KAPALUA, Hawaii – Jon Rahm is starting to get used to the low scoring on the Plantation Course in Kapalua. He can only hope this start leads to a better ending in the Sentry Tournament of Champions.
A year after he was 33-under par and still finishing second, Rahm screwed three of his last four holes for a 9-under 64 and shared the lead with Colin Morikawa and JJ Spaun on Thursday in an idyllic start to the year.
Morikawa started the back nine with six straight birdies, his longest streak of its kind on the PGA Tour. Spaun, a first time in Kapalua, had four straight birdies on his back and only had one complaint.
“My toes hurt,” he said. “It’s a long way, even if it can be played like a short course.
Cameron Smith won last year at 34 under, an even PGA Tour record, during a week with little wind. Whether the week is set for more records depends on trading profit, which, like most who come to Maui, was on vacation on Thursday.
Rahm didn’t want to believe whether Kapalua owed him anything.
“I can’t say that on many golf courses,” said Rahm. “I can’t say much, man. I shot 33 under it. I was beaten from 34 under. That’s it. We both played really good golf. It was a great fight. Hopefully by the time we get back to that point I will be and hopefully I’ll win by a margin at the end.”
The Plantation Course is in great shape, fast without being firm due to the steep inclines that can cause shots to roll on the ground longer than they fly in the air.
Morikawa is one of 10 players who didn’t win last year and still got into the Tournament of Champions. As part of the bold new PGA Tour schedule of upscale tournaments – this week’s $15 million in prize money – the Kapalua field has expanded to include everyone who has achieved the Tour championship.
The two-time major champion is determined to fix shortcomings that slowed him down last year by hiring a putting coach Stephen Sweeney and turning to former player Parker McLachlin for help with his short game.
“I only have answers,” Morikawa said. “Before, when I did putting, it was like guess work. I might have putted well today and then thought I was doing something, but it was actually something else.”
Whatever he had on Thursday worked, and seeing a 20-foot putt fall early helped. And then he ran off those six straight birdies, just two of them outside of 10 feet.
Tom Kim had two eagles, holed down the sixth hole from 116 yards and drilled a Fairway Metal 15 to 5 feet on the par 5. He was at 65, a shot behind.
Jordan Spieth was ready to walk the tightrope, missing a 2-foot par putt on a hole and sinking in flop shot from the collar of a bunker just past the 16th green to secure par. He finished with a 67.
Billy Horschel was the only player in the 39-man field who couldn’t break par with a 76.
Among the 66-year-olds were Masters champion Scottie Scheffler, who may return to world No. 1 with a third-place finish, and Tom Hoge, who has a big travel plan ahead of him.
Hoge played collegiate golf at TCU. He’s earned his spot in Kapalua for the first time and will be on Oahu next week for the Sony Open, a trip that will be around 5,000 miles. Hoge said he will leave Maui Sunday night for Los Angeles to watch the Horned Frogs play Georgia for the national championship and then return to Honolulu.
“We haven’t won since 1938,” said Hoge. “Maybe I won’t get another chance in my life.”
Xander Schauffele, who won in Kapalua in 2019 and lost in a playoff the following year, scratched a 70 while dealing with an issue that first surfaced at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas a month ago. He’s not sure what’s going on, just that he couldn’t swing very hard.
“I’m 29 and Hero was like the first similar issue I’ve ever had, so this is new to me,” said Schauffele. “So I don’t know how to answer these questions. I’ve never had to do this. Hopefully we don’t have these conversations more often.”
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