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Gentle breezes welcomed the PGA Tour pros back to Oahu as the Sony Open in Hawaii teed off on Thursday in its customary January slot on the tour
calendar.
Other than that, most of the distinguishing features of a tournament week at Waialae Country Club were scarce.
Spectators are barred from the course due to the pandemic — as has been the case for most events since the tour’s restart — muting the usual buzz and bustle of fans strolling alongside the fairways or waiting for autographs near the scoring trailers.
Golf Channel’s camera towers behind the greens were among the few indicators of the tour’s return to Kahala. But the lack of skyboxes and hospitality tents surrounding the 17th and 18th holes opened up a panoramic blue-sky backdrop for the players’ approach shots.
No herd trailed the players over the bridge from the ninth tee box to the fairway and there was certainly no need for “Quiet Please” signs on a day when the pop of a soda can was enough to draw a glance.
Peter Malnati’s 5-foot birdie putt on the ninth green to close his round of 8-under-par 62 in the morning wave was punctuated by silence.
About five hours later, Joaquin Niemann’s chip-in eagle to match Malnati would have undoubtedly drawn a roar from the crowd overlooking No. 18 in previous years. A few gasps and a golf clap from a volunteer would have to suffice this time.
Just as the fans were conspicuous in their absence, Waialae’s winds didn’t show up with last year’s force as 98 of the 144 entrants shot under par, led by tri-leaders Malnati, Niemann and Jason Kokrak.
Malnati crafted his best round at Waialae in seven starts in a morning breeze. By the afternoon, the wind had backed off even more when Kokrak turned in a bogey-free round and Niemann capped his day with a 50-foot chip-in from the fringe fronting the 18th green.
They’ll enter today’s play two shots ahead of the pack with 19 players within three shots of the lead.
“It was a little bit windy to start the round … When things died down, you could point-and-shoot,” said Kokrak, whose previous Sony best was a 64 in 2015 when he tied for 17th. “ It was a few yards one way or the other but nothing too crazy.”
Much that is strange about this year’s Sony Open rekindled memories far predating Parker McLachlin’s debut in the tournament 21 years ago.
“It feels like when I was growing up here playing as a 12-, 13-, 14-year-old, going out and playing nine holes and not having anybody out there,” the Punahou alum said after his round of even-par 70. “It kind of felt a bit more like that today. Definitely there was not much energy out there.
“I made a putt there on (No. 10) and there was like one clap from the roof of the Kahala, like the 13th floor, there was one clap and I was like, that’s really weird. Usually I’ll have a couple hundred, a few hundred people that would be out here, and they like to get rowdy when I make birdies.”
Defending champion Cameron Smith opened with a 3-under 67, which left him tied for 40th, and was asked about the lack of structures around the closing holes.
“(On No. 17) with how firm that green gets … sometimes you can use that grandstand as a bit of a backboard to a back pin,” Smith said. “So I think it makes the hole tougher definitely for sure.”
Thursday’s round extended strong starts to the season for all three leaders.
Malnati’s previous best at Waialae was a 65 to close the 2017 tournament. He missed the cut the next two years and overcame a rough start to tie for 12th last year. That was one of just 10 cuts he survived in 21 starts in the 2020 season, when he made just over $561,000. He’s pocketed more than $1 million through seven events this season with two top-five finishes.
Malnati was in the second group off the 10th tee on Thursday morning and ignited his round by draining a 35-foot birdie putt on the par-3 11th. He circled three birdies on Waialae’s four par-3s and got through his round with just 21 putts.
“I was playing great obviously last fall and kind of just tried to keep the momentum going over the little break and do just enough work to stay sharp and to come out and play well here today,” Malnati said.
“The course, it’s so much fun when it’s firm because that’s how this course was meant to play.”
Kokrak and Niemann began 2021 at the Sentry Tournament of Champions on Maui last week. Kokrak, who won the CJ Cup in October, played the hilly Kapalua Plantation Course in 9 under to finish 35th. Niemann fared far better on Maui, charging with a 64 on Sunday before falling in a playoff with Harris English.
“Spent a few days thinking about that last hole,” Niemann said. “But just taking all the positives from the week and I think just taking all the positive and pull it out for this week.”
Collin Morikawa, who has family ties on Maui and Oahu, returned for his second Sony Open as the 2020 PGA Championship winner and the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 5 in the world. He followed up a double bogey on No. 12 after he lost his tee shot with back-to-back birdies and enters the second round as part of the pack of 17 at 4 under.
“You’re going to hit bad shots and it’s going to happen, but I was able to make a couple bounce-back birdies right after and kept the momentum up,” Morikawa said. “I’m going to have to do a lot of work and guys are still going to make a lot of birdies the next few days.”
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