Patience was more than a virtue for the seven Hawai'i golfers in yesterday's Sony Open in Hawai'i. It was a necessity.

"It took all the patience I had to hang in there and make a couple birdies on the last few holes," Parker McLachlin said. "It definitely tested my patience out there."

McLachlin and Dean Wilson, winner of the 2006 International, opened with 72s yesterday, a shot behind Honolulu amateur Tadd Fujikawa. Hawai'i's four other pros were further back.

McLachlin will try to forget about the cut — the top 70 and ties advance to the weekend — and "stay in my own bubble" today. He figures it will take 3- or 4-under to make his second successive Sony cut, and it is "definitely achievable."

"I didn't shoot myself too badly in the foot," McLachlin said. "I'm hoping to capitalize on a few things I didn't capitalize on today and improve four or five shots."

Michelle Wie's fourth Sony started shockingly bad. She shot 43 on the front, hit one fairway all day and averaged 207 yards on her drives — 80 less than last year and 87 less than the field.

She called her driving problems "a careless little mistake" in her setup and wasn't willing to go into detail. Wie believes she figured it out on the back nine, after flailing early.

"At any tournament when you're not hitting the ball well ... it's like God, why am I doing this?" Wie said. "Then I think about why I'm doing it in the first place and that overcomes whatever feeling I have at that moment because it's what I want to do. Whether I'm playing good or not, the opportunity that I have, the fact that I'm actually here and playing is amazing and I'm going to take this chance whether I play good or bad. It's just another round."

Wie has not shot a sub-par tournament round since July 29, when she finished second at the LPGA's Evian Masters. In her last 15 rounds she is 64-over par.

MACKENZIE'S ALL SMILES

Will MacKenzie had two top-10 finishes his first two full tour seasons. He is working on his second this year. He is also working on his comedy routine.

Yesterday MacKenzie, who gave out his room number on TV last week, joked that he was staying in "Hammock 29" this week. He also filled people in on his itinerary since finishing fourth last week on Maui.

The highlight was a trip to the dentist in Wailuku Tuesday. MacKenzie, who claims he once went five years without brushing his teeth, was expecting a root canal and was in the chair preparing for "two hours of gnarly work" on his teeth. Instead, the dentist told him his toothache was caused by a sinus infection.

MacKenzie got on the next plane to Honolulu, practiced "for like 27 minutes," then surfed Diamond Head.

NOTES

Arron Oberholser, who pulled out of last week's Mercedes-Benz Championship with a bad back, pulled out again this week. That brought alternate Brendon DeJonge into the field. The rookie shot a 69 after flying in from Charlotte, N.C., three hours before his 8 a.m. tee time. ... Jason Bohn's team won the Wednesday Pro-Am with a 49. ... Jarrod Lyle sank a 91-foot putt on the second hole. The longest putt made all last year on tour was 81 feet. ... J.B. Holmes, who shared 10th last year, had nines of 40-30 yesterday.