Riley takes two-shot lead at wind-swept Waialae

DROBOTDEAN VIA FREEPIK

HONOLULU—Davis Riley birdied four of the last seven holes on Saturday at windswept Waialae Country Club for a three-under-par 67 and a two-stroke lead with a round left in the PGA Tour’s season-opening Sony Open.

Riley was at 198 on the oceanside course, with Harry Hall (66), Chris Gotterup (68) and Kevin Roy (69) tied for second.

“You got to make some gritty pars in these conditions and just try to make some putts on these fast greens in crosswinds in tough putting conditions when you have a chance,” Riley said.

Riley rebounded from a bogey on the par-3 11th with a birdie on the par-4 12th. He hit a wedge inside two feet on the par-4 14th and made a 15-footer on the par-4 15th. On the par-5 18th, he ran his 60-footer 7 1/2 feet past and made the comebacker.

“I just started feeling really good with the swing and I was hitting my start lines,” Riley said. “That’s the biggest thing in this wind, is hit your start lines and control the curvature and I felt like I was hitting some really good hold shots against the wind and hitting my start lines.”

The 29-year-old Riley is ranked 101st in the world. He won the 2024 Charles Schwab Challenge for his lone individual PGA Tour title, and teamed with Nick Hardy to win the 2023 Zurich Classic.

Slow start

He started slow on Saturday, making bogeys on Nos. 1 and 3.

“I could feel myself a little tense or trying to force it a little early just because we’re coming off the offseason,” Riley said. “We hadn’t had really any competitive juices like this in a couple [of] months. I definitely felt like I was forcing it a little bit early and trying to be a little perfect and I just felt a little tense.”