Inside the Field: Shriners Hospitals for Children Open

HONOLULU — Kevin Na felt such great control Thursday in the Sony Open in Hawaii that he matched his career low with a 9-under 61 and still found reason to be slightly disappointed. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Jim Furyk, 51, makes ace in opening 62 at Sony Open He had his sights on a sub-60 round, especially as the afternoon wind died, only to see three good birdie chances narrowly miss. He finished with a 6-foot par save from the bunker on the 17th hole and made a 6-foot birdie at the par-5 18th. That gave him a one-shot lead over 51-year-old Jim Furyk, who knows what it’s like to post a round in the 50s. Furyk is the only player to do that twice on the PGA TOUR. “I did everything well today and my iron play was amazing,” Na said. “And I tell you what, I had a chance for a 59. I gave it all I could. I’m a little disappointed my putts didn’t fall, some of the good putts that I hit didn’t fall. But it’s still a good round.” It was good enough to set a target of winning back-to-back at Waialae. Na also had a 61 last year in the third round. He now has five rounds at 61 in his PGA TOUR career. This one didn’t give him much breathing room. Furyk and Russell Henley were at 62, with Kevin Chappell and Seamus Power of Ireland among those at 63. Furyk was in the hunt more than a quarter-century after he first won the Sony Open. He made a hole-in-one on the 17th hole to cap off a big run toward the end of his round. Furyk went a decade without playing in Honolulu until returning last year once he became eligible for the 50-and-older PGA TOUR Champions, which opens next week on the Big Island. “Trying to get ready for this year and what do I look at this week? I want to be competitive,” Furyk said. “I want to compete and put myself in position, in the hunt, and also want to get a feel for where my game is and what I want to work on for the year.” Furyk won so long ago at Waialae that it was a year before Collin Morikawa was even born. The tournament had a different title sponsor in 1996, and the perks of winning ($216,000 for first place, compared with $1.35 million this year) included a United Airlines pass for two to travel anywhere in the world for a year. There were other reminders for Furyk. “Played a practice round with a guy that called me ‘sir,’ and later on he asked me what I liked most about the Champions Tour,” Furyk said. “And I said, ‘No one calls me ’sir.’ He said his dad would be angry with him if he didn’t.” On the course, not much changed. Waialae is on the short list of PGA TOUR courses that doesn’t favor all-out power, and even after heavy rain a week ago, there’s enough bounce and roll on shots in the fairway to make it feel even shorter. Furyk opened with a long three-putt bogey, which did not project to what kind of day he had on the greens. He made a pair of 30-foot birdie putts early, and then finished strong with birdie putts from 12, 15 and 25 feet starting on the 14th hole, and then a 6-iron for an ace at No. 17. Na was bogey-free, and stress-free. All seven of his birdies and his eagle on the par-5 ninth hole were inside 10 feet, and he only came seriously close to bogey on the 17th when he had to get up-and-down from a deep bunker right of the green. Chappell also had a good start that he needed. His career has been start-and-stop since surgery on his lower back after the 2018 season. He also realized it was time to take care of more than his body. “I definitely had some lingering stuff going last year coming from my back throughout the year, and kind of end of the year I decided I wasn’t good physically, I wasn’t good mentally and I needed to take some time,” Chappell said. “And so I did. The TOUR has been phenomenal with that supporting me. Really dove into the mental side and believe it or not, the better I got mentally, the better my back got. “It’s been a lot of hard work but it’s been great.”

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Editor’s note: Ernie Els is writing a blog in 2017 and this is his latest installment. For more information on the World Golf Hall of Famer, visit www.ernieels.com To start off, I want to thank everyone at RBC and the fans at the RBC Canadian Open for the warm welcome last week at Glen Abbey. This was my seventh straight appearance in this historic tournament and it’s a pleasure to play in front of the fans here. I’m only sorry I wasn’t around for the weekend. Thing was, I just left myself a lot to do after a scrappy first nine holes on Thursday morning. Still, it was nice to go out there and shoot 4 under on Friday afternoon. I was pushing hard all the way to 18, so it kind of stings when you miss the cut by a single shot. But as I said, the support from the fans was fantastic. All the players appreciate that. Congrats also to Jhonattan Vegas, winning the tournament in back-to-back years. That’s always special.   We’ve now got a week off at home before I tee it up in the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow next week. Obviously my focus is getting myself mentally and physically prepared to give it my best shot. That’s always my mindset. But, as some of you will know, there’s an extra dimension to next week’s championship. It will be the 100th major of my career, having started the ball rolling as a skinny young kid with a mop of blonde hair playing in the 1989 Open at Royal Troon. If someone had told me then that I’d play 100 of these things, I’d have been pretty thrilled to be honest with you. So obviously it’s a proud moment and to mark the occasion we’ve got some fun events planned across social media involving my sponsors, including prize competitions on Twitter. Look out for the #100Majors hashtag next Monday. Today, we’re also launching a new partnership with leading sport scholarship agency, Athletes-USA. As many know, I’m very passionate about cultivating new talents and helping young players get to the next level. The Ernie Els & Fancourt Foundation was founded in 1999 specifically for this purpose — to produce successful young leaders and to help develop them to their fullest potential. But scholarships to universities aren’t as common as they are in America. This is where Athletes-USA steps in. They take a look at you, your talent, your grades, and the overall picture to match and place you into the best university. I think that this is a great opportunity for young junior golfers and all student-athletes who are looking to come to America and attend university on scholarship. This is a game-changer for anyone looking to go further. Again, for more information visit the website: www.athletes-usa.com. Okay, that’s it for now. As I said before, look out for lots of activity here on the website and on Twitter @TheBig_Easy from the start of next week, as we begin the countdown to my 100th major.

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