Leaderboard: Round 1 of Open Championship

The PGA TOUR regained traction on the 2022-23 season with last week’s Sentry Tournament of Champions, but with only 39 golfers competing in the exclusive invitational on Maui, the rubber doesn’t meet the road in earnest until this week’s Sony Open in Hawaii. RELATED: The First Look | Five Things to Know The 144-man competition at Waialae County Club in Honolulu represents the first sizable gathering since The RSM Classic in the week before Thanksgiving. However, as Jimi Hendrix crooned, are you experienced? For why that matters so much and more, continue reading beneath the ranking of projected contenders. POWER RANKINGS: SONY OPEN IN HAWAII Billy Horschel, Webb Simpson, Matt Kuchar and Emiliano Grillo will be among the notables review in Draws and Fades. The soft reopen (and hard close … sigh) at Kapalua personified the undisputed claim that Hawaii is a remote land of extremes no matter the pursuit. Unsurprisingly, it also applies to the experience on the southeastern shore of Oahu. This is the 58th edition of the Sony Open in Hawaii. All have been staged at Waialae. Throughout the FedExCup era (2007-present), it’s been a par 70 capable of ranging to 7,044 yards, and it will again this week. Save a bunker that has been split in two beside the green on the par-4 first hole and bermuda greens allowed to stretch another foot to 12 on the Stimpmeter, the course is the same. So, sans surprises that could even the playing field, literally or figuratively, a pair of strong trends has reason to continue. Although Kapalua and Waialae never will be confused as twins, the objectives on each are the same – hit greens and sink putts. Despite vastly different topographies – Kapalua is on the side of a mountain; Waialae is flat and at sea level – wind really is the only challenge on either, and like last week, it isn’t forecast to be that at all again once the Sony starts on Thursday. With all other elements cooperating, the field will have a great chance to copy last year’s scoring average of 67.998. So, as of midday Monday, the 18 who teed it up at Kapalua and have made the short trip to Waialae have the edge to win. They are warm and arrive with the knowledge that eight of the last nine champions of the Sony played the Sentry the previous week. The other almost unbelievable fact of the matter is that, since Gay Brewer prevailed in the inaugural edition of the Sony in 1965, Russell Henley is the only winner in his tournament debut. Fitting for the phenomenon of extremes, Henley was in his first-ever PGA TOUR start as a member in 2013. The moral of the matter, then, is that first-timers who didn’t peg it at Kapalua last week are facing headwinds of trends times two. For the sixth consecutive year, all Korn Ferry Tour graduates who have committed are in the field. So, even the slowest starters aren’t penalized this opportunity after the first reorder of their category at the conclusion of the fall portion of the last wraparound season. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.com’s Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous perspectives. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, Draws & Fades SUNDAY: Payouts and Points, Medical Extensions, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Rookie Ranking * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday.

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CROMWELL, Conn. – Paul Casey woke up Sunday morning with a four-shot lead and a stiff neck. Eventually, both would evaporate during a disappointing final round at the Travelers Championship. Casey, seeking his second PGA TOUR win of the season, carded a 2-over 72 that dropped him into a four-way tie for second behind winner Bubba Watson, who rallied from six back with a 63 to claim his third career Travelers title. Casey’s score tied for the worst score among the top 41 players on the leaderboard. Casey, who also lost to Watson in a playoff at TPC River Highlands in 2015, spent the entire round Sunday fighting his swing. With a chance to still win a tournament late in the day, the swing issues were clearly evident when he pulled an 8-iron at the par-3 16th to set up a crippling bogey, then found the water on the right with his tee shot at the 17th for another bogey. “Just about summed up how I felt about my golf swing,� Casey said. “All credit to Bubba – 63 is a great round of golf, in what I felt were very tricky conditions. “Just frustrating I didn’t have more. Didn’t have a comfortable swing to go out there and do something with.� Casey said his neck was tight after a poor night’s sleep and that it was a “struggle warming up.� But he noted that it didn’t bother him the entire round, eventually loosening up a little. It was evident, though, that his swing on Sunday was not the same as the first three days when he rolled out to a four-shot advantage, tying the tournament record for biggest 54-hole lead. The day before, Casey shot a third-round 62 in which he hit all 18 greens in regulation. But from the very first tee shot Sunday, Casey could tell that he was off. He ultimately birdied the hole, but it was his only birdie of the final round. He hit just 10 of 18 greens Sunday. “It was awful,� Casey said. “First few holes were not good. You know, just wiping across it. Either pulling it or flaring it right. That’s difficult to play with on benign conditions – and extremely difficult to play with when it’s slightly windy like it was today. … “I fought as hard as I could, which I’m proud of. Not many times you put me on a golf course and I only make one birdie.� Casey was asked if the sting of not sealing the deal Sunday was tempered by his win earlier in the season at the Valspar Championship. That victory ended a nine-year drought on the PGA TOUR after his first TOUR win in 2009 at the Houston Open. He said getting into position to win again has only increased his appetite. He has a heavy schedule the rest of the PGA TOUR season, and then hopes to follow that with an appearance at the Ryder Cup. “This is only going to be more fuel,� he said. “It’s annoying and I’m frustrated by it. But I feel very good about it … injury-free and excited for the rest of the season. “Ask me again in November, and if I don’t have another victory, then I will be disappointed. This is merely kind of posturing for what could be a very good climax.�

