Canadian Nick Taylor posted a bogey-free 8-under 62 for a share of the lead at the Sony Open in Hawaii in his bid to become the event’s first back-to-back champion since Jimmy Walker in 2015.

“I think we got lucky with the forecast this morning. I expected some more wind. I read I think Michael Kim had a tweet about the direction of the wind this year, which was pretty accurate in the sense a lot of the wind is doing with the dogleg, so it felt like some of the tee shots maybe weren’t as challenging,” said Taylor.

“I hit it great, but, again, this course fits my eye. Again, with the wind was even a little more so today. Irons were really sharp and was able to read the greens well.

“I played the Nedbank in December. I was saying earlier I think I kind of timed the offseason well. I didn’t want to like play nothing for four months, so I had a couple tournaments after two months off to have something to gear up towards and take time off.

“I felt like that was about a month before this. Geared up to that, played decent, and took what I needed from it. Yeah, felt like my game was sharp coming over here. You never know. Coming to do a course I’m comfortable with definitely helps.”

This was the second-lowest opening round of his career having opened with a 60 en route to winning the 2024 WM Phoenix Open.

Taylor holds his fifth 18-hole lead/co-lead on the PGA Tour and is 2-for-4 to date: 2020 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, 2024 WM Phoenix Open.

American Kevin Roy also recorded a bogey-free 8-under 62, equaling his career-low round (2025 Puerto Rico Open/R1, 2025 Rocket Classic/R1).

Roy Led the field in Strokes Gained: Around the Green (2.571), Scrambling (T1; 7/7).

“Got off to a little bit of a squirrely start,” said Roy. “Had to make a couple par putts on the first two holes and kind of settled in after that. Hit a lot of good shoots, you know, 3 through 9. You know, got to take advantage of the par-5s out here, which I did.

“I had a couple butterflies on the first hole, first tournament of the season. So just, yeah, it’s huge to see those putts go in. I hit really good putts and obviously fell in the bottom the cup. Just carried that momentum for the rest of the round.”

This is his third 18-hole lead/co-lead on Tour and he is 0-for-2 to date; 2025 Puerto Rico Open/T6, 2025 Rocket Classic/T8).

Americans Chris Gotterup (one bogey) and Ben Griffin (bogey-free), two of the 14 players in the field who advanced to the 2025 Tour Championship, sit T3 following 7-under 63s.

Gotterup has won in each of the last two seasons on Tour (2024 ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic, 2025 Genesis Scottish Open), while Griffin won three times last season (Zurich Classic of New Orleans/with teammate Andrew Novak, Charles Schwab Challenge, World Wide Technology Championship).

Also tied in third place are American John VanDerLaan who made an eagle at the par-5 9th as well as two bogeys as well and Korean S.H. Kim who remained bogey-free.

VanDerLaan (T3/-7) posted the best score of the 22 players in the field who are part of the 2026 new member class. He earned his Tour membership with a No. 17 finish on the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour Points List (top 20 earned Tour membership for 2026).

Despite double bogeys at the par-3 4th and par-4 10th, 62-year-old World Golf Hall of Fame member Vijay Singh posted a 2-
under 68 in his first round on the PGA Tour in a non-major since 2021, he currently lies in T41 at 2-under. The 2005 Sony Open in Hawaii champion is making his 25th start at the event (first since 2021).

Aon Swing 5

The Sony Open in Hawaii, the first event of the 2026 PGA Tour Season, is the first opportunity for players to earn FedExCup
points towards the Aon Swing 5 with entry into each of the next two Signature Events (AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, The Genesis Invitational).

The top five players, not otherwise exempt, who earn the most FedExCup points during the Sony Open in Hawaii, The American Express, Farmers Insurance Open and the WM Phoenix Open will qualify for those two events.

Related: Zach Peed interview

President, Dormie Network