Séamus Power’s bid to regain full PGA Tour status is up and running and the Waterford man finds himself in a share of 29th after the opening round of the Sony Open in Hawaii.
Power was among the early starters on day one at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu and came racing from the traps. Birdies on both of his opening holes – the par-4 10th and par-3 11th – was the ideal start, and after four pars, he moved to -3 after wedging to near tap-in range at the 16th.
He gave a shot back with a bogey on the par-3 17th, but another laser-like approach on the third got him back to three-under, but again, he bogeyed the par-3 that followed and faced into the final four holes at -2.
Back-to-back birdies on six and seven lifted him into a tie for seventh in the early standings, but a poor tee shot on the par-5 ninth found the hazard to the right and he closed out with a bogey-six and eventually settled in a share of 29th alongside the likes of Adam Scott and Robert MacIntyre.
It was a frustrating finish, but after struggling with his putter for much of 2025, he’ll be buoyed by his flatstick performance as he ranks second in Strokes Gained: Putting after round one.
Canadian Nick Taylor, who is defending the title he won last year, and Kevin Roy share the lead at eight-under-par after matching, bogey-free 62s.
Both Taylor and Roy played in the early wave on day one – as did 12 of the leading 16 players – and benefitted from calmer conditions as the wind picked up in the afternoon.
“I think we got lucky with the forecast this morning. I expected some more wind,” Taylor said. “A lot of the wind is going with the dogleg, so it felt like some of the tee shots maybe weren’t as challenging. I hit it great, but this course fits my eye.”
Taylor made birdie on three of the par 3s. The one par 3 he didn’t birdie produced what he felt was his best swing of the day, a 4-iron to the top shelf on the difficult fourth hole that left a 25-footer he narrowly missed.
Lurking ominously one shot behind are Ben Griffin and Chris Gotterup, two of the breakthrough stars of 2025, with John VanDerLaan and S.H. Kim completing the quartet tied for third.
Jordan Spieth and Keegan Bradley shot two-under-par 68s, as did 62-year-old Vijay Singh who has retaken PGA Tour membership.
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