After his triumph a year ago in this same tournament, winning in the playoff, Canadian Nick Taylor (-8) has once again shown that he has mastered the Waialae Country Club. This Thursday, he started his title defence in the best possible way by delivering a card of 62 strokes, eight under par, to close the first round sharing the lead with American Kevin Roy (-8) at the Sony Open in Hawaii, the first tournament of the season on the PGA Tour.
In this late start to the season due to issues that forced the organisers to cancel the classic Sentry of champions, Taylor was relentless on the par threes of the course, also taking advantage of playing in the morning session, as the usual wind on the island did not appear until the afternoon session. Only four of the top 16 in the standings after this first day of competition played in the second session of the day.
“We were lucky with the weather forecast this morning. I expected more wind,” acknowledged Taylor after finishing his round. “A lot of the wind here blows on the ‘dogleg’, so it felt like some of the tee shots maybe weren’t as difficult as usual. I think I did very well, but the truth is this course suits my game,” added the Canadian, who particularly shone with the irons in this tournament start.
Taylor made birdie on three of the four par threes on the course. And on the only one where he didn’t gain strokes on the course, the 4th hole, he putted from just over seven metres for birdie and missed by very little. Despite being the first tournament of the year, Nick showed that his game is not ‘rusty’ at the start of the new season. Thanks, in part, to staying active during the off-season, balancing rest with playing a couple of tournaments, in Mexico and South Africa.
Roy, seeking to open his victory tally on the circuit, had a simply overwhelming start to the round, achieving seven birdies in his first 11 holes of the day. An impressive pace of success that he couldn’t maintain, although it was enough to close this first round in Hawaii as co-leader by achieving a final birdie on the par five that closes the course. Following them are S.H. Kim (-7), who played in the afternoon and signed a bogey-free 67 with three birdies at the end, Ben Griffin (-7), coming off a year with three titles, and Chris Gotterup (-7), winner of the Genesis Scottish Open, as well as John VanDerLaan (-7).
Alex Smalley (-6), Belgian Dumont de Chassart (-6), the first European in the standings alongside John Parry (6), Russell Henley (-5), Nick Dunlap (-5), J.J. Spaun (-4), Adam Scott (-3) or Robert MacIntyre (-3) are some of the notable names that have started taking positions in this Sony Open where Vijay Singh (-2), aged 62 and using a career earnings exemption, managed to overcome two double bogeys to close a round of 68 strokes, matching the result of Jordan Spieth (-2), who achieved almost as many birdies (six) as bogeys (four).
