KAPALUA, Hawaii — Collin Morikawa has already won two majors and played in the opening session of the Ryder Cup twice. His first tee shot Thursday at Kapalua felt like the most special moment ever.
Long before Saheeth Segala took his 10th birdie to lead the Sentry with a 9-under 64, the PGA Tour ushered in the new year with a ceremony on the first tee. We focused on the deadly Lahaina fire and featured Hawaiian blessings and chants of renewal and regrowth.
Morikawa, who has deep ties to Maui, hit the opening tee shot.
Where it went — straight, long enough to roll through the fairway and into the rough — mattered little to him.
“It’s going to be the most special thing ever,” Morikawa said of his first of 65 shots Thursday. “I can talk about the final round, the last shot, the first tee shot, the final group and the major, but it was the greatest honor for me. Not because it was the first tournament of the year, but here on Maui. Because it was held in , and this week represents everything to me.
“That’s how meaningful it is.”
He drove his 3-wood to the elevated green on the 9th par-5 for an eagle, scored six birdies and one eagle, and played as if there was more to it than that.
On this wonderful day, with surprisingly little wind and typically spectacular scenery, Morikawa was blessed with many friends. His 65 was his best of the day before Seagala warmed up, and he started with six straight birdies on the back nine. He went up and down on the par-5 18th for his final birdie.
This left him one stroke behind Morikawa, FedEx Cup champion Viktor Hovland, Im Sung-jae, Camilo Villegas, and Jason Day.
Segala made his Kapalua debut last year, reaching the Tour Championship as a rookie. Now, The Sentry’s field, which for years was limited to just the previous year’s PGA Tour winners, has expanded to include FedEx Cup winners and the top 50. Segala will be there no matter what, thanks to his win in Napa, Calif., in September.
The field of 59 players was the largest in Kapalua history, and they all navigated a forgiving plantation course with only tropical winds and no good defense.
Segala still had to work. He made an 18-foot putt on the 10th, a 2-foot tee shot on the par-3 11th, and a 10-foot birdie on his best hole, the sloping, grainy 12th. I didn’t know how the putt would break down.
“I just aimed right down the middle and tried to hit it hard,” he said. “That calmed me down a little bit, because I found that 13, 14 and 15 were also very available.”
And he did, ending his winning streak with a two-putt birdie from 20 feet on the par-5 15th.
It felt that way for everyone.
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Eighteen players were under 67, which was to be expected. The Plantation Course’s biggest defense is the wind, and it was blowing most of the day. Even after a bad start, the results improved. Justin Rose came out with a 40 and then had six birdies for a 71.
Jordan Spieth hit his first foul ball of the year, successfully pushing his tee shot into the tall native grass on the third hole for double bogey. He responded with nine birdies to join a 7-under 66 group that included Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele and Scottie Scheffler, the two-time PGA Tour Player of the Year and No. 1 player in the world.
“I didn’t have to try too hard to get par,” Scheffler said.
Although the wind picked up in the late afternoon, a great number of athletes took part.
“You’re playing golf by the side of a volcano. It’s quite different than a lot of the golf we play,” Scheffler said. “It’s definitely a fun start to the year and a fun golf course to play. Even if I get a low score, I still feel like it’s quite a challenge because I have to keep my foot on the pedal the whole time. ”
That’s what Morikawa tried to do from the opening group, making his strongest moves along the back nine with two par 5s and two short par 4s.
But it was a very meaningful beginning.
His grandparents were born in Lahaina and owned The Morikawa Restaurant, which closed about 20 years before he was born. But the 26-year-old Californian came to Lahaina during his family vacation as a boy.
He was warming up during the ceremony, but the drums and chants could still be heard. It was a mild, chilly day on Maui’s western tip.
“I got a little emotional,” he said. “I think it’s because I know what we’ve all been through, hearing it from family members and meeting people here on the island who know someone or who have been directly affected. Maui The island is small. Hawaii is very, very small. Everyone knows the people. I just got emotional.
“Just being able to hit that first tee shot was an honor. And yeah, it was a great start to the new year.”