Cut prediction: Wells Fargo Championship

HONOLULU — Ocean views along the golf course seem to suit Adam Svensson of Canada. A year after his victory in the Bahamas that paved his way to the PGA TOUR, Svensson capped off a rookie round to remember Thursday with a 10-foot birdie putt on his final hole for a 9-under 61 and a one-shot lead in the Sony Open in Hawaii. “It was all a blur,” Svensson said. “I don’t even remember which holes I birdied.” Throw in an eagle, too, a 6-iron on the par-5 ninth that he caught thin and was hopeful would clear the bunker. It did better than that, rolling out to 5 feet. But it was the back nine, as the wind began to calm along the shores just west of Waikiki Beach, where the 25-year-old Canadian made his move. It started with a 50-foot birdie putt on the 11th hole. He hit it to 2 feet on the 12th, holed an 18-foot birdie on No. 13 and finished his run with a 10-foot birdie on the 14th. A tough up-and-down from right of the green on the par-5 18th gave Svensson the lowest round of professional career. He did shoot a 61 while at Barry University, where he won the Jack Nicklaus Award in 2014 as the Division II player of the year. His only significant victory as a pro was the second event last year on the Web.com Tour at the Bahamas Great Abaco Classic, and he held his position in the top 25 on the money list the rest of the year to reach the PGA TOUR. Andrew Putnam shot a 62 in the morning and looked tough to beat until Svensson came along. It was the first time Putnam had played Waialae all week because of a bee sting, and it apparently didn’t bother him. He made birdie on half of his holes, none of them tap-ins, and took only 23 putts for the lowest score of his PGA TOUR career. Putnam had a four-shot lead among the early starters. By the end of the day, Matt Kuchar had a 63, and 75 players from the 144-man field were under par. That did not include Jordan Spieth, who made his 2019 debut with a little rust, and it showed. He had to wait until his 16th hole, the par-3 seventh, for his first birdie of the year. And that was all he made in a round of 73 that left him needing a low round just to make it to the weekend. Justin Thomas, who set the PGA TOUR’s 72-hole record at the Sony Open two years ago, opened with a 67 by playing the last five holes in even par — a birdie, three straight bogeys and holing a bunker shot for eagle. Putnam, among 23 players who were in Maui last week at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, made it all look so easy. This is his third year playing the Sony Open, so the course is not new to him. But it’s unusual for him not to at least get in a practice round. He was poolside Tuesday when the bee stung him in the foot. “I couldn’t walk, so I had to withdraw out of the pro-am,” he said. “I was just sitting around all yesterday and couldn’t even hit a shot. Yeah, kind of bizarre how it all worked out.” He shot his 62 despite a bogey on the 15th hole when his pitch came up 12 feet short and he missed the putt. Putnam didn’t miss many in the opening round. Statistically, he made just over 174 feet of putts, from a 5-footer on the closing hole (his shortest birdie putt) to his longest birdie on the 14th at just under 30 feet. “The hole was very large and the ball was going in,” he said. “It was fun.”

