KAPALUA, Hawaii — Tom Hoge grew up in North Dakota and located the perfect vibe for Kapalua on Thursday, maintaining expectations low and using the momentum of fine golf on his strategy to a 9-under 64 to take a one-shot lead at The Sentry within the PGA Tour season opener.
Hideki Matsuyama tried out a brand new putter — he noticed another person use it and figured it might work for him — and he had a birdie-eagle-birdie stretch on the again 9 that carried him to a 65 and was one again together with beefed-up Will Zalatoris.
That was the theme for the primary day of a brand new PGA Tour season with a lot extra at stake than beforehand. Many of the 60-man discipline is coming off a brief winter’s nap with the vacations, trying to shake off some rust on a Plantation course with a few of the widest, most beneficiant fairways they’ll see all 12 months.
Xander Schauffele, the double main winner and highest-ranked participant within the discipline, was among the many few who confirmed up on the weekend at Kapalua. He twice had a fruitless seek for his golf ball that led to bogey on the again 9 that led to a 72.
Hoge, among the many 29 gamers who made it to Kapalua with out profitable — the sector contains the highest 50 within the FedExCup final 12 months — and wasn’t certain what to anticipate.
The climate didn’t permit for a lot observe in Fort Price, Texas, the place he now lives. Neither did the beginning of his first youngster, a boy named Thomas Bennett, born just a few weeks in the past.
“I performed during Mexico the primary week of November, then was simply at house,” he mentioned. “We had our first youngster in early December, so type of pressured time without work. I really feel like with the adjustments within the schedule, final 12 months was plenty of golf from now till the Tour Championship. I felt like I used to be fairly burned out at that time.”
If the sport was rusty, his putter was not. He made a 15-foot birdie out of the gate, saved par with a 6-foot putt on the following gap, holed an 18-foot birdie on the third and chipped in from a dicey spot on the fourth gap.
“It simply type of frees you up. And also you’re in Maui, simply no expectations, simply let it go and see what you are able to do,” he mentioned.
Zalatoris arrived wanting lots larger. He took two months off after failing to succeed in the Tour Championship and used that point to construct some muscle, which he hopes will give him somewhat extra longevity from again points which have pressured him to overlook an excessive amount of time.
He missed the final 4 months of 2022, then the remainder of 2023 with again surgical procedure when he needed to withdraw from the Masters.
After including 20 kilos to his wiry body, Will Zalatoris mentioned he feels higher than ever. His sport seems to be prefer it, too.
“I don’t really feel like I’ve even had surgical procedure now,” Zalatoris mentioned. “The ceiling is one thing that I wished to maintain elevating, as a result of I knew that if I used to be going to be sitting at 160 kilos and attempting to hit it 300 yards out right here, it’s not a recipe for longevity.”
He left the BMW Championship in August at 163 kilos. He weighed in at 182 kilos when he bought on a aircraft from Dallas to Maui.
“I’m hoping that this 12 months my finest golf is on the finish of the season,” he mentioned.
The primary day of the brand new season wasn’t dangerous. Zalatoris performed bogey-free, although a three-putt on the par-5 fifth — the best gap on the Plantation — felt like a bogey.
Collin Morikawa, Cameron Younger and Corey Conners have been at 66, whereas Tony Finau was within the group at 67 in his first match in 4 months due to surgical procedure on his left knee.
Matsuyama, who had been enjoying in Japan throughout the fall, fell again with a three-putt bogey from 15 ft on the thirteenth gap. He adopted with a pedestrian tee shot on the following gap, however hit wedge to 10 ft for birdie and was on his manner. He hit 5-wood to five ft for eagle on the fifteenth, wedge to 4 ft for birdie on the following and had an opportunity to tie Hoge till he didn’t catch all of his 3-wood on the downhill 18th and did not get up-and-down for birdie.
The brand new season begins with out Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 participant on this planet who punctured his hand on damaged glass making ready Christmas dinner.
It is also the beginning of a brand new construction when solely the highest 100 gamers within the FedExCup — down from 125 gamers — preserve full playing cards for subsequent 12 months.
