HONOLULU — The Sony Open is the PGA Tour cease the place introductions are so as, and Paul Peterson made fairly the primary impression. He opened with a 6-under 64 and shared the early lead with 5 others Thursday on a pleasing day at Waialae.
Harry Corridor, Denny McCarthy and Eric Cole, all of whom received an early begin in Hawaii final week at Kapalua, additionally opened at 64 together with Adam Schenk and Tom Hoge.
Hideki Matsuyama, coming off a document rating to par at Kapalua, performed within the afternoon.
Peterson is not any abnormal rookie.
The lefty from Oregon State has 5 passport books with stamps from some 44 international locations. He has held playing cards from six excursions world wide, which doesn’t embrace the mini-tours in Arizona and the Dakotas when he was simply beginning out.
“Whether or not I really feel like a rookie, no,” Peterson mentioned. “I’ve traveled rather a lot. I’ve seen quite a lot of golf in quite a lot of locations. I really feel like all of that’s helped put together me to get right here. … Do I want I used to be over right here slightly bit earlier? Yeah. However do I remorse any experiences I’ve had alongside the best way? No.”
The Sony Open is the primary full-field event of the 12 months on the PGA Tour, attracting a giant batch of rookies and graduates from the Korn Ferry Tour.
Peterson lastly made his approach again residence by ending among the many high 30 on the Korn Ferry Tour, which included a victory in Tennessee. He felt good all week, and had such an excellent vary session on Tuesday he wished the event to begin a day early.
The wait didn’t harm him. He was motoring together with three birdies in eight holes when he belted his 7-wood right into a smooth, tropical breeze on the par-5 ninth gap to five ft for eagle. With birdies and two of the following three holes — six straight 3s on his card — he was the participant to achieve 7 beneath.
Just a few smooth bogeys adopted, and Peterson adopted with one other 7-wood to two-putt birdie vary on the par-5 closing gap to affix the others.
Peterson left Oregon State and tried the Canadian tour earlier than getting his card on the Asian Tour. He picked up his first victory on the Czech Masters over Thomas Pieters on the European tour, added one other title in Myanmar and figured a Japan Golf Tour membership may assist him crack the highest 100 on this planet rating.
He by no means made it that top — No. 120 was his greatest — and has but to play a significant.
However the journey, the assorted situations contained in the ropes and tradition at evening, helped him develop. And there have been just a few recollections alongside the best way. None was higher than in 2015, when he acquired an exemption into the KLM Open.
“Tom Watson made his closing European tour begin and we received paired on Sunday,” Peterson mentioned. “It was the best. He was the best. He signed a golf ball for me.”
The journey additionally let him know he didn’t deal with the wind very properly. When it blew in Oregon, he simply didn’t play. He has a house in Arizona and situations had been too pure. So he moved to Sea Island on the Georgia coast simply north of Florida, the place he additionally had loads of motion with a number of PGA Tour gamers.
So sure, he’s a rookie. He simply doesn’t really feel like one, and he actually didn’t appear to be one.
Circumstances remained splendid in paradise — hardly a breath of wind at Kapalua, both — however the Bermuda tough is dodgy and Waialae greens all the time have been misleading to learn.
Cole, McCarthy and Schenk all performed bogey-free. So, too, did Hoge, who had a pair of eagles, together with a 189-yard hole-out on the par-4 14th.
Corridor had a extra anxious time, not less than when he wasn’t making 10 birdies. The 27-year-old from England, who performed school golf at UNLV and now lives in Las Vegas, took two pictures to get out of a bunker on No. 8 for a double bogey that slowed his momentum.
However he’s nonetheless driving excessive from final week. Corridor gained the ISCO Championship in Kentucky final 12 months, an opposite-field occasion. He’s not within the signature occasions, so Kapalua was a uncommon alternative and he made probably the most of it.
He is also benefiting from a correct swing coach he present in Las Vegas — Butch Harmon, who’s closing in on retirement and agreed to take him on.
“I approached him, and he reached out to me just a few months after and mentioned, ‘It could be nice to see you.’ I began working with him, and since then I’ve performed very nice,” Corridor mentioned.
