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Australian golfer Marc Leishman has stormed up the leaderboard to be in a tie for fifth with a second-round 64 at the PGA Tour's Sony Open in Hawaii, but Adam Scott and Jordan Spieth have missed the cut.

After shooting 67 on Thursday, Leishman fired a six-under-par 64 (131) on Saturday to be alongside American Ted Potter, five strokes behind Matt Kuchar, who dazzled with back-to-back 63s for a 14-under-par two-round total of 126.

Fellow Australian Cameron Smith returned a two-under 68 to sit six under (134) in an eight-way tie for 12th.

Kuchar ran off four birdies in five holes for another seven-under 63 to give him a one-shot lead over fellow American Andrew Putnam.

"To shoot seven under back-to-back is unexpected, but awfully excited," Kuchar said.

Kuchar matched the lowest 36-hole score of his PGA Tour career. He also had a 126 in Las Vegas a decade ago and wound up as runner-up.

Chez Reavie, after consecutive 65s, and Stewart Cink (62, with nine birdies) are joint third at 10-under 130, four shots adrift.

Former world No.1 Adam Scott at seven over (72 and 75) and countryman Cameron Davis (+5) have missed the cut.

Matt Jones survives at four under, tied 35th, after rounds of 67 and 69.

The strangest round belonged to Reavie, who made more eagles than birdies in his round of 65. He holed out from the fairway three times for eagle, all on par 4s to create golfing history.

"Apparently, I need to go buy a lottery ticket today," Reavie said.

The PGA Tour only began keeping hole-by-hole records in 1983, and no one had made three eagles in one round on par-4s since.

Adam Svensson, the Canadian rookie who opened with a 61, followed with a 74 to fall nine shots behind.

Spieth had a 66 and missed the cut by just one shot. He carded one under overall after rounds of 73 and a much-improved 66 in his first event of 2019.

It was a short week for Spieth after a long break. Needing to birdie the last four holes to qualify for the weekend, Spieth ran off two birdies, missed a 10-foot birdie putt and then narrowly missed chipping in for eagle.

"I loved the fight," Spieth said. "I feel like I was trying to win the tournament trying to make the cut, which is not something I want to get used to."

He returns in two weeks at Torrey Pines.

AAP

Chez Reavie has made golfing history with three eagles on par-4 holes during on Friday's second round of the Sony Open in Hawaii.

According to the PGA Tour, nobody had managed the feat since accurate records of such occurrences began in 1983.

The low-key Reavie took the achievement in his stride.

"It was strange," the 37-year-old American told Golf Channel at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu, where he trailed halfway leader Matt Kuchar by four shots.

"You hit good shots and you don't expect them to go in. You're always surprised when they drop."

Reavie, the 2008 Canadian Open champion, wasted no time notching his first eagle, holing out from 100 yards at the 10th - his first hole of the day.

He added his next eagle from 150 yards at the 16th and, as if that was not enough, made another from 135 yards at the sixth hole.

He said it was only after the third eagle that he started to wonder if a fourth was in store and, when his wedge approach at his 17th hole flew straight towards the pin, he "thought could it really happen again".

His ball stopped six feet short of the cup.

Under the circumstances, he might have had reason to be slightly disappointed with a five-under-par 65, which included a double-bogey, but was not complaining.

"You can't be disappointed out here," he said after signing for a 10-under 130 halfway total.

"This golf course is tough."

Australian duo Sarah Kemp and Rebecca Artis are within range of the top of the leaderboard with a round to negotiate in the Ladies European Tour Fatima Bint Mubarak Open in Abu Dhabi.

Kemp shaved two strokes off her opening round even-par 72 to sit three strokes adrift of English leader Charley Hull who struggled to add a par round to her first-up 67.

Artis also battled to handle blustery conditions at the Saadiyat Beach Golf Club before carding a 73 to sit at one-under for the tournament.

Hull takes a slender one stroke lead over compatriot Jodi Ewart Shadoff into the final round.

Shadoff birdied her last two holes for a second-successive 70, the joint lowest score of a day which saw just 11 players break par.

Norway's Marianne Skarpnord, Sweden's Cajsa Persson and Spain's Luna Sobron are two shots off the pace on three-under.

