Jordan Spieth questioned his decision-making after a disappointing weekend to finish last week’s Sentry Tournament of Champions on Maui.

He also said it was a problem that was much easier to fix than execution.

Whispers of his confidence entering his first Sony Open in Hawaii since 2019 turned out to be on point, as the three-time major champion sits tied for the lead after an opening 64 on Thursday at Waialae Country Club in a first round that was shortened by darkness.

Ten players hadn’t finish their rounds when it was called at 6:11 p.m, including S.H. Kim, who sits one behind the leaders at 5 under through 16 holes.

Spieth, whose 6 under was matched only by Chris Kirk and Taylor Montgomery, started his morning with one of seven birdies in his round on his opening hole, the par-4 10th.

He finished in the top 10 in the field in driving distance after replacing his cracked driver from last weekend and held onto a share of the first-round lead despite a disappointing par on No. 9 to finish.

“I felt like I left a couple (shots) out (there), but I also really had fun today,” Spieth said. “It can be a real fun golf course once you start peeling it down these fairways.”

With the PGA Tour’s new schedule featuring 13 elevated events with bigger purses, Spieth had a decision to make choosing between playing here or at San Diego.

He missed the cut at Waialae three years ago and said it was the last time he has flown coach when he just wanted to get out of Hawaii on a Friday night as quick as possible.

That won’t be the case this time around.

“Got off driving it really well. I split some fairways early with driver on 10 and 12 and had a couple good wedges in there,” Spieth said. “I made a couple putts early, so that was nice.”

Spieth also finished in the top 10 in strokes gained putting using a different approach than he had in years past.

He said the practice green at Waialae can be particularly tricky. He relied on a putting device instead of trusting the putts he was hitting.

“I seem to have putts go two different ways every single time I go off it historically on this green, so I told myself I would play this event as long as I only hit putts on the tutor on this green,” Spieth said. “The stuff I’ve been trying to work on in my stroke I decided to go full trust from the get-go today, and to see those go in was a nice confidence boost and led to a good putting day.”

It’s the 12th time Spieth has held at least a share of the first-round lead of a stroke-play event. He’s gone on to win three times, with two of those being the 2015 Masters and 2017 Open Championship.

Kirk, who caught fire with four straight birdies midway through his round, has two runner-up finishes in his career at Waialae.

“Just a place where I’m comfortable. A couple of really close calls to win here in the past,” he said. “It is a solid all-around day with a really nice hot streak in the middle.”

Spieth and Kirk were joined at the top late in the day by Montgomery, a PGA Tour rookie who has finished in the top 15 in six of his seven fall starts.

He briefly tied for the lead with a 19-foot birdie putt on 14 before missing from 6 feet for par on 15.

He was able to finish before darkness with a two-putt birdie on 18 to sit on at least a share of a lead for the first time in his career.

“We finished,” he said somewhat relieved. “I putted really good, yeah. It’s been one of my strengths. Not on bermuda, typically, but feels like bermuda is the only grass we’ve really played on and I putted pretty well.”

Twenty-one players are within two shots of the lead.

J.J. Spaun, who tied for fifth at Kapalua, is among a group of 11 sitting two back at 4 under.

Defending champion Hideki Matsuyama shot his 12th consecutive under-par round at Waialae with a 68 to sit in a tie for 41st place.

Tom Kim, the top-ranked golfer in the field at No. 14, shot a 2-over 72.

Ryan Armour aced the par-3 17th hole from 204 yards with a 6-iron for his third career ace on the PGA Tour. It’s the sixth ace in the 25-year history of the tournament on No. 17 and first since Jim Furyk made one last year.