Canada’s Conners, Hadwin off to strong starts at PGA Tour season opener in Kapalua

KAPALUA, Hawaii — Tom Hoge grew up in North Dakota and located the perfect vibe for Kapalua on Thursday, conserving expectations low and driving the momentum of excellent golf on his strategy to a 9-under 64 to take a one-shot lead at The Sentry within the PGA Tour season opener.

Hideki Matsuyama tried out a brand new putter — he noticed another person use it and figured it will work for him — and he had a birdie-eagle-birdie stretch on the again 9 that carried him to a 65 and was one again together with beefed-up Will Zalatoris.

That was the theme for the primary day of a brand new PGA Tour season with a lot extra at stake than beforehand. A lot of the 60-man area is coming off a brief winter’s nap with the vacations, seeking to shake off some rust on a Plantation course with a few of the widest, most beneficiant fairways they are going to see all yr.

Xander Schauffele, the double main winner and highest-ranked participant within the area, was among the many few who confirmed up on the weekend at Kapalua. He twice had a fruitless seek for his golf ball that led to bogey on the again 9 that led to a 72.

Hoge, among the many 29 gamers who made it to Kapalua with out profitable — the sphere consists of the highest 50 within the FedEx Cup final yr — and wasn’t certain what to anticipate.

The climate did not enable for a lot apply in Fort Price, Texas, the place he now lives. Neither did the delivery of his first little one, a boy named Thomas Bennett, born a number of weeks in the past.

“I performed throughout Mexico the primary week of November, then was simply at house,” he mentioned. “We had our first little one in early December, so sort of pressured day off. I really feel like with the adjustments within the schedule, final yr was a variety of golf from now till the Tour Championship. I felt like I used to be fairly burned out at that time.”

If the sport was rusty, his putter was not. He made a 15-foot birdie out of the gate, saved par with a 6-foot putt on the subsequent gap, holed an 18-foot birdie on the third and chipped in from a dicey spot on the fourth gap.

“It simply sort of frees you up. And also you’re in Maui, simply no expectations, simply let it go and see what you are able to do,” he mentioned.

Zalatoris arrived trying quite a bit larger. He took two months off after failing to achieve the Tour Championship and used that point to construct some muscle, which he hopes will give him a little bit extra longevity from again points which have pressured him to overlook an excessive amount of time.

He missed the final 4 months of 2022, then the remainder of 2023 with again surgical procedure when he needed to withdraw from the Masters.

“I don’t really feel like I’ve even had surgical procedure now,” Zalatoris mentioned. “The ceiling is one thing that I wished to maintain elevating, as a result of I knew that if I used to be going to be sitting at 160 kilos and attempting to hit it 300 yards out right here, it’s not a recipe for longevity.”

He left the BMW Championship in August at 163 kilos. He weighed in at 182 kilos when he obtained on a aircraft from Dallas to Maui.

“I am hoping that this yr my finest golf is on the finish of the season,” he mentioned.

The primary day of the brand new season wasn’t unhealthy. Zalatoris performed bogey-free, although a three-putt on the par-5 fifth — the best gap on the Plantation — felt like a bogey.

Collin Morikawa, Cameron Younger and Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., had been at 66, whereas Tony Finau was within the group at 67 in his first match in 4 months due to surgical procedure on his left knee.

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., can be tied for seventh at 67.

Matsuyama, who had been taking part in in Japan in the course of the fall, fell again with a three-putt bogey from 15 toes on the thirteenth gap. He adopted with a pedestrian tee shot on the subsequent gap, however hit wedge to 10 toes for birdie and was on his means. He hit 5-wood to five toes for eagle on the fifteenth, wedge to 4 toes for birdie on the subsequent and had an opportunity to tie Hoge till he did not catch all of his 3-wood on the downhill 18th and didn’t get up-and-down for birdie.

The brand new season begins with out Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 participant on the earth who punctured his hand on damaged glass making ready Christmas dinner.

It is also the beginning of a brand new construction when solely the highest 100 gamers within the FedEx Cup — down from 125 gamers — hold full playing cards for subsequent yr.