Morning glory

Paul Casey had gone a decade between appearances at Waialae Country Club, and his last wasn’t terribly memorable.

Webb Simpson has been a far more frequent visitor, but arrived this year working a major change into his game.

Both made themselves comfortable on a calm and hazy Thursday morning while tearing through the course with twin rounds of 8-under-par 62 to take the first-round lead in the Sony Open in Hawaii.

"I had no idea what to expect today, so I’m over the moon with that," Casey said after just his third round at Waialae.

Simpson, playing his first PGA Tour event with a conventional putter, started on No. 10, three groups behind Casey. He took just 12 strokes with the new putter over his last 11 holes, catching Casey with eight birdies over that stretch.

The front nine at Waialae, considered the tougher side of the course, was especially welcoming on Thursday in yielding a 28 to Simpson and a 29 to Camillo Villegas, who ended the morning a shot behind the leaders at 63.

Of those who went out in the afternoon, only Robert Streb made a serious run at the leaders, matching Villegas at 7 under in the first full-field event of 2015.

Rory Sabbatini finished another stroke back followed by a pack of six at 5 under.

Streb, the early leader in the FedEx Cup standings, was at even par before playing a five-hole stretch from No. 8 through 12 at 6 under, highlighted by an eagle on No. 9. He will try to take advantage of an early tee time Friday.

Casey teed off at No. 10 at 7:20 a.m. in his first appearance at Waialae since missing the cut in 2005. He opened in the Middle East nearly every year since and had been sidetracked by injuries along the way.

He landed his drive in the fairway on just five holes in his return to Waialae, but hit 15 greens in regulation and needed just 25 putts to get through his round.

"The key really was the irons predominantly were pin high, gave myself sort of a lot of 9- to 12-foot putts and I holed a lot of putts," Casey said. "I can’t explain it, just felt very, very comfortable with the putter considering I have not done a massive amount of practice, and it’s nice to see them going in the middle."

Simpson’s 28 tied the lowest score on Waialae’s front nine since 1983, matching Toshinori Muto’s run in the second round of the 2012 Sony Open.

Simpson, the 2012 U.S. Open champion, had used a belly putter since the fall of 2004 when he played for Wake Forest. He made the change to a conventional putter a year ahead of the mandated switch with anchored putters banned starting in January 2016.

He swung his Odyssey White Hot just 23 times in what he called "one of the best putting rounds I’ve ever had," finishing with a 3-foot birdie on the par-5 ninth.

"I’ve been putting well with it, but it’s easy to putt well at your home course playing with your buddies," Simpson said. "So today there was a lot of pressure and didn’t sleep that great last night, but had a good morning, talked to my wife and good warm-up, and it was big to see a few putts go in early."

Of course, a solid ball striking day tends to ease some pressure off the putter.

"Made a few long putts, hit a couple in there close, but I drove it really well," said Simpson, who hit 10 of 14 fairways. "When you drive it well you have a lot of wedges and 9-irons and 8-irons and the pins weren’t too terribly difficult today."

Villegas said he wasn’t aware just how well he was playing until he got to 14 and realized he’d shot 29 on the front. He leveled off with just one more birdie on the back, missing an 11-footer on No. 18 before tapping in for par.

"Obviously we’re used to having more wind here, but the golf course is in great shape," Villegas said. "It’s still on the firm side … greens are fast and you’ve got to hit good shots. Are you going to see a little better scores because of the lack of wind? Yes. But is it easy out there? No."

Streb arrived at Waialae with four top-10 finishes in six starts this season, including his first career win at the McGladrey Classic in October.

He tied for eighth at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions last week on Maui and was even par through seven holes. He birdied the eighth then hit a 6-iron from 189 yards away on the ninth fairway. His shot threatened the pin before stopping 3 feet away to set up an eagle.

"I was just hoping it would get close," Streb said. "If it goes in it’s always a huge bonus but I was hoping I had the right distance."

Defending champion Jimmy Walker ended the afternoon as part of an 11-player logjam at 4 under.

"I hit a lot of good putts that didn’t go in, but that’s good," Walker said. "You guys see that, you shoot 4 under and you think, ‘wow it could have been a lot more.’ So that means there’s a lot out there left, and we’ll go get it the next three days."