin. In soft condition and only a light breeze, 65 players in the 144-man field broke par.

Appleby shot 30 on the back nine, including a chip-in from the front of the 12th green. Then came a strong finish, with a 5-iron that he holed out for eagle on the 16th and the long birdie putt on the 17th.

Read more: http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/news/story?id=6023261