KAPALUA, Hawaii — A brand new yr, the identical outdated Scottie Scheffler.
The world’s No. 1 participant had eight birdies and an eagle Friday for a 9-under 64 at The Sentry, giving him a one-shot lead going into the weekend on the PGA Tour’s season opener.
Low scoring on the Plantation course at Kapalua has come to be anticipated. Even with the Kona wind out of the wrong way, it hasn’t been robust sufficient to maintain the 59-player discipline from attacking at will.
Scheffler was at 16-under 130, nonetheless solely good for a one-shot lead over jet-lagged Tyrrell Hatton of England, Brendon Todd and Sungjae Im.
“It is a kind of locations in the event you go on the market and play properly, you are going to get rewarded,” Scheffler stated. “In the event you begin not hitting it in the appropriate spots, you will get in bother. Simply obtained to maintain the pedal down.”
That is what Hatton did, irrespective of how drained he feels. He stated it took him simply over 25 hours to get from London to Maui, partly as a result of a mechanical delay on prime of his three-hour layover in Los Angeles. He wasn’t feeling his greatest, and never simply from the lengthy flight.
After which he turned in a 62, his lowest spherical as a professional.
“Possibly a shock to do it within the second spherical again to begin the yr, after how lengthy I’ve had off,” Hatton stated. “I would not say I sorted myself within the December interval; perhaps that performed a small half. Yeah, so the physique hasn’t been shifting properly. I am certain in the event you had seen among the flight tracers of a few of my tee pictures, you’ll be disgusted.”
He attributed the 62 to a “mad day on the greens,” and that was capped by an eagle putt from just below 100 toes from off the inexperienced on the par-5 closing gap.
Hatton had just one par (and one bogey) on the again 9.
Todd had a 30 on the entrance 9 and a stable end for a 64, whereas Im had a 66. FedEx Cup champion Viktor Hovland made an eagle putt from simply over 50 toes on the closing gap for a 67 that left him two pictures again in a gaggle that featured Collin Morikawa (67), Chris Kirk (65) and Byeong Hun An (64).
An is amongst seven gamers at Kapalua who’ve by no means gained on the PGA Tour. The match was once just for winners from the earlier yr and now could be expanded to incorporate anybody who completed among the many prime 50 within the FedEx Cup.
Scoring has been so good — no totally different from the earlier two years — that Jordan Spieth had a 67 to remain inside three pictures of the lead, shrugged and stated, “Simply common.”
Certainly, the common rating was 67.4 on Friday. All 59 gamers broke par.
Scheffler, in fact, was hardly a shock. He had among the best statistical years on the PGA Tour final yr — within the non-Tiger Woods division — which performed an enormous half in him being voted PGA Tour Participant of the Yr for the second straight time.
He ended final yr by profitable in opposition to the elite, 20-man discipline on the Hero World Problem within the Bahamas. And right here on Maui, he has holed sufficient birdie putts and made some 6-footers for par alongside the way in which to maintain momentum.
For Scheffler and in addition to he hits the ball, there isn’t any scarcity of alternatives.
“I performed actually stable,” he stated. “The few occasions I obtained into bother, I obtained out fairly fast and hit some good pitches and a pair good putts as properly.”
Hatton, Todd and Im had already set the goal when Scheffler reached the scoring a part of the again 9, and the Texan took benefit. He holed a 15-foot birdie putt on No. 12, hit wedge up the hill to eight toes on the thirteenth, drove into the bunker on the reachable 14th and blasted out to 2 toes, and made it 4 straight birdies on No. 15 with a wedge he clipped completely to six toes.
The Kona wind made the 667-yard 18th play all of that, although it’s downhill with a quick fairway. Scheffler hit 5-iron to the inexperienced Thursday, and the wind prompted him to hit 3-iron on Friday.
“An excellent 3-iron,” he stated.
“It is a ton of enjoyable to play,” Scheffler stated. “It is undoubtedly the place all people needs to begin their yr. Plenty of fairways are actually extensive, however a few of them do not play almost as extensive as they’re. You have to hit good pictures, form the ball other ways and do plenty of totally different stuff with the intention to play properly out right here.”
DIVOTS: Todd is one in all many gamers who switched caddies this yr. He’s utilizing Paul Tesori, whom Cameron Young fired on the finish of final yr. Younger now has Wayne De Haas, who caddies at Seminole Golf Membership and has labored sometimes for Ernie Els on the PGA Tour Champions. … Hatton and Brian Harman are going to the Sony Open subsequent week after which straight from Honolulu to Dubai for a European tour occasion.
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