KAPALUA, Maui >> Sahith Theegala shot 9-under-par 64 to lead after the first round of The Sentry today at the Kapalua Plantation Course. Theegala carded 10 birdies and a bogey to hold a slim lead over five players at 8 under.

Theegala made six birdies in a row en route to shooting 31 on the back nine. He said the 12th hole was the key to his round.

“Had a really gnarly 8- or 9-footer that I didn’t know which way it was going to break, grain was going all over the place,” Theegala said. “I just aimed it dead center and tried to hit it hard and hearted that putt, and that settled me down a little bit.”

The logjam a stroke behind Theegala includes Collin Morikawa, who has family ties to Maui and said he was honored when asked to take the first tee shot of the PGA Tour’s 2024 season-opening event here.

“It got a little bit emotional,” said Morikawa, whose grandparents once owned a restaurant in Lahaina, the town 11 miles south of the course that was ravaged by wildfires last Aug. 8. “I think just because I know what everyone has gone through, you hear it from these families, and you meet everyone out here on the island that knows someone or has been affected firsthand. Maui’s small. Hawaii’s very, very small. People know everyone.”

The exclusive field of 59 players all won at least one PGA tournament last season or finished in the top 50 of the FedEx Cup points list.

Morikawa’s bogey-free round featured an eagle on the par-5 No. 9 hole and six birdies. He led by five strokes here after three rounds last year, but finished tied for second.

Camilo Villegas also shot 8 under today, crushing the back nine with seven birdies after shooting 2 under on the front. His lone bogey came on No. 14.

Jason Day, Viktor Hovland and Sungjae Im also shot 65 to start Friday’s second round one shot off the pace set by Theegala.