KAPALUA, Hawaii — Hideki Matsuyama and Collin Morikawa put on a striped performance Saturday in Kapalua, each posting an 11-under 62 in sensitive Kapalua that threatened to turn The Sentry into a two-man show in the PGA Tour opener.
Matsuyama had a chance to break the course record with a long eagle attempt from just short of the 18th green. He two-putted for birdie to maintain a one-shot lead over Morikawa early in the day.
Morikawa made a 4-foot birdie putt on the par-5 closing hole for his 62. He briefly took the lead on the front nine, starting 5 under in five holes, including a 25-foot eagle putt on the fifth hole in a display of sublime shooting .
Matsuyama caught up to him on the next hole and it was tight the rest of the way.
Matsuyama’s 11 birdies are the most he has ever scored in a PGA Tour round. He was 27-under 192, a 54-hole record at the Plantation course in Kapalua.
It was reminiscent of 2022, when Cameron Smith set a tournament record – and a PGA Tour record – at 34-under 258. Conditions have been remarkably calm this year, and this year hasn’t been much different than any other.
There was almost no wind on the west end of Maui, and the Plantation course was built to allow for strong winds from any direction. This has become a target practice for the best player in the world, especially on a course with the widest fairways on the PGA Tour.
Three years ago, Smith and Jon Rahm were five shots ahead of everyone else. Matsuyama was one better than Morikawa. Thomas Detry was next at 22-under 197, one spot ahead of Sungjae Im, who was also 62.
The average score was 67.49, another record since the tournament moved to Kapalua in 1999.
Detry had a 65 and ultimately lost the position.
“I shot 8 under today, but I didn’t really feel like I shot 8 under,” he said. “On other golf courses, when you shot 8 under, you really thought, ‘Oh yeah, I played some unreal golf here.’ I just felt like I was playing really solid golf.
Matsuyama and Morikawa collected their birds and moved away. What separated them was the reachable par-4 14th, where Matsuyama jumped to 3 feet for birdie and Morikawa drove into a bunker, shot to 10 feet and missed the birdie putt.
On the 16th, Morikawa hit a wedge that stopped 20 inches from the cup. Matsuyama followed it up with a wedge that landed on the back of the green with enough spin to clear the grain and slope by 8 inches.
It’s been like this all day, and we still have one more round left.
