American sport has statistics of all colors. The PGA Tour does not escape that. In the last few hours, a less surprising one has been revealed. It has to do with the 62-shot round presented by Kevin Na at the opening of the Sony Open and that has allowed him to lead the tournament alone.
Ever since hole-by-hole statistics were collected on the PGA Tour, in 1983, the player who has signed the most cards of 62 strokes or less is… Kevin Na. No, it’s not Tiger Woods, nor Ernie Els, nor Phil Mickelson, not Rory McIlroy, not even Dustin Johnson or Jon Rahm. The king of the card on the American circuit is Kevin Na.
The reigning Sony Open champion has completed eleven rounds of 62 strokes or less in the last forty years. They are followed in this classification by Justin Thomas and Tiger Woods, with nine each. It is really striking and reminds us of the category of a player who usually occupies more lines of chronicles due to other issues such as his slow game or the peculiar way of kicking and walking behind the ball before it reaches the hole. Na is a great player, even though he has not yet been able to qualify for a Ryder Cup.
The other great protagonist of the first day of the Sony Open is Jim Furyk. Two months after his 52nd birthday, he has placed second to a blow from Kevin Na. His deployment on the greens was amazing, and that started with a tripat on hole 1. He was not the first nor will he be the last to experience something similar.
By the way, Furyk revealed yesterday after handing over his card an anecdote that happened to him in one of the Sony practice rounds. He was playing with young Brent Grant, a native of Hawaii. It is a certain moment, to break the ice, the young Grant broke loose. “Sir, what do you like most about the PGA Tour Champions?” Furyk froze and replied between laughs: «what I like the most is that nobody calls me sir». To which the boy replied: “If I didn’t call him sir, my father wouldn’t forgive me.”
Kevin Chappel he’s on a mission this week that goes beyond putting in a strong showing at the Waialae Country Club. He is playing on a medical exemption and needs to finish at most fourth solo to secure playing rights for next year. He has the Sony Open and three more opportunities to add 128.57 points.