"It was really tough out there today," Hull said.

"To give you an example, I flushed a seven iron 118 yards on hole 17. The pin was 120 yards and I still came up short. I usually hit that club 165-170 yards, so that is a ridiculous wind."

Cameron Smith has picked up where he left off in 2018 but Adam Scott is in danger of missing the cut after a rusty start to the US PGA Tour's Sony Open in Hawaii.

Smith had several weeks off after successfully defending the Australian PGA Championship title to end an impressive Australian swing.

But he returned on Thursday to fire a four-under-par 66 opening round at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu.

That left the Australian tied for seventh but five shots behind surprise leader Adam Svensson of Canada.

A year after his Bahamas victory that paved his way to the PGA Tour, rookie Svensson amassed an eagle and seven birdies and led by one shot from American Andrew Putnam.

"It was all a blur," the 25-year-old Svensson said. "I don't even remember which holes I birdied."

Smith was the leading Australian with countrymen Marc Leishman and Matt Jones also right in the mix after 67s.

But it was a forgettable day for former world No.1 Scott who struggled to a two-over 72 and was tied 112th.

Starting his golf year earlier than in recent times after a lengthy layoff, Scott mixed five bogeys with three birdies.

Putnam didn't get a practice round in before the tournament because of a bee sting, but he obviously didn't need a warm-up.

He birdied half of his holes and took only 23 putts for his 62 - the lowest score of his PGA Tour career.

"The hole was very large and the ball was going in," Putnam said. "It was fun."

Putnam was stung on his foot on Tuesday beside a pool.

"I couldn't walk, so I had to withdraw out of the pro-am," he said. "I was just sitting around all yesterday and couldn't even hit a shot. Yeah, kind of bizarre how it all worked out."

Jordan Spieth was expecting more in his 2019 debut. He waited until the 16th hole for his first birdie of the year, and that was all he made in his round of 73.

AP

Avid golfer Donald Trump could be walking the links of Royal Melbourne flanked by security during December's Presidents Cup.

That's one situation organisers are readying for as the biennial tournament returns for a third edition at the iconic Australian golf course.

The 45th US President attended the world-renowned event two years ago, presenting the trophy to the Americans as they beat the internationals at New Jersey's Liberty National.

Having hosted the competition in 1998 and 2011, Royal Melbourne general manager Warwick Hill-Rennie said officials would lean on the US PGA for help if he lobbed on course.

"The main difference is around security, particularly if the President does come," Hill-Rennie said during the Australian Master of the Amateurs' coverage.

"That's something we'll need to learn a lot of from the PGA Tour because we would have never seen security arrangements the likes of that.

"It'll add some complexity, no doubt."

Hill-Rennie said 130,000 spectators are expected to flock to Royal Melbourne for the tournament.

But 11 months out, he's received no word on whether Trump will be one of them and doesn't expect that to change any time soon.

"We do know there's been a general invitation from the (Victorian) Governor (Linda Dessau) to the President to stay at Government House," he said.

"But we possibly ... won't know President Trump's (security) detail until the day before."

Hill-Rennie gave prospective patrons an idea of what the leader of the free world's presence would mean given the precautions put in place for the 2017 event.

"When he arrived in New York, there were dummy helicopters. There were warships in the bay; snipers on the roof," he said.

"It's just a whole new level. We've never seen that in Australia."

But tournament security could be ramped up with or without Trump, owing to two of his predecessor's apparently having interest in making the trip.

"We understand (Bill) Clinton and (Barack) Obama may be likely to come and they obviously have significant security detail as well," Hill-Rennie said.

The grandiosely-named World Golf Championships (WGC) have, in some eyes, never really been more than glorified PGA Tour events and now former world No.1 Adam Scott is thinking of eliminating them from his schedule.

Scott said on Wednesday that he would play only WGC events that fitted his schedule, and that this year none of them were in his plans.

The four major championships -- U.S. Masters, US Open, British Open and PGA Championship -- remain the game's gold standard and 38-year-old Scott is at the stage where he knows he must strike soon to add to his 2013 Masters Green Jacket.

