Focused on Every's word at Sony Open
BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2012 Sony Open in Hawaii | Round Two | 14 Jan 2012
28 year old Matt Every birdied his final three holes of round two of the Sony Open in Honolulu to take a two shot lead over Carl Pettersson and David Hearn into the third round at the Waialae Country Club but it was what he had to say after his round which created more interest.
Every first earned his PGA Tour playing rights in 2010 but lost them after his season was disrupted by an arrest for possession of marijuana in July of that year, a charge that was later dropped.
He was however banned from the Tour for 90 days but such is his on course talent that he regained his playing rights for this season following a good year on the Nationwide Tour in 2011.
Today he was forced to endure an uncomfortable five minutes while being questioned on his previous misdemeanours by the Golf Channel’s Kelly Tilghman after his round. “There’s a lot worse stuff going on out here than what I got in trouble for,” Every responded.
In his post round press conference the scrutiny was not about to go away. “I played really good on the West Coast, and I didn’t get much attention,” said Every referring to his first year on the PGA Tour two years ago. "I had some bad Sundays. But I didn’t get much attention, totally fine. And then I got in trouble off the TOUR.
“And then last year on the Nationwide Tour, I played solid all year long. I think I missed two cuts, contended a bunch, just didn’t win, and now I’m here. And I’m not saying like I’m going to be on top of the leaderboard every week, but it’s not a surprise to me. I know that I can, you know? It’s only two rounds, though, so it’s not that big a deal."
When pressed on the issues surrounding his suspension by the PGA Tour in 2010 he responded. “I was upset at myself. I was upset at….there’s some stuff I can’t talk about, but I was pissed at the way it was handled. I don’t know. I don’t do drugs. It was a crappy deal, man. Wrong place, wrong time, perfect storm, and you know, I got three months out of it. It’s over with. I’m not mad at the TOUR. They did what they had to do. I totally understand it. But it’s over with.
“I’m married, I’ve got a kid on the way. I’m not like this party animal. I still hang out with the same people. I have great friends, man. If one of my friends likes to smoke marijuana every now and then, I’m not going to say, well, you can’t be my friend anymore.
“Honestly, man, I know more people who smoke marijuana than who don’t smoke marijuana. I know that’s probably not the politically correct thing to say, but it’s the truth. It’s not a big deal to me. I don’t frown upon people doing that stuff. I don’t do it, but I don’t frown upon it.”
Hearn is into his third season on the PGA Tour albeit spread over several years. His bets season to date was when 5th at last year’s Justin Timberlake event in Las Vegas. After two early bogies in today’s second round Hearn could have been forgiven for thinking he might have the weekend off but he recovered strongly for a round of 66 to share second position with Pettersson.
The leading Australasians at the halfway mark are John Senden and Gavin Coles who are in 17th position five shots behind the lead.
Senden finished off the 2011 season well and appears to be carrying on with that form while Coles is back on the PGA Tour for the 5th time after finishing inside the top 25 on the Nationwide Tour last season.
Nathan Green is in 50th position and Jarrod Lyle 62nd while Robert Allenby and New Zealander Danny Lee missed the cut by some margin.
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