Fishburn ran off three straight birdies on the back nine at the start of his round and chipped in for birdie on the fifth hole, closing with one last birdie for a 5-under 65.
McCarthy missed a pair of relatively short par putts by his standards early in his round.Â
But once he rolled in a 25-foot birdie on the fifth hole, he was on his way to a 66.Â
After Friday's round, the pair were at 130, one shot clear of Kensei Hirata (63) and Eric Cole (67), who had a chance to tie for the lead until he missed a 4-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th.
Also one shot back was 36-year-old rookie Paul Peterson, who played on five previous tours around the world before getting his PGA Tour card this year.Â
Leave the putter in the bag.— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) Patrick Fishburn chips in from off the green to tie for the lead @SonyOpenHawaii 📺 Golf Channel | #OpeningDrive pic.twitter.com/WjcPPlMInYJanuary 11, 2025
He finished his round on the par-5 ninth hole where he two-putted for birdie and a 67 in near darkness.
Among those missing the cut in the first full-field event of the year were Billy Horschel, Chris Kirk and Austin Eckroat.
McCarthy wasn't the least bit bothered by some of the shorter putts he missed because of playing in the afternoon when there already had been plenty of foot traffic, and because he atoned for them by making his share of longer putts.
"Kind of even outs," he said.
The leading five players going into the weekend have never won on the PGA Tour, key because an invitation to the Masters is at stake.Â
But winning is a long way off with 25 players within four shots of the lead and 36 holes to play.
Among those two shots behind were figures from the last Ryder Cup outside Rome — Sepp Straka of Austria, and US captain Zach Johnson.
Johnson, who turns 49 next month, holed out with a 9-iron from the third fairway for eagle and shot 31 on the front nine before finishing with a 66.
Denny McCarthy has hit a second round 66 for a share of the lead at the Sony Open. (AP PHOTO)
He first joined the PGA Tour in 2004 at the Sony Open but no longer has any status, needing an exemption to get into the tournament he once won.Â
"I'm not going to play like a massive schedule this year. I don't feel like I want to or need to, obviously for priority reasons," he said.
Johnson played only twice in the US autumn because his son was playing high school football and he didn't want to miss a game.
A group at 6-under 134 in Hawaii included Gary Woodland, who a year ago returned from brain surgery to remove a lesion that was leading to seizures.
Woodland's swing has been coming together. He said he was  now seeing the golf course more clearly and building patience into his game.
"I feel well, but I'm on the golf course and I'm in my zone and not searching for it," Woodland said.Â
"I think for a long time — most of last year — I didn't know what to expect each shot, how I was going to feel."
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