Three share early lead in Hawaii
HONOLULU: Chile’s Joaquin Niemann chipped in for an eagle on the 18th hole yesterday to grab a share of the firstround lead at the Sony Open in Hawaii.
Niemann, Peter Malnati and Jason Kokrak each shot 8underpar 62 at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu.
Vaughn Taylor, Jim Herman, Patton Kizzire, Daniel Berger, Australia’s Aaron Baddeley and South Korea’s Si Woo Kim share fourth place at 6 under.
Niemann produced five birdies in a sixhole stretch in the middle of his round. Following his lone bogey at No. 12, he added two more birdies before his 50yard chip shot from just off the green was on target to end his round.
‘‘It was a good way to finish,’’ Niemann said.
‘‘Just happy the way I played. Nice chipin to finish and will help me sleep for tomorrow . . .
‘‘I hit the ball great off the tee. Hit my irons really close and made a lot of good putts. I think the only little mistake I had was on No. 12 that I just, I don’t know what happened, just hit a really firm putt and I just threeputted there. Other than that it was a pretty good day.’’
Niemann (22) is in search of his second PGA Tour victory. He has competed in just two major tournaments, tying for 71st in the 2018 PGA Championship and tying for 23rd in the 2020 US Open.
Malnati produced five birdies and a bogey on the back nine, which he played first, then added four birdies on the front nine.
Malnati said of the Waialae layout, ‘‘I just really, really enjoy it. You have to control the ball a little bit more off the tee, which hitting fairways hasn’t necessarily been my strong suit lately, but control off the tee has always been, so I think it really does suit me well.’’
Kokrak completed a bogeyfree round, closing with consecutive birdies at Nos. 8 and 9. — Reuters