HONOLULU — The first full-field tournament of the 2025 PGA Tour season got underway Thursday, and players have new coaches, new equipment and some are just trying to get rid of the rust after the offseason.
Englishman Harry Hall posted a career-best 10 birdies at Waialae Country Club en route to shooting 6-under 64 at the Sony Open in Hawaii, which was tied for the lead with four other golfers among the early finishers.
Hall, who notched his first Tour title last season, began working with famed instructor Butch Harmon, who has helped him add a little width to his swing and rely on a draw, and his game has improved since Hall, who never had a coach before, asked Harmon for his help.
“He reached out to me a few months after and said, ‘it would be great to see you,’” Hall said. “I felt like that’s what I needed to do to get to the next level.”
Hall also credited a new Ping driver for his success in the opening round.
“It’s quite a tight golf course, so if you can hit a driver straight, then you’re obviously gaining a few strokes on the field, and that’s exactly what I did,” Hall said.
Denny McCarthy is another player who benefited from a club change. Ranked as the No. 1 putter in Strokes Gained: putting last season, McCarthy struggled last week on the greens at Kapalua Resort’s Plantation Course and swapped out his blade.
“For some reason I like my gamer putter on fast Bermuda greens, but I struggle with them on slow Bermuda greens. These are a little slower again this week,” he explained. “I’ve just kind of been struggling looking down at my putter. It just hasn’t felt right lately. I don’t know what’s been going on, but it just hasn’t looked great to my eye the last couple months. I’ve been fighting it.”
McCarthy, who was bogey-free in his 64, gained over three shots on the field on the greens in the first round.
“It feels good on the practice green but you never know how it’s going to be when you take it into tournament play,” he said. “Made some really nice putts, a couple nice par saves, a couple bonus birdie putts. Yeah, kind of just held it together and let my putting and kind of scoring the ball do most of the work today.”
Adam Schenk spent some time in Jacksonville, Florida, working on his game ahead of the Sony Open after spending the offseason in chilly Indiana. He was pleasantly pleased to finish with a trio of birdies in his round of 64.
“Not often I’ve heard someone tell me nice round here in Hawaii,” Schenk said after being paid that compliment.
In fact, his track record at Waialae isn’t much to speak of – four missed cuts in six starts with a T-39 and T-67 to his credit. He had never broken 70 in the first round and only had shot better than 68 once in 16 previous rounds. Why does he keep playing here?
“I feel like I can win Palm Springs,” said Schenk of next week’s tournament venue for The American Express. “That golf course probably suits me a little bit more, and the best chance for me to win Palm Springs is to get a little warmup here, and I’ve been working really hard at my game all off-season, so I felt prepared.”
So did rookie Paul Peterson, who was raring to go and made birdie on the first hole and six consecutive three starting at No. 7, including an eagle at No. 9.
“The best kind of nerves,” he said of the first tee experience. “Just ready to go. I felt ready to go yesterday. I had a good range session on Tuesday and sent some TrackMan reports to my coach, and was just like, can we go tomorrow? Yeah, it’s been nice to feel like I’m hitting it well and getting off to a good start.”
Eric Cole, the 2023 Tour Rookie of the Year, struggled last week at Kapalua, finishing 52nd, but found better footing not far from the waves of Waikiki Beach.
“Maybe it was the first tournament of the year and just wasn’t quite sharp enough. But I definitely hit it better today than I did all last week,” Cole said.
The 36-year-old late bloomer is still seeking his first Tour win and put himself in position to be part of the trophy hunt this week with an opening-round 64.
“if I just keep doing what I’m doing and don’t try and change too much, then hopefully I’ll be in position to win a little bit more often,” Cole mused. “If I do that, I think by the more times you put yourself there, I think eventually you’re going to be able to get over that hurdle.”
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Sony Open leaderboard: New equipment common theme among leaders