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BLAINE, Minn. – You’d be hard pressed to find two more popular players at TPC Twin Cities this week than native sons Tom Lehman and Tim Herron. And the two veterans didn’t disappoint in the first round of the 3M Open with the 60-year-old Lehman firing a 4-under 67 and Herron making the second hole-in-one of his PGA TOUR career. “Minnesotans, they’re homers,â€� Lehman said with a smile when someone mentioned the warm reception he got at every hole on Thursday. “They like the Joe Mauers of the world and the Kent Hrbecks of the world. “They love the homegrown people.â€� Those former Minnesota Twins, who were born in St. Paul and Minneapolis, respectively, have nothing on Lehman and the man whose nickname is Lumpy. The two TOUR vets were playing in successive groups and shared a hearty handshake when each took their turn in front of the local media. “I told him Lumpy’s Lager for the house,â€� Lehman said, referring to his long-time friend’s brew. “A lot of people out here for him to take care of.â€� Herron’s ace came courtesy of a cut 5-iron that went the distance on the 208-yard, par-3 eighth hole. He saw the ball hit and bounce, but he didn’t see it go into the hole. Not that he needed to, though. “The crowd reaction was good, so I knew it went in,â€� the 49-year-old Herron said. “So, I did a hail storm around the tee and stuff. I had some family there. … I’ll probably remember this more than any of them because I’ve never won a car or anything.â€� Lehman, who has his 16-year-old son Sean on the bag this week, has been a full-time member of PGA TOUR Champions for the last decade and picked up his 12th win earlier this year at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai. But Lehman couldn’t pass up the chance to play before the home crown again in the 3M Open – particularly after being tasked to toughen up the course in the year since the 50-and-over set played its last tournament there. His bogey-free round was particularly satisfying. “There’s a lot to be said for being comfortable with a golf course,â€� Lehman said. “Even though we’ve made some changes to it, the greens are the same and I know the greens extremely well. “Just it’s very long. There’s some shots that I had to swing from the heels just to get it to the fairway; on No. 11, for example, and on the last hole, No. 9, 240 with a 3‑iron. I hit it as hard as I possibly could to try to get it to the green.  So, it makes it tough for me, so I’m very pleased with 4 under. “I don’t necessarily feel like I can do that every day out here, but I think when I play well, I can.â€� Lehman found every fairway on Thursday and hit 15 of the 18 greens that he called “welcomingâ€� in regulation. “So if you drive in the fairway and your irons are reasonable, you’re going to have a lot of chances at birdie,â€� he said. Lehman started on the back nine and turned in 33, then added a fourth birdie at No. 1 where he drained a 35-footer. He expects to see some excitement down the stretch on Sunday because the back nine is the more scoreable of the two. “There are a couple long holes, but there’s some real opportunities on the back nine,â€� Lehman said. “I think that come Sunday, I think you end up seeing a lot of fireworks with guys making eagles on the par 5s, and you can now make a double on the 18th hole.  It used to be you almost couldn’t make a bogey on 18, it played so short. “So, I kind of like the way the course is playing. You’ve got to really suck it up and go on the front nine and then the back nine gives you some chances.â€� Lehman is also pleased at the reviews the re-engineered TPC Twin Cities is getting. He’s proud of the reception the TOUR players are getting, too. “They seem to really enjoy the golf course, thinking it’s a very fair test but not a pushover,â€� he said. “So, I think if they all walk away from Minneapolis saying they had a great time and had a great experience and loved it and can’t wait to come back, I think we’ve done a lot of things right.â€�

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