Byrd thrilled to return to PGA Tour

HONOLULU — Jonathan Byrd resisted the urge to pout about his predicament.

A five-time winner on the PGA Tour, he spent 14 years competing against the best on venerable courses while driving courtesy cars from nice hotels in big cities.

And then he found himself on the Web.com Tour, the equivalent of golf’s minor leagues, with players he knew nothing about except for their raw talent and extreme power.

They were the future. He was hanging onto the past.

“I did not want to be a grumpy, old tour player who’s saying the whole time: ‘It’s not like this on the big tour,’ ” said Byrd, who will turn 40 at the end of the month.

“Because if you go down that road, it’s endless. There’s so many reminders every week that this is not where you want to be. And that’s the internal struggle. I’m not where I want to be. But am I going to embrace the challenge or let it take me down?”

He chose the former, and he believes that attitude allowed him to get back to where he felt he belonged.

He cleared the final hurdle of his return by winning the Web.com Tour Championship three months ago to earn back his full PGA Tour card.

So when Byrd emphatically says he is “thrilled” to be at the Sony Open, he’s not just talking about the warmth off Oahu shores, the walk along royal palms and the gentle surf just beyond the hedges of the Waialae Country Club.

“I’ve got a lot of great memories here.”

So does Justin Thomas, the defending champion who shot 59 in the opening round and broke the 72-hole record on the PGA Tour with a 253 to win by seven shots. Thomas and Jordan Spieth are the only players from the top 10 in the world who are playing the Sony Open beginning today, a week after the winnersonly field for the Sentry Tournament of Champions had the top five in the world.