Closing birdie gives Theegala solo Maui lead
MAUI—Sahith Theegala made his 10th birdie of the day at the par-5 18th hole to inch ahead of a star-studded pack at the last moment, taking sole possession of the first-round lead at The Sentry on Thursday in Hawaii.
Theegala shot a nine-under-par 64 to move in front of Collin Morikawa, Colombia’s Camilo Villegas, Australia’s Jason Day, South Korea’s Im Sung-jae and Norway’s Viktor Hovland at the PGA Tour’s 2024 season opener at the Plantation Course at Kapalua.
Theegala, a 26-year-old who earned his first tour victory last September at the Fortinet Championship, rang up six straight birdies at Nos. 10-15 to highlight his round. He then said the third birdie of that run was probably his favorite.
“Just because I hit a great drive, almost got—just hit it in the greenside bunker there. Didn’t hit a great bunker shot and I had a really gnarly 8- or 9-footer that I didn’t know which way it was going to break; grain was going all over the place. I just aimed it dead center and tried to hit it hard and hearted that putt, and that settled me down a little bit more, because I knew 13, 14, 15 were very gettable too, so to make that putt was nice,” Theegala said.
Morikawa and Villegas were the early-afternoon leaders in the clubhouse. Morikawa eagled the par-5 ninth amid a bogey-free performance, and Villegas had seven birdies and a bogey on his back nine. —Reuters
