Defending champion Kevin Na tied his career-high record with a 61 card Thursday at Waialae Golf Country Club in Honolulu. He is closely followed by fifty-year-old Jim Furyk, author of a hole in one!
We believed it… The playing conditions in the afternoon, when the wind died down, allowed him to hope to finally break the 60 mark.
4 times in the past, including once here in the 3rd round last year, the American of South Korean origin has returned a card of 61 on the PGA Tour. So even with 7 birdies and an eagle, Na admitted to being a little disappointed after an exceptional day.
«I did everything right today and my iron game was amazing,” Na said. “And so I thought I had a chance for a 59. I gave it my all. I’m a little disappointed that my putts didn’t fall, some of the good putts I hit didn’t fall. But it’s still a good turn.”
Kevin Na currently leads the PGA TOUR for most rounds of 62 or better since the TOUR began tracking hole-by-hole scores in 1983.
Jim Furyk moved to a tie for fourth most rounds of 62 or better earlier today. pic.twitter.com/TptdPyU50u
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) January 14, 2022
Evergreen Furyk
Whoever has set himself the goal of winning back-to-back Waialae is only one stroke ahead of a player who is the only player to score in the 50s on two occasions on the PGA Tour, but is ahead with the number of score under 62 (see table above), Jim Furyk, and another compatriot Russell Henley.
At 51, Furyk, who is on the list of winners of this tournament with a victory won in the last century (1996), did not come to make up the numbers. The captain of the American team defeated in Paris during the 2018 Ryder Cup took a hole in one at 17 to close a series of 3 consecutive birdies at the end of the game.
An ace for the leader @SonyOpenHawaii! ????@JimFuryk makes the sixth hole-in-one of his career and first since 2011. pic.twitter.com/UX5aXi0tb2
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 13, 2022
Note for the record that when Furyk won on this course more than 25 years ago, the current world number 2 Collin Morikawa was not born, and that the amount of the check he pocketed was of $216,000. If he wins again on Sunday he will collect $ 1.35 million
Barjon in his element
Returning to the game after almost two months without competition, Paul Barjon arrived in Hawaii determined to strike a blow. In the interview he gave us, he explains that he played a lot and was physically ready to play tournaments in the hope of winning quickly.
Thursday the Frenchman started from 10. He started his tournament ideally by scoring 3 birdies on his first 7 holes. He was in the top 10 before recording his only bogey of the day at 18, quite inexplicably enough to disrupt the PGA Tour’s Shot Tracker system (see video below).
Two other birdies on the last 9 holes allowed him to keep a place in the front runners, 5 strokes behind the leader. From a statistical point of view, Barjon hit 8 of 14 fairways, took 15 greens in regulation and needed 30 putts.
At the dawn of the 2nd round he occupies an encouraging 24th place alongside the winner of the Masters Hideki Matsuyama and ahead the winner of last week’s Tournament of Champions Cameron Smtih!
Finally after Cameron Champ forced to forfeit last week for a positive Covid test, a second player had to give up after the 1st round for the same reasons.
Video summary of the 1st round
Leaderboard
Photo ©Cliff Hawkins / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP
