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Choi continues good start

12/01/2008

KJ Choi has maintained his lead of the Sony Open in Hawaii thanks to a second round score of 65 that puts him two shots ahead of Kevin Na.

The Korean is now on 11 under for the tournament having added to his mistake-free round yesterday with another steady performance.

Choi dropped a stroke at the second hole on day two before going on a run, making four birdies in five holes just before the turn, to get his day back on track.

A further two birdies on the back nine solidified his position at the top of the leaderboard.

Choi was pleased to have improved on his performance at the Mercedes-Benz Championship last week but claimed he did not expect to be leading the tournament.

"I knew that I was going to play better than last week, but I didn't really think about being in the lead or anything."

The Korean says that having got the first tournament of the season out of the way he can feel his form coming back.

He added: "My putting was getting better, and I was actually motivated."

Na shot a round of six-under-par to claim second place at the halfway stage in Hawaii. The Korean made three birdies and one bogey on the front nine before finding a good run of form on the back nine.

A birdie at the 12th hole pushed him up the leaderboard but it was his three birdies at the end of the round that helped him become Choi's nearest challenger.

There were many high profile casualties of the PGA's stricter rules on making the cut this season, with former Open champion John Daly being one of those to miss out.