Tom Hoge backed off the grind recently, but he looked to be in fine form Thursday.
Hoge birdied four of his first five holes and finished with a 9-under-par 64 to grab the first-round lead at The Sentry, the PGA Tour season opener at The Plantation Course in Kapalua, Hawaii.
“There wasn’t a whole lot of play or practice the last few months,” Hoge said, “but felt like I was putting really well coming into the week. Started right off the bat on (No.) 1 with a nice 15-, 20-footer that I made.”
And he was off to a strong round. Hoge registered 10 birdies and one bogey.
Will Zalatoris checked in with a bogey-free 8 under, and that score was matched late in the day by Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, who made a charge sparked by birdies on Nos. 14 and 16 sandwiched around an eagle 3 on No. 15.
Cameron Young, who bogeyed the first hole in an otherwise smooth round; Collin Morikawa, who didn’t have a bogey; and Canada’s Corey Conners, who went 4 under across the final seven holes, are next at 7 under. Morikawa recorded four consecutive birdies from No. 12 to No. 15.
Tony Finau, Canada’s Adam Hadwin and Belgium’s Thomas Detry share seventh place at 6 under in the 59-golfer field.
Hoge said his time off from golf was for a good reason. He became a father for the first time in early December.
“Needed a little bit of time away,” he said.
Based on his first round, Hoge received positive vibes with the launch of a new season.
“I think when we kind of start off the year, expectations aren’t as high, you don’t know where the game’s at,” Hoge said. “So I feel like I’m maybe a little bit freer out here on the golf course, just because you shake off the bad shots a little bit easier and just chalk it up for being January.”
Zalatoris took a different approach. He said he was constantly working the past couple of months on improving and testing himself on the course.
“I wanted to just get back to playing the game,” he said. “… So that’s the recipe. I don’t need to be sitting on the range hitting 300 balls trying to find it, I need to go back out there and play the game.”
There also was off-the-course work for Zalatoris, who has added muscle.
“I knew I needed to get stronger,” he said. “It wasn’t so much about the speed, I know that the speed will come, I needed the stability to make sure that I was able to do what I’m doing.”
Morikawa will want to keep the momentum he built on the back nine during the Thursday round. He said the conditions are suitable for more low scores.
“If you’re hitting it good, you can make a lot of birdies,” he said. “I think this course has shown that.”
Forty golfers finished under par and another seven at even-par 73.
“There’s certain courses where you feel like you can birdie every hole,” Morikawa said. “It’s not like a forced thing that you can have happen, but I feel like out here, you hit some good approach shots, you can make some putts, and thankfully I’ve made a lot of putts throughout the years.”
Defending champion Chris Kirk shot 74 with two double bogeys and is tied for 48th place.
World No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler isn’t participating in the select field as he recently underwent hand surgery. He had broken glass in his right palm following a Christmas Day accident.
–Field Level Media