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THE OVERVIEW In the last 13 months, Mac Hughes a) married his fiancée Jenna Shaw; b) won his first PGA TOUR event; c) saw the birth of his first child; and d) changed his name. Essentially, it’s been one life-altering event after another for the Canadian. “I would say the name change is probably the biggest deal of all those things,â€� Hughes said with a grin. “It’s really hard to adapt to that.â€� OK, maybe not too much. Formally known as Mackenzie Hughes, he often told everybody he met just to call him Mac. Last week, he decided to make it official. “If that’s what I’m going to go by,â€� he said, “I’ll just write it down on paper so everyone just calls me that, make my life a little easier.â€� (Side note: Hughes received the Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada Player of the Year in 2013. Don’t expect the Mackenzie Tour to shorten its name to the Mac Tour.) Life might be easier going forward for Hughes, but it’s certainly been productive over that 13-month span. On Oct. 22, 2016, he married Jenna, and a month later, he won a five-man playoff at The RSM Classic to become a TOUR winner in just his ninth career start. Two days after that, he celebrated his 26th birthday. That victory – he became the 13th different Canadian to win a TOUR event – left him in a great position in the FedExCup standings. He eventually finished 36th. That’s an impressive result for any TOUR rookie, but Hughes was disappointed in failing to advance to the TOUR Championship. “Not making East Lake was tough,â€� Hughes said, “but there’s not a lot of rookies that are able to say they had a chance to get there, or to even get there. Yeah, that stung for a little bit.â€� So now he’s back in Sea Island this week as the defending champ, this time as a father. His son Kenton was born last month on Oct. 30. A week later, Hughes played the OHL Classic at Mayakoba, missing the cut. Earlier this week, while driving toward the course, he saw promotional posters of him cradling the trophy from last year. It’s been a whirlwind stretch. “I’ve had so much fun the last two weeks being a dad,â€� he said. “But even being away in Mexico last week was tough. First time leaving and being away for a week when my wife’s home alone, it was tough. So I’m learning how to deal with these things.â€� As for the name of his son, well, the natural inclination will be to call him Kent. After all, it offers a connection with Kent State, the university that both Mac and Jenna attended. But unlike what he did with his own first name, Mac doesn’t plan to shorten his son’s name, one in which they didn’t finalize until the next morning after his birth. “We want him to go by Kenton,â€� Hughes said. “I’m sure Kent will inevitably come up as a short form at some point. I will always say Kenton.â€� He’s the tournament host, but Sea Island hasn’t treated him well. Three MCs and just one top-25 finish (T-4 in 2012) in seven starts. Good to have him back on TOUR after sitting out since June with an injury. How quickly can he find his groove? Making his season debut after producing his most productive campaign of his career. Looking forward to his encore. THREE PLAYERS TO PONDER RANK PLAYER COMMENT THE FLYOVER In 2010 when Sea Island hosted The RSM Classic for the first time, the 470-yard par-4 18th at the Seaside layout ranked as the toughest hole on the course (a 4.198 stroke average). Since then, other holes have played tougher each year, but the 18th remains a difficult hole to play. It has never yielded a stroke average below par in any single year, although it came closest last year with a 4.013 average when it ranked as the sixth most difficult hole. Here’s a look at the finishing hole that could very well determine the winner on Sunday. LANDING ZONE The 429-yard par-4 fourth is the most difficult hole on the Seaside Course. It played to a stroke average of 4.147 a year ago, ranking it T-140 among the 538 par 4s played on the PGA TOUR last season. Water on the other side of the right-side cart path will collect a few errant drives; a year ago, there were 26 penalty shots incurred, 13 of those in the third round. Here’s a look at where all tee shots at the fourth landed last year. WEATHER CHECK Other than a small chance of showers this weekend, weather conditions should be pleasant this week – at least until Sunday when gusts of up to 25 mph could impact play. PGA TOUR meteorologist Stewart Williams’ forecast includes temperatures from the mid- to upper-70s on Saturday are expected “ahead of an approaching cold front. This front may produce isolated showers Saturday night into Sunday. Otherwise, breezy and cooler conditions return Sunday with highs in the 60s.â€� For the latest weather forecast from Sea Island, Georgia, click here for the Travelers Weather Hub. SOUND CHECK It’s great because I can drive up. That’s a great event, and Davis is a great role model for all of us, a Hall of Famer, and he’s got his name around the event. We need to be there. ODDS AND ENDS 1. TWO COURSES. The par-70 Seaside Course will be the primary venue this week, with the par-72 Plantation Course in the rotation for the first two rounds. Plantation is the easier of the two; a year ago, it played to a stroke average of 2.237 under par, while the stroke average for Seaside was 1.111 under par. “They’re both kind of different styles,â€� said Mac Hughes. “I think the Seaside’s more, I don’t want to say linksy but it has that linksy feel to it, and the Plantation’s a bit more tree lined. But they’re both great.â€� 2. SHORT DRIVES. The 7,005-yard Seaside Course has ranked as one of the shortest driving distance courses of any TOUR since it became a host venue in 2010. It has been inside the top 10 of driving distance average each season; a year ago, the average distance was 277.3 yards, ranking it seventh shortest among all courses. Less than 15 percent of all drives at Seaside were 300 yards or more, again one of the smaller percentages of all courses. 3. 67 OR BETTER. Charles Howell III has more rounds of 67 or better at The RSM Classic than anybody else, having done it 12 times since the tournament’s inception in 2010. Next on the list are Kevin Kisner and Webb Simpson with 10 rounds of 67 or better.

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