Cook takes over lead with 62

John Cook had already posted a 62 in the second round of the Sony Open when Jerry Kelly headed to the first tee.

To see Cook's name atop the leaderboard brought back sour memories. Kelly was poised to win his first PGA Tour event last year in the Reno-Tahoe Open until he made triple bogey late in the final round, which enabled Cook to win by a stroke.

Even more troublesome was the size of Cook's lead.

``I knew I had to catch up, not let him have six shots between us,'' Kelly said. ``I'm glad there's only three, but I wish there were none.''

Cook had a magic number in mind, but only briefly. He had a birdie putt on his 17th hole and a par 5 after that -- a birdie- eagle finish would have given him 59.

``You don't get that many chances,'' Cook said.

This wasn't one of them. He settled for an 8-under 62 to match his career-low round in 23 years on the PGA Tour and take a three-stroke lead over Kelly.

They will be paired in the final group Saturday.

``We can talk about Reno,'' Kelly said, joking.

Asked if he was bitter about that loss in Nevada, Kelly shook his head. He brought that on himself, a triple bogey on the 16th hole.

``It's not stuck in my craw,'' Kelly said.

Cook took advantage of breeze, balmy conditions to finish two rounds at 12-under 128. That tied the 36-hole record at Waialae Country Club, last matched a year ago by Brad Faxon, who went on to win by four strokes.

Kelly atoned for a bad 6-iron shot on No. 17 by chipping in for birdie and had a 65.

Chris Riley (67) had another bogey-free round and was at 132, along with Brad Elder (64). Fred Funk and K.J. Choi each had 65 and were another stroke back.

Charles Howell III also had a 62, 10 strokes better than his opening round.

``This game has got be baffled,'' Howell said. ``I'm not a different person today and I was 10 strokes better. If I figure that out, I'm going to be very successful.''

As it was, he was at 134 and poised to contend for his first PGA Tour victory.

Cook had no reason to think he might flirt with a 59 after starting with a birdie and five pars. He shifted gears in a hurry. After a couple of medium-range birdies, he holed a bunker shot to make eagle for the second straight day on the par-5 18th, then a 4-iron into 12 feet for a birdie on No. 1.

By the time he got to the eighth green -- his 17th of the round -- he realized a birdie and an eagle on the par-5 ninth would put him at 59.

``When the putt was rolling up No. 8, I was thinking, 'If that goes in, the ninth could be a lot of fun,''' Cook said. ``I just left the putt short; another roll and it would have gone in.''

It didn't matter, anyway. He misread a 3-foot birdie putt on No. 9 and wound up with a 62, his lowest score since an 8-under 62 at Firestone in 1998.

Cook and Howell had the best score at Waialae since it was last redesigned to play as a par 70. Davis Love III set the course record in 1994 with a 12-under 60.

The tall, skinny palm trees waved gently in the breeze Friday, a stark contrast from the whipping winds of the first round. Cook's round was no less impressive.

``It almost is harder without the wind, because you don't get the help you need on some of these holes,'' Faxon said after his 67.

Sergio Garcia, the winner last week on Maui, finally got some putts to fall in a round of 66 that left him nine strokes behind. He was seven shots back after 36 holes at the Mercedes Championships.

The cut was at 140. Fred Couples saved par from the sand on his 17th hole and birdied the 18th to make it on the number, while Tim Herron finished birdie-eagle to stick around the for the weekend.

Among the casualties were Love, who had a 31 on the back nine for a 67, but still missed the cut by two strokes.

Another early departure was Boo Weekley, who had 67 but finished at 143. He wasn't ready to leave Hawaii quite so soon.

``I've had loads and loads of fun,'' he said with his thick, syrupy drawl. ``I might do a little lookin' around. If we don't make the cut, I might go see Pearl Harbor.''

It's safe to say Cook is motivated by age -- not only the fact he has only a few years left, but from his 16-year-old son who already is hitting irons longer than Cook.

``I've got to keep sharp because my kid is going to start beating me, and I can't have that,'' Cook said. ``The last year-and-a-half, I've been hitting the ball like I used to hit at one time, when I was close to being on that next level.''

Cook is a member at Isleworth CC outside Orlando, Fla. If he's not being challenged by 16-year-old son Jason and his buddies -- Ty Tryon, among them -- there's that ``older'' group at the club, such as Tiger Woods. Cook says he plays casual rounds with Woods about a dozen times a year.

``If you're going to play at our club, you better have your game ready,'' he said.

The 62 he posted Friday was good enough for the Sony Open, and it most likely would have sufficed any day at Isleworth.

The trick now is for Cook to convert that into his 12th PGA Tour title.

Divots

Garrett Willis, who finished last at Kapalua with a 304 and began the Sony Open with a 10-over 80, found a way to stop his poor start to the season. He withdrew from the tournament. ... Kenny Perry missed the birdie to make a birdie on the par-5 ninth. As he stood over his 50-foot eagle putt, a bird started walking across the middle of the green and through the line of his putt. The ball missed the bird by a few feet, and Perry tapped in. ... Chris Riley is already $50 richer. His caddie, Chip Carpenter, gives him $25 for each round he plays without a bogey. ``He knows if I don't make a bogey, then he'sgoing to be doing OK at the end of the week,'' Riley said.

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