The big names were long gone, taking the crowds with them.
So only a few dozen spectators who hung around Waialae Country Club’a 18th green near sunset Thursday can say they watched Adam Svensson finish off a sparkling opening round of the Sony Open in Hawaii.
Playing two groups behind the bustle surrounding the featured trio of Charles Howell III, Matt Kuchar and Justin Thomas, Svensson made his way around Waialae in relative quiet in his Sony Open debut.
The Canadian rookie capped his afternoon by getting a 10-foot putt to slide into the left side of the cup at No. 18 to close out a round of 9-under-par 61 and claim the solo lead entering today’s play.
“Today just kind of was all a blur,” Svensson said. “I don’t really remember what holes I birdied and stuff. It was kind of I was just flowing, yeah, just having a good time and enjoying it.”
When asked, he was able to recall some of the particulars of the round, including the 6-iron he hit from 198 yards out on No. 9 to set up a 5-foot eagle putt that kick-started his run. A 53-foot putt on the par-3 11th ignited a stretch of four consecutive birdies that drew him even with morning leader Andrew Putnam.
As the 25-year-old chased his first PGA Tour lead — with potential external distractions at a minimum — he managed to maintain his focus by taking his mind off the situation at times.
“My caddie (Jace Walker) and I kind of joked around about stuff off the golf course; just talked about other things,” he said. “Then once we’re in the shot we focus and then hit it.”
Svensson is about a year removed from a win at the Bahamas Great Abaco Classic on the Web.com Tour and found similar conditions — and minimal wind — when he arrived at Waialae for his afternoon round.
“I didn’t hit driver on a lot of holes. I kind of laid back a little bit here and there, and I also played aggressive,” Svensson said. “So just kind of depends on the wind and then just feel it out. Obviously when it’s windy there is not really a game plan. You just go out there and play. We’ll see tomorrow.”
He enters the second round one shot clear of Putnam, who set a lofty target in the morning wave with an 8-under 62, and two ahead of Matt Kuchar.
Putnam entered the tournament with a fairly nondescript history at Waialae, and although he began 2019 as part of a stacked field at the Sentry Tournament of Champions he certainly wasn’t among the most recognizable names in the first full-field event of the calendar year.
Like Svensson, Putnam had a sparse following for most of his round, with the crowds drawn to Jordan Spieth and Bryson DeChambeau among those up ahead.
The few who trailed him around the course caught quite the putting exhibition.
Putnam dropped a 27-foot birdie putt on the second hole and finished the day with his shortest, a 5-footer on the par-5 18th.
He birdied both par-3s on the front side and made the turn at 30. He kept the momentum with a 21-foot uphill birdie on No. 13 and followed with a 29-foot snake on 14 — his longest make of the day — to get to 7 under.
The Pepperdine graduate — who broke 70 just once in his previous six Sony Open rounds — needed only 23 putts, his 18 makes covering just over 174 feet in total.
“It was one of those things where the ball just looked like it was going in from everywhere,” said Putnam, who got his first look at the course on Thursday after withdrawing from the Wednesday Pro-Am due to a bee sting on his foot. “I don’t know if you guys have experienced that, but it’s incredible. Doesn’t happen too often. Just tried to stay in the moment and just keep it going.”
Defending champion Patton Kizzire and 2017 winner Justin Thomas ended their rounds at 3 under and begin today’s round as part of a pack tied for 17th.
Kizzire began defense of the title in the morning round, facing brisker breezes than those in the afternoon session.
“It was blowing pretty good,” Kizzire said. “I woke up this morning really early before the sun, got out here before the sun came up, and I figured the wind wouldn’t be blowing too hard. It was up fairly early and continued to push pretty hard.”
A couple of former world No. 1s will need major rallies today to make it to the weekend.
Spieth managed one birdie in a round of 3-over 73 to enter today’s play tied for 127th. Scott was just one shot better.
“I will come back and try to shoot 5, 6 under tomorrow, shoot a solid round,” Spieth said “The idea is to try to progress each day. I would really like to have an opportunity to do that on the weekend, so I need to shoot a good round tomorrow just to give myself a chance.”