"In the end I just kind of took the simple approach and thought I'll just play the ones I like and that make sense to play," Scott told reporters on the eve of the PGA Tour's Sony Open in Hawaii.

"At the moment I have not scheduled a World Golf Championship because they don't fall in the right weeks for me."

With the HSBC Champions already done and dusted, there are three more WGC events this PGA Tour season -- the February 21-24 Mexico Championship, March 27-31 Dell Match Play and the July 25-28 FedEx St. Jude Invitational.

While it is quite common for a top player to skip one event, it is unheard of for anyone to pass on all three, especially as they come with guaranteed prize money and, except for the Match Play, no cut.

Scott, ranked number one for 11 weeks in 2014, is coming off a disappointing year during which he dropped to 41st in the world.

The WGC events, three of which are owned and operated by the PGA Tour, started amid great fanfare in 1999, but never lived up to their moniker, played largely in the United States, with the occasional bone thrown to an overseas market.

Jordan Spieth accepts there'll be plenty of interest if he ends up battling it out with Patrick Reed in the final round of this week's Sony Open in Hawaii but he doesn't expect any awkwardness.

The two American stars are playing in the same tournament for the first time since Reed blamed Spieth for them not being paired in last year's Ryder Cup despite having enjoyed success together previously.

"The issue is obviously with Jordan not wanting to play with me," Reed told the New York Times amid fallout from the heavy defeat to Europe in France.

"I was a bit surprised," Spieth said on Wednesday of Masters champion Reed's comments.

"It didn't bother me. I was just like, 'Whoa.' There was nothing lead up to that ... nothing told me that was going to happen."

Spieth doesn't think it will be an issue this week, even if they're paired with each other at some point. Reed generally gets along well with everyone inside the ropes, though he tends to practice by himself.

"It's not like he's ever been extremely cordial to individuals, anyway," Spieth said.

"I don't think anything will be any different. ... I don't think anything will change with how we've talked to each other.

"It will be interesting if we're competing on Sunday, what will be talked about outside of us. Between us, it won't be anything extra than what there always is, which is peers trying to win a tournament."

Spieth finds himself in an unusual situation as he prepares to start 2019, having gone through an entire year without a trophy for the first time as a pro.

Three years ago when he showed up in Hawaii he was coming off a year that yielded two majors, five victories, the FedEx Cup and he was world No.1.

Last year he didn't have even a mathematical chance at the FedEx Cup because he didn't make it to the Tour Championship for the first time. He starts the year at world No.17.

His last victory was the British Open in 2017, the third leg of the career Grand Slam. His putting stroke got away from him early last year, and about the time he sorted that out, the long game was no longer reliable. More than not winning, Spieth rarely contended.

It still was a fraction away from being a great year. He clipped a tree on the 18th hole at Augusta National with a chance to win another green jacket, and he had a share of the 54-hole lead at the British Open.

Former State of Origin footballer Ben Ikin is set to take on Australia's tour golf pros at their own game after achieving an impressive drop in his handicap..

Ikin has accepted an invitation to play as an amateur in the Queensland PGA Championship at Toowoomba from February 21-24.

The former Brisbane NRL premiership player started talks with the PGA Tour of Australasia about a possible invitation last March when his handicap was seven.

Told it had to be down to a least 2.4 to get the nod, Ikin worked away and over the Christmas break got his handicap down to 1.7.

Ikin credited work with PGA professional Matthew Guyatt for the recent drop, securing his new handicap with a three under par round at Indooroopilly Golf Club last month.

"There are so many talented professional golfers in Australia and now I am going head-to-head with them," said Ikin, now a Fox Sports rugby league expert.

"I have set myself a big challenge to make the cut. I know it won't be an easy task but I am taking this very seriously and I will give it my best shot."

Ikin will hope he fares better in that goal than ex-NSW Origin star Braith Anasta who also caught the golf bug.

Anasta missed the cut by 20 shots when he played as an amateur in a pro tournament for the first time at the 2011 NSW PGA Championship, despite having his handicap down to scratch.

Guyatt, a former winner on the PGA Tour of Australasia, is impressed with Ikin's improvement.

