Unlike most of the tournaments on the PGA Tour, the Tournament of Champions is a lot more predictable.
The champions of the season-opening event for winners only, has just 36 holes to go and this is not an event where players come from back in the pack to win.
It’s a birdie barrage and the guys out front typically stay out front and the guys out front after 36 holes are Justin Thomas and Ryan Moore, two well-known players but hardly the biggest names in the field of 32.
Both have shot identical rounds of 67-67 at the birdie-friendly Plantation Course at Kapalua and are 12-under par.
As good as that is, they are just a shot in front of two players who fought it out for the 2015 title — Patrick Reed and Jimmy Walker. Reed, who beat Walker at this event in a playoff two years ago, has the low score Friday — an eight-under par 65 and his 70-65 is a flip flop of Walker’s who opened with 65 and turned in a 70 for his second round to join Reed at 11-under.
Jason Dufner, who is one of the nice comeback stories on the tour, found himself alone at 10-under after a pair of 68s.
Form says the eventual winner needs to be in double-figures under par after 36 but Hideki Matsuyama may have something to say about that before the last hole on Sunday. Matsuyama, winner of four of his last five events, sits at nine-under.
Defending champion Jordan Spieth squashed his chances for a repeat, thanks to a pair of double-bogeys that wiped out a huge birdie run. He wound up with a 69 and is at five-under, seven back and that’s too far back.
Jason Day and Dustin Johnson sit at seven-under but will need to go lights-out over the final 36 to have any chance to win on Sunday.
