By Canadian Press

Matsuyama cards 11 birdies for a 62, leads Morikawa by 1 at Kapalua

Jan 4, 2025 | 8:18 PM

KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) — Hideki Matsuyama and Collin Morikawa put on a stripe show Saturday at Kapalua, each of them posting an 11-under 62 at vulnerable Kapalua that threatened to turn The Sentry into a two-man show in the PGA Tour opener.

Matsuyama had a shot at tying the course record with a long eagle attempt from just short of the 18th green. He took two putts for birdie to maintain the one-shot lead he had over Morikawa at the start of the day.

Morikawa holed a four-foot birdie putt on the par-5 closing hole for his 62. He briefly took the lead on the front nine by starting 5 under in five holes, including a 25-foot eagle putt on the fifth hole during a display of sublime shotmaking.

Matsuyama caught him on the next hole and they were tight the rest of the way.

The 11 birdies for Matsuyama are the most he has made in a round on the PGA Tour. He was at 27-under 192, a 54-hole record on the Plantation course at Kapalua.

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It was reminiscent of 2022, when Cameron Smith set the tournament record — and PGA Tour record to par — at 34-under 258. The conditions were abnormally calm that year, and this year wasn’t much different.

Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., is tied for ninth at 18 under — nine shots back of the leader. Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., is tied for 18th at 16 under, and Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., is tied for 21st at 15 under. Nick Taylor of Abbotsford is tied for 51st at 7 under.

There was barely any wind on the western edge of Maui, and the Plantation course was built for fierce wind out of any direction. This became target practice for the world’s best player, particularly on a course with the widest fairways on the PGA Tour.

Three years ago, Smith and Jon Rahm were tied for the lead five shots clear of everyone else. Matsuyama was one ahead of Morikawa. Thomas Detry was next at 22-under 197, one ahead of Sungjae Im, who also had a 62.

The average score was 67.49, another record since this tournament moved to Kapalua in 1999.

Detry had a 65 and wound up losing ground.

“I shot 8 under today, but didn’t really feel like I shot 8 under,” he said. “Other courses when you shoot 8 under you really fell like, ‘Oh, yeah, I played unreal golf here.’ I just felt like I played some really steady golf.”

Matsuyama and Morikawa kept piling up birdies and pulling away. What separated them was the reachable par-4 14th, where Matsuyama chipped to 3 feet for birdie and Morikawa drove into a bunker, blasted out to 10 feet and missed the birdie putt.

On the 16th, Morikawa hit wedge that settled 20 inches from the cup. Matsuyama followed with a wedge that landed toward the back of the green with just enough spin to ride the grain and slope to 8 inches away.

It was like that all day, and there’s one more round to go.

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Doug Ferguson, The Associated Press