Defending champion Kevin Na failed in his bid to break 60 in the first round of the Sony Open in Hawaii on Thursday, but he still ended the day with a one-shot lead.
Na shot a nine-under-par 61 at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu to sit one stroke ahead of Jim Furyk and Russell Henley. Furyk’s round included a hole-in-one.
Kevin Chappell, Patton Kizzire, Michael Thompson, China’s Haotong Li and Ireland’s Séamus Power are tied for fourth at 63. Tyler Duncan, JT Poston, Ryan Palmer, Matt Kuchar, Jason Kokrak and two Canadians, Corey Conners and Adam Svensson, share ninth place at 64.
Power picked up where he left off in his second tournament of the year, making seven birdies in a faultless opening round to sit in a promising position on seven under.
Na meanwhile was on eight under par through 12 holes, but he then parred five holes in a row before closing with a birdie.
“I played unbelievably well,” he said. “I did everything well today and my iron play was amazing. My distance control has been great.
“I had a chance for a 59. I gave it all I could. I’m a little disappointed my putts didn’t fall, some of the good putts that I hit didn’t fall. But it’s still a good round.”
Na, who hopes to become the first player to win the Sony Open in back-to-back years since Jimmy Walker in 2014-15, made four birdies in a five-hole stretch on the front nine, then added a six-foot eagle putt at the ninth. After logging birdies on two of the first three holes on the back nine, Na began his par streak.
Furyk, 51, went on a spectacular run late in his round. He made birdies at 14, 15 and 16, then made an ace on the par-three 17th hole. Furyk’s six-iron shot found the cup from 187 yards.
“I thought I was in between clubs but (caddie Michael “Fluff” Cowan) assured me it was a six-iron for me, it was the right club and I had it teed up a little bit trying to get the ball in the air and hit down on it,” Furyk said. “Caught it just a smidge high in the face.
“I wasn’t quite sure I caught enough of it to cover it. And carried on the green probably two or three yards and landed in a perfect spot and then released towards the pin. I guess that’s kind of the line I was looking. You never want to miss that green right. Want to make sure I hit it solid to cover.”
Furyk, who now plays primarily on the Champions Tour, hadn’t recorded a hole-in-one since the 2011 World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational.
“Just because I’m getting close to 52, I didn’t come over here to pack it in and have a vacation,” he said. “I want to play well.”
Australia’s Cameron Smith, who won the Tournament of Champions last week in Kapalua, Hawaii, is tied for 40th place after a 67.
Collated first round scores in the USPGA Tour Sony Open in Hawaii (USA unless stated, Par 70):
61 Kevin Na
62 Jim Furyk, Russell Henley
63 Kevin Chappell, Patton Kizzire, Haotong Li (Chn), Séamus Power (Irl), Michael Thompson
64 Corey Conners (Can), Tyler Duncan, Jason Kokrak, Matt Kuchar, Ryan Palmer, J. T. Poston, Adam Svensson (Can)
65 Christiaan Bezuidenhout (Rsa), Billy Horschel, Maverick McNealy, Davis Riley, Sahith Theegala, Dylan Wu, Vaughn Taylor, Andy Ogletree
66 Abraham Ancer (Mex), Paul Barjon (Fra), Cameron Davis (Aus), Harris English, Kramer Hickok, Tom Hoge, Stephan Jaeger (Ger), Takumi Kanaya (Jpn), Chris Kirk, Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn), Brandt Snedeker, Kyle Stanley, Sepp Straka (Aut), Kevin Tway, Erik van Rooyen (Rsa), Vincent Whaley
67 Wesley Bryan, Hayden Buckley, Lucas Glover, Talor Gooch, Brian Harman, Beau Hossler, Russell Knox (Sco), Marc Leishman (Aus), Justin Lower, Keith Mitchell, Trey Mullinax, Keita Nakajima (Jpn), Aaron Rai (Eng), Chad Ramey, Greyson Sigg, Webb Simpson, Alex Smalley, Cameron Smith (Aus), Robert Streb, Brendon Todd, Cameron Percy (Aus), Bo Van Pelt
68 Joseph Bramlett, Stewart Cink, Luke Donald (Eng), Brett Drewitt (Aus), Si Woo Kim (Kor), Kevin Kisner, Jim Knous, Ben Kohles, David Lipsky, Henrik Norlander (Swe), Garrett Okamura, Andrew Putnam, Seth Reeves, Sam Ryder, Hudson Swafford, Callum Tarren (Eng), Martin Trainer, Richy Werenski, Brandon Wu
69 Keegan Bradley, Joel Dahmen, Brian Gay, Emiliano Grillo (Arg), Bill Haas, Chesson Hadley, Harry Higgs, Lee Hodges, Charles Howell III, Sung-Hoon Kang (Kor), Jerry Kelly, Kurt Kitayama, Kelly Kraft, Kyoung-Hoon Lee (Kor), William McGirt, Rory Sabbatini (Svk), J. J. Spaun, Brendan Steele, Jimmy Walker
70 Kevin Carll, Branden Grace (Rsa), Scott Gutschewski, Nick Hardy, Rikuya Hoshino (Jpn), Mark Hubbard, Matt Jones (Aus), Chan Kim, Nate Lashley, Hank Lebioda, Adam Long, Graeme McDowell (NIrl), Ryan Moore, Adam Schenk, Austin Smotherman, Brian Stuard, Dawie van der Walt (Rsa), Brent Grant, Chase Seiffert
71 Austin Cook, John Huh, Sung Jae Im (Kor), Satoshi Kodaira (Jpn), Denny McCarthy, Parker McLachlin, Taylor Pendrith (Can), Roger Sloan (Can), Jared Wolfe, Cameron Young, Ryan Armour, Bo Hoag, Bruce Doucett
72 Michael Gligic (Can), Zach Johnson, Peter Jung, Andrew Novak, David Skinns (Eng), Curtis Thompson, Koichiro Ishika (Jpn), Camilo Villegas (Col)
73 Jim Herman, Peter Malnati, Jared Sawada
74 Max McGreevy