"When Ben first came to me it was evident he had the skills but needed to learn how to manage his game better," said Guyatt.

"Ben is an amazing athlete so he picked up a lot of what we needed to work on relatively quickly.

"Now the focus will be on getting to scratch over the coming month whilst maintaining our goal of making the cut at the Queensland PGA Championship."

Adam Scott says foregoing the Australian summer golf events has him feeling refreshed as he prepares for an early start to his year at the US PGA Tour's Sony Open in Hawaii.

The former world No.1 skipped the Australian Open and Australian PGA late last year in favour of an 11-week break with family in his native Queensland.

Scott faced criticism for his move despite it being just the second summer schedule he had missed in 18 years.

"It was the right decision for me; I didn't feel good about not playing (in Australia)," Scott told AAP at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu ahead of Thursday's opening round.

The 38-year-old made the decision after playing a heavy 2018 schedule of 22 tournaments worldwide - three more than he played in 2017.

That was because 2013 Masters champion Scott plummeted down the world rankings and was forced to play extra tournaments in order to qualify for the US Open.

"I feel like (playing in Australia) would have been detrimental in the big picture; I wasn't exactly where I wanted to be last year," Scott said.

"It would have been a bad idea to take a quick break, half prepare for a couple of events and slap it around.

"I'd rather start in the US earlier, play well and come back to Australia at the end of this year and win."

Scott is starting his year five weeks earlier than in recent times - a change designed to be more prepared for the major championship season which starts at the Masters in April.

When Scott last began his year at the Sony Open back in 2016 his next three PGA Tour events delivered a runner-up finish and back-to-back victories.

"I have to say, 2016 did cross my mind; it didn't do me any harm starting the year here," he said.

"I really enjoy the golf course; you have to play some great golf to be up there which gives you a good gauge of where your game is at."

Scott is joined at the Sony Open by countrymen Marc Leishman, who tied fourth at last week's Tournament of Champions on Maui, recent Australian PGA winner Cameron Smith, Matt Jones and Cameron Davis.

"Waialae is a different golf course to last week, but I feel like I'm driving it as well as I ever have and I know I can contend at this event," Leishman said.

Big names in the field at Waialae include major winners Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson and Vijay Singh.

Ireland's Padraig Harrington has been named Europe's captain for the 2020 Ryder Cup on Tuesday, less than four months after helping the team to a crushing victory over the United States in Paris.

The three-times major winner had been the clear favourite to succeed Denmark's Thomas Bjorn for the next tournament at Whistling Straits, Wisconsin, having served as vice-captain at the last three Ryder Cups.

Harrington, who won back-to-back British Opens in 2007 and 2008 before going on to win his third major at that year's PGA Championship, also played in six successive Ryder Cups from 1999 to 2010, helping Europe to four victories.

"It's not something I take on without a certain amount of trepidation," he told a news conference at the European Tour's headquarters.

"I have played under, and been involved with, many wonderful European captains since I made my debut in the contest 20 years ago, and I would like to think that my captaincy will be a mix of all of them."

Harrington is the third Irish captain of the Europe team in the last four stagings of the match.

Paul McGinley successfully captained Europe at Gleneagles in 2012, while Darren Clarke lost out on American soil at Hazeltine in 2014.

McGinley and Clarke were among those in a five-man committee to select the captain for Whistling Straits.

The Irishman became the favourite after England's former world No.1 Lee Westwood, one of the five European vice-captains in 2018, indicated a preference to do the job in Italy in 2022 when Rome hosts the event.

Several key Europe players, including Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy and England's Justin Rose, had given Harrington public backing to lead the team in their title defence.

Harrington is also an experienced hand on the Wisconsin course, which hosts the Cup from Sept 25 to 27 next year, having played there in the PGA Championships in 2004, 2010 and 2015.

The 47-year-old has not won a European Tour title since his Portugal Masters triumph in 2016 but came close at the Czech Masters last August, finishing second in what was his best performance of the season.

Team Europe have dominated the Ryder Cup in recent years, winning nine of the last 12 biennial contests.

Bjorn's side put on a ruthless display while outplaying the United States in a 17.5-10.5 victory at Le Golf National in September last year.