Journeyman leaves lasting impression in Tour debut
HONOLULU—The Sony Open is the PGA Tour stop where introductions are in order, and Paul Peterson made quite the first impression. He opened with a six-under-par 64 and shared the early lead with four others Thursday on a pleasant day at Waialae.
Harry Hall, Denny McCarthy and Eric Cole, all of whom got an early start in Hawaii last week at Kapalua, also opened with 64s along with Adam Schenk.
Peterson is no ordinary rookie.
The lefty from Oregon State has five passport books with stamps from some 44 countries. He has held cards from six tours around the world, which doesn’t include the mini-tours in Arizona and the Dakotas when he was just starting out.
“Whether I feel like a rookie, no,” Peterson said. “I’ve traveled a lot. I’ve seen a lot of golf in a lot of places. I feel like all of that’s helped prepare me to get here. … Do I wish I was over here a little bit earlier? Yeah. But do I regret any experiences I’ve had along the way? No.”
Full-field event
The Sony Open is the first full-field tournament of the year on the PGA Tour, attracting a big batch of rookies and graduates from the Korn Ferry Tour.
Peterson finally made his way back home by finishing among the top 30 on the Korn Ferry Tour, which included a victory in Tennessee. He felt good all week, and had such a good range session on Tuesday he wanted the tournament to start a day early.
The wait didn’t hurt him. He was motoring along with three birdies in eight holes when he belted his 7-wood into a soft, tropical breeze on the par-5 ninth hole to five feet for eagle. With birdies in two of the next three holes—six straight 3s on his card—he was the first player to reach seven-under.
A few soft bogeys followed, and Peterson rebounded with another 7-wood to two-putt birdie range on the par-5 closing hole to join the others.
Peterson left Oregon State and tried the Canadian tour before getting his card on the Asian Tour. He picked up his first victory at the Czech Masters over Thomas Pieters on the European tour, added another title in Myanmar and figured a Japan Golf Tour membership might help him crack the top 100 in the world ranking.
He never made it that high—No. 120 was his best—and has yet to play a major.
But the travel, the various conditions inside the ropes and culture at night, helped him develop. And there were a few memories along the way. None was better than in 2015, when he received an exemption into the KLM Open.
The travel also let him know he didn’t handle the wind very well. When it blew in Oregon, he just didn’t play. He has a home in Arizona and conditions were too pure. So he moved to Sea Island on the Georgia coast just north of Florida, where he also had plenty of action with several PGA Tour players.
So yes, he’s a rookie. He just doesn’t feel like one, and he certainly didn’t look like one.
