KAPALUA, Hawaii — Collin Morikawa has played enough tournaments in Kapalua to know that starting the second round seven shots behind Hideki Matsuyama isn't worth it. panic. Sure enough, he nearly caught the Japanese star at Sentinel on Friday.
On another beautiful day in Maui with mild winds and a bogey-free finish, Matsuyama had seven birdies in 10 holes midway through the round and shot an 8-under 65. , entering the PGA Weekend Tour season opener with a one-shot lead.
Morikawa had five consecutive birdies late in the scoring, only one of which was longer than 5 feet, until his 12-foot birdie putt missed the high post on the par-5 closing hole at Plantation Course, ending his streak. Bird records.
He also shot a 65 and is looking for more of the same over the weekend. The conditions at Sentinel are perfect for scoring and have some of the best players on the PGA Tour last year.
“When you look at the leaderboard, I've played six holes and I'm at par, and everyone else is already running on the course,” Morikawa said. “But like I said, it's not about telling myself I have to be patient. I just know this golf course and I know at any time you can make a birdie and I just have to keep playing.”
It was the eighth time Morikawa had shot 65 or better at Kapalua, the highest score of any player since the two-time major champion made his debut in 2020.
Matsuyama continued his work, a big smile on his face as he holed a 35-foot birdie putt over the green on the par-3 11th hole. He was at 16-under 130, with a group of players lining up behind him.
“I'm absolutely happy with where I am now,” Matsuyama said.
The gap between the ten players was three strokes heading into the weekend's event, which invites only the 2024 PGA Tour winner and the top 50 FedExCup players.
Canada's Corey Conners and Belgium's Thomas Detry, with their respective outstanding scores, were among them with scores of 132, 14 under par.
Connors made a 40-foot eagle putt on the par-5 15th, followed that up with two mid-range birdie putts on the par-5 18th and two-putted before the green for another birdie. , shot 66. He hit the green to 10 feet for eagle on the 306-yard 14th hole and shot a par 65 on the 18th hole.
The scoring average is 68.1 points per game, with a slight deviation due to Davis Riley's first 80 games of the season. He made four straight birdies, struggled to two-putt par, then shot 9 on the 17th hole, missing his tee shot to the right and hitting his second tee shot into the left hazard. The magnitude of these misses is about the length of a football field.
Only four players failed to break par.
For others, it's a case of aiming for the point on the contoured green entering the hole and making money with a birdie.
Sepp Straka birdied every hole on the back nine until he hit what he considered his best shot, a 6-iron to 20 feet and missed Putt. He shot 65.
Eight players shot 64, including Davis Thompson, who was 14 better than his first-round score this year. Patrick Cantlay shot 64 and led by 10 strokes.
“Now I need to do it again,” said Cantlay, who remains eight strokes behind Matsuyama.
The group three shots behind included former U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark, who birdied eight of his final 10 holes. Clark believes low scores are a product of the players, not the course.
“I don't necessarily like being that low, but at the same time, we make a course like this look easy,” Clark said. “To be honest, it's not easy. Usually, it's very windy here and we didn't have much wind today, so you see a lot of birds and sometimes eagles.
“I've never shot 20 under on the PGA Tour, so maybe I can break that record this week.”
At this rate, it's not enough.
Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley, who also shot 64, had an eagle on the final hole and his two sons rushed the fairway as he walked to the 18th green. Bradley hasn't ruled out playing in the Ryder Cup. But there's still a long way to go.
“We are still two rounds away from 2025,” he said. “So, if we get to July and things look like this, then we'll start talking about it, but for now I'm just going to continue to play my best.”
Source link
