Keegan Bradley carded a 63 featuring eight birdies and a single bogey at the par-3 11th to take a share of the lead at 14-under at the Sony Open in Hawaii.
“It’s a tricky thing because you can’t be staring at the leaderboard all day,” said Bradley. “If you make a bogey or a few pars in a row, you can go from leading to 12th in a second. I’ve got to go out tomorrow and probably shoot another pretty low one to win.”
Fellow American Grayson Murray made four birdies and an eagle at the par-5 9th for a bogey-free 64 and his own share of the lead.
Sam Stevens, also of the United States, carded a bogey-free 63 to move into solo third place at 13-under. His 54-hole score of 197 is his lowest on TOUR.
Five players are tied in fourth place at 11-under including last week's winner, American Chris Kirk, and French rookie Matthieu Pavon who both carded 67s.
The last player to win the first two events of a PGA TOUR season was Ernie Els in 2003 (Justin Thomas won The Sentry and the Sony Open during the wraparound 2016-17 season). Kirk would become the seventh player to
win both Hawaii events during their careers, with Cameron Smith performing the feat most recently (2020 Sony Open in Hawaii, 2022 Sentry).
Matthieu Pavon is one of the ten players that earned a PGA TOUR card through the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai. Five of those players made their first start as PGA TOUR members this week, with three making the cut (Pavon/T4, Ryo Hisatsune/T31, Robert MacIntyre/T55).
Aon Swing 5
The Sony Open in Hawaii, the second event of the 2024 PGA TOUR Season and first Full-Field Event, marks the first opportunity for players to earn FedExCup points towards the Aon Swing 5.
The Aon Next 10 and Aon Swing 5 are eligibility pathways for players, not already qualified, to play their way into Signature Events via the FedExCup standings.
The top five players not otherwise exempt who earn the most FedExCup points during the Sony Open in Hawaii, The American Express and Farmers Insurance Open will qualify for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, while the top five players not otherwise exempt who earn the most FedExCup points during those three events and the WM Phoenix Open, will qualify for The Genesis Invitational.
The Aon Next 10 for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational was determined through the FedExCup Fall standings.
Six of the eleven PGA TOUR members at T9 or better on the leaderboard are not otherwise exempt for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am: Grayson Murray (T1), Sam Stevens (3rd), Ben Silverman (T4), Matthieu Pavon (T4), Troy Merritt (T9), Austin Eckroat (T9).
Taiga Semikawa (T4) is not eligible for the Aon Swing.
