ONE HOT GOLFER THOMAS FOLLOWS MAUI WIN WITH 59 AT SONY OPEN

Fresh off his victory on Maui, Justin Thomas became the seventh player to join the “59 Club” on the PGA Tour when he made a 15-foot eagle putt on his last hole at the Sony Open in Honolulu for an 11-under 59.

Thomas thought his hopes at a 59 were over when his drive on the par-5 ninth hole at Waialae Country Club was a foot from clearing a fairway bunker on the left and rolled back into the sand. He figured he couldn’t reach the green until realizing Daniel Berger hit 4-iron from the bunker onto the green.

Thomas figured “this wasn’t a time to lay up.”

He hit 5-iron clean and pure, and it settled 15 feet below the cup. Wasting little time over the putt, he poured it in for 59 and lightly pumped his fist. The excitement came from Berger and Jordan Spieth, and only when Thomas looked at their reaction did it begin to sink in.

“I thought about it going up to the green. I’m like, ‘If I make it, what am I going to do?’ It’s not like winning a tournament. You have three days left to try to play well. So I didn’t really know how to react. I never had a putt on the last hole on a Thursday mean that much,” Thomas said.

Jim Furyk was the last player with a sub-60 round when he closed with a record 58 at the Travelers Championship last summer.

The day closed with Thomas leading by only three shots. Hudson Swafford shot a 62 in the afternoon.

■ Rory McIlroy made an impressive start to 2017 with a new set of clubs, shooting a 5-under 67 in the first round of the SA Open in Johannesburg. He’s one stroke behind South African players Trevor Fisher Jr. and Keith Horne.