Hideki Matsuyama sets the target at Kapalua and leads Collin Morikawa by 1

 

[January 04, 2025]  By DOUG FERGUSON

KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) — Collin Morikawa has played Kapalua enough to know that trailing Hideki Matsuyama by seven shots early in the second round was no reason to panic. Sure enough, he nearly caught up to the Japanese star on Friday at The Sentry.

Matsuyama played bogey-free on another gorgeous day on Maui with moderate wind, making seven birdies in a 10-hole stretch in the middle of his round and posting an 8-under 65 for a one-shot lead going into the weekend of the PGA Tour season opener.

Morikawa ran off five straight birdies in the scoring stretch late — only one of them longer than 5 feet — until his streak ended on the par-5 closing hole at the Plantation course with a 12-foot birdie putt that missed on the high side.

He also had a 65 and was expecting more of the same on the weekend. Conditions are prime for scoring, and The Sentry has the best players from the PGA Tour last year.

“When you look at the leaderboard, I'm through six holes and I'm even par and guys are lapping the field already,” Morikawa said. “But like I said, it's not telling myself I've got to be patient. I just know this golf course, and I know at any point you can go on a little stretch of birdies, and I just had to keep playing my game.”

It was the eighth time Morikawa had 65 or better at Kapalua, the most of any player since 2020 when the two-time major champion made his debut.

Matsuyama went about his business, breaking into one big smile when he holed a 35-foot birdie putt across the green on the par-3 11th. He was at 16-under 130 with a pack of players lining up behind him.

“I'm definitely satisfied with where I am,” Matsuyama said.

Ten players were separated by three shots going into the weekend of the tournament that invites only PGA Tour winners from 2024 and the top 50 from the FedEx Cup.

Corey Conners of Canada and Thomas Detry of Belgium were among those at 14-under 132 thanks to big finishes of their own.

Conners holed a 40-foot eagle putt on the par-5 15th, followed with two medium-range birdie putts and two-putted from the front of the green on the 18th for another birdie and a 66. Detry was 6 under on the final six holes. He drove the green on the 306-yard 14th hole to 10 feet for eagle, and had to settle for par on the 18th for a 65.

The field averaged 68.1, which was skewed slightly by Davis Riley posting the first 80 of the season. He made four straight birdies, a tough two-putt par and then took a 9 on the 17th hole with a lost ball to the right on one tee shot and a second tee shot into the left hazard. The margin of those misses was about the length of a football field.

Hideki Matsuyama, of Japan, watches a missed putt at the third hole during the second round of The Sentry golf event, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025, at the Kapalua Plantation Course in Kapalua, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Only four players failed to break par.

For everyone else, it was a case of taking aim at spots on the contoured greens that feed to the hole and cashing in with birdies.

Sepp Straka birdied every hole on the back nine until he hit what he considered his best shot, a 6-iron to 20 feet, only to miss the putt. He shot 65.

Eight players shot 64, a group that included Davis Thompson, who was 14 shots better than his first round of the year. Patrick Cantlay was 10 shots better with his 64.

“Now I need to do it again,” said Cantlay, who still was eight shots behind Matsuyama.

Among the group three shots behind was former U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark, who birdied eight of his last 10 holes. Clark made the argument the low scoring was a product of the players, not the course.

“I don’t necessarily prefer this low, but at the same time, we make courses like this look easy,” Clark said. “To be honest, it’s not that easy. Typically, there’s a lot of wind here, and we didn’t have much wind today, so you’re going to have a lot of birdie looks and sometimes eagle looks.

“I’ve never really shot 20 under on the PGA Tour, so maybe I can break it this week.”

At this rate, that won't be enough.

Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley also had a 64, marked by an eagle on the final hole and his two sons racing onto the fairway as he walked to the 18th green. Bradley has not ruled out playing in the Ryder Cup. But that's a long way off.

“We’re two rounds into 2025,” he said. “So if we get to July and it’s looking like that, then we’ll start to talk, but for now I’m just going to keep playing my best.”

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