Sharp despite layoff, Hoge paces Sentry after a 64

First-time dad Tom Hoge studies the line of a birdie putt. —REUTERS

KAPALUA—Tom Hoge backed off the grind recently, but he looked to be in fine form on Thursday.

Hoge birdied four of his first five holes and finished with a nine-under-par 64 to grab the first-round lead at The Sentry, the PGA Tour season opener at The Plantation Course in Hawaii.

“There wasn’t a whole lot of play or practice the last few months,” Hoge said, “but felt like I was putting really well coming into the week. Started right off the bat on [No.] 1 with a nice 15-, 20-footer that I made.”

And he was off to a strong round. Hoge registered 10 birdies and one bogey.

The beefed-up Will Zalatoris checked in with a bogey-free 65, a score matched later in the day by Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, who made a charge sparked by birdies on Nos. 14 and 16 sandwiched around an eagle 3 on No. 15 using a new putter.

Cameron Young, who bogeyed the first hole in an otherwise smooth round; Collin Morikawa, who didn’t have a bogey and picked up shots from hole Nos. 12-16; and Canada’s Corey Conners, who went four-under across the final seven holes, fired 66s.

Tom Hoge hits his fairway shot on the fourth hole during the first round of The Sentry golf tournament at Plantation Course at Kapalua. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

Becoming a father

Tony Finau, Canada’s Adam Hadwin and Belgium’s Thomas Detry were another shot back after shooting 67s.

Hoge said his time off from golf was for a good reason. He became a father for the first time in early December.

“Needed a little bit of time away,” he said.

Based on his first round, Hoge received positive vibes with the launch of a new season.

“I think when we kind of start off the year, expectations aren’t as high, you don’t know where the game’s at,” Hoge said. “So I feel like I’m maybe a little bit freer out here on the golf course, just because you shake off the bad shots a little bit easier and just chalk it up for being January.”

Zalatoris took a different approach. He said he was constantly working the past couple of months on improving and testing himself on the course.

“I wanted to just get back to playing the game,” he said. “… So that’s the recipe. I don’t need to be sitting on the range hitting 300 balls trying to find it, I need to go back out there and play the game.”

There also was off-the-course work for Zalatoris, who has added muscle.

“I knew I needed to get stronger,” he said. “It wasn’t so much about the speed, I know that the speed will come, I needed the stability to make sure that I was able to do what I’m doing.”

Reuters

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