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England’s Harry Hall carded a 6-under-par 64 to take a share of the lead at the PGA Tour’s Sony Open in Hawaii on Thursday.
Hall, 27, was among six players tied for the lead as the first round at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu was halted due to darkness and a handful of players remained on the course.
Hall produced a roller coaster ride studded with 10 birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey en route to the top of the leaderboard.
The 27-year-old attributed his first-round success to his rejuvenated swing, a result of his recent work with legendary guru Butch Harmon.
Hall said he contacted the 81-year-old last year for advice.
“I approached him and he contacted me a few months later and said ‘it would be great to see you,'” Hall said. “I started working with him and since then I’ve played really well.”
Hall’s aggressive play with the driver helped spark his birdie craze.
“If you have confidence in the driver, it really makes a big difference,” Hall said. “It’s a pretty narrow golf course, so if you can hit a driver straight, you obviously gain some strokes on the field, and that’s exactly what I did.
“If I can clean up a few things that happened today – a few bogeys and the double – it will hopefully be a really good week.”
Hall was the only non-American among the early leaders Thursday, with Adam Schenk, Eric Cole, Denny McCarthy, Paul Peterson and Tom Hoge joining him at six under.
PGA Tour rookie Peterson made a dream start to his first official appearance on tour with three birdies and an eagle on the front nine to reach the turn at five under.
Two more birdies at the 10th and 11th took him to seven under, but bogeys at the 13th and 16th holes stunted his progress before a birdie at the last secured him a share of the lead.
“It was pretty fun – just hit it well, place it well,” Peterson said. “I spent a little more time on the greens last night and it seemed to pay off.
“It’s nice to feel like I’m doing well and getting off to a good start.”
With perfect conditions for low scores, six players are one point over five under, including Swede Henrik Norlander and Canadian Adam Hadwin.
Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, winner of last week’s season-opening Sentry Open at Kapalua, was three lengths off the lead after shooting a three-under-par 67.
RCW/PST
