HONOLULU – More than 25 years after winning the Sony Open for the first time, Jim Furyk returned to the course at Waialae Golf Club with much more than a conditioning for the Champions Tour season. PGA.
Furyk punched a hole in one on the 17th pennant and handed in a 62 (minus-8) card to lead the Sony Open at the end of his round on Thursday.
Furyk went a decade without a tournament before returning last year, when he became eligible to play on the 50-plus tour.
The 51-year-old Furyk took the lead by one stroke ahead of Kevin Chappell, Patton Kizzire and Michael Thompson, all of whom played 63.
Furyk started the first round with a buggy, but recovered with a birdie on three of the next four holes. On the second nine, he had three consecutive birdies before using his iron-6 to send the ball straight into the hole in the 17th.
Cameron Smith, who triumphed in Kapalua last week setting a PGA record, was among the golfers who set off in the afternoon. He tries to join Justin Thomas (2017) and Ernie Els (2003) as the only players to have swept the two tournaments of this passage in Hawaii.
