Morikawa leads Sony Open in Hawaii, Thomas struggles
Sacha Pisani
January 10, 2020 05:19 MYT
January 10, 2020 05:19 MYT
American golfer Collin Morikawa earned a two-stroke lead on day one of the Sony Open in Hawaii.
Morikawa, 22, carded a flawless five-under-par 65 to top the leaderboard at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu on Thursday.
Eyeing his second PGA Tour title after winning the 2019 Barracuda Championship, Morikawa holed five birdies in a bogey-free round to be ahead of Matt Jones, Ted Potter Jr., Ryan Palmer and Sam Ryder.
The opening round was suspended due to darkness, with 14 players yet to complete their 18 holes.
Round 1 @SonyOpenHawaii has been suspended due to darkness. Leaderboard heading into Friday: 1. @Collin_Morikawa -5 T2. Matt Jones -3 T2. @TedPotterJrPGA T2. @RyanPalmerPGA T2. @SamRyderSU Full leaderboard: https://t.co/vZk1d8dmgT pic.twitter.com/oYLhhqxAlw — PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 10, 2020
An error occurred while retrieving the Tweet. It might have been deleted.
Controversial American Patrick Reed signed for a first-round 69 to be four strokes behind his countryman heading into day two.
Reed is in a 15-way tie for 16th place, alongside defending champion Matt Kuchar – who birdied the last to move to one under.
It was a tough day for former world number one and American star Justin Thomas after winning last week's Tournament of Champions.
Thomas – a 12-time winner on the PGA Tour – ended the day two over par following five bogeys and three birdies.
After bogeying three of his first five holes, Thomas birdied the ninth prior to the turn but another pair of bogeys to go with as many birdies meant he struggled to make inroads.