Win probabilities: THE CJ CUP in South Carolina

KAWAGOE, Japan (AP) — Rikuya Hoshino did not have the first tee to himself Thursday for the start of Olympic golf. RELATED: Leaderboard, tee times | How the format works | How to watch The grandstand behind him, normally empty like at so many other venues at the spectator-less Games, was filled with volunteers in their Tokyo2020 shirts wanting to see the 25-year-old from Japan with the honor of hitting the first shot in the pandemic-delayed Olympics. The other two players with him in the first group, Sepp Straka of Austria and Thomas Pieters of Belgium, took it from there. Straka picked a good day to be dialed in with his irons in soft and still conditions. He made four birdies in his last six holes for an 8-under 63 to tie an Olympic record — not all that historical considering golf returned only in 2016 — for a one-shot lead over Jazz Janewattananond of Thailand. Pieters, who finished one spot out of a bronze medal in Rio de Janeiro five years ago, was sick Wednesday and saw the front nine at Kasumigaseki Country Club only during practice rounds. He shot 30 on the back nine for a 65. “I kind of didn’t expect this today,” Pieters said. “I felt horrible this morning even when I woke up, so maybe it’s just because I wasn’t thinking about bad shots or places not to hit it. My caddie told me, ‘Hit it there,’ and I did. I kept it simple.” Carlos Ortiz of Mexico also had a 65 in ideal scoring conditions on a course so pristine it didn’t have a divot when players first began arriving because it was closed for two months. The volunteers had emptied the stands after Hoshino’s drive to go to work — most of them stationed to help look for errant shots — when the biggest attraction in Japan arrived. Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama still had reason to believe everyone was watching. “If I say there’s no pressure I’ll be lying,” Matsuyama said after opening with a 69, not the best start in a round with such low scoring that only 13 players in the 60-man tournament were over par. “Hopefully, I’ll be able to embrace the pressure that’s upon me and just try to put together a nice tournament here.” Matsuyama had the biggest crowd, such as it was, with some 80 people tagging along, most of them Japanese media. He was 4 under through eight holes, only to make bogey from two poor tee shots and then didn’t have another birdie. The struggle was more coronavirus-related than any external expectations. Matsuyama has played one round of competition the last five weeks after a positive COVID-19 test. One of his biggest concerns was rust and conditioning. “Probably towards the end a little bit, the mental side and focus kind of faded away from me,” he said. “So that’s something that I need to put together for the rest of the week.” Straka, who had missed the cut in six of his last seven events, wasn’t the only surprise. Juvic Pagunsan of the Philippines was among those at 66. Pagunsan earned a small measure of fame when he won the Mizuno Open in Japan by carrying his own bag with 11 clubs, three fewer than allowed. Caddies were only allowed to follow players in carts because of COVID-19 restrictions, and Pagunsan found that to be a hassle, so he lightened his bag and walked it himself. The victory earned him a spot in The Open Championship, and then he withdrew so he could concentrate on the Olympics. He picked up three birdies on the back nine after rain further softened the golf course. Patrick Reed and Xander Schauffele each were at 68, and that was quite a feat for Reed. He was a last-minute replacement when Bryson DeChambeau had a positive COVID-19 test, and because of his testing requirements, Reed didn’t arrived at the course until Wednesday afternoon. That left enough time to ride in a cart to look at the last four holes. “Adrenaline got me going early on today, but really the body hung in there a lot better than I expected,” Reed said. “The swing actually held in there all day. A couple of mistakes out there, not really knowing spots to hit. But besides that, it wasn’t too bad.” His biggest issue was a delay of just over two hours from thunderstorms. They hit right about the time most new arrivals from his American time zone are wanting to take a nap. “I was feeling it during that rain delay,” he said. The Open Championship winner Collin Morikawa and Rory McIlroy each had a 69, which was only good for a tie for 20th on such a low scoring day. Justin Thomas wouldn’t have minded that. His Olympic debuted featured 18 pars and more missed birdie chances than he cares to remember. “I would love to have some kind of old useless club that I could break over my knee right now,” Thomas said.

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Justin Thomas used a five-birdie run in the middle of his round to take command of the Bridgestone Invitational, which he leads by 3 shots entering Sunday’s final round.

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After a one-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Hero World Challenge returns to Albany Golf Club in The Bahamas. Hosted by Tiger Woods, the event features a top-tier field of FedExCup champions, TOUR stars, and global notables. FIELD NOTES AND STORYLINES: Past FedExCup champions Rory McIlroy (2016, ’19), Jordan Spieth (2015), Justin Thomas (2017), Justin Rose (2018) and Henrik Stenson (2013) are teeing it up… Collin Morikawa, fresh off a victory at the DP World Tour Championship that made him the first American to claim the Race to Dubai, is the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 2 in the world ranking… Spieth will tee it up for the first time since becoming a father (a son, Sammy, was born Nov. 14). He won this event by 10 shots in 2014 when it was contested at Isleworth, setting the stage for his historic 2015 that saw him win two majors and the FedExCup… Viktor Hovland is teeing it up globally for the first time since his repeat win at the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba… The past three winners of THE PLAYERS – Thomas, McIlroy and Webb Simpson – are in the field. Also present are the past two Olympic gold medalists (Rose and Xander Schauffele); former Masters champion Patrick Reed; Abraham Ancer, winner of the World Golf Championship-FedEx St. Jude Invitational and two-time TOUR winner Sam Burns (who didn’t finish outside the top 15 in any of his four starts this fall)… Burns is the highest-ranked player in the FedExCup in the field. He’s second in the season-long race behind Talor Gooch. Hovland is ranked fifth, while McIlroy, winner of THE CJ CUP @ SUMMIT, is ninth… Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau are both in the field after Friday’s match in Las Vegas, which Koepka won handily… While Woods is not playing, he will likely command a lion’s share of the attention if he is on-site as host. He has not appeared at a tournament or addressed the media since his accident. He recently posted on social media a video of himself swinging a golf club with the caption “Making progress.” FEDEXCUP: No FedExCup points are awarded at the Hero World Challenge; however, four past FedExCup winners are in the field, along with Sam Burns who sits second in the current standings. World-ranking points will be awarded. COURSE: Albany Golf Course, par 72, 7,309 yards (yardage subject to change). Now in its sixth year as host, the Ernie Els-designed Albany GC boasts a linksy look, windswept dunes, and strategic water hazard placements. The average winning score over the last five Hero World Challenge events at Albany has been a hair short of 20 under. 72-HOLE RECORD: 262, Jordan Spieth (2014). Albany record: 263, Bubba Watson (2015) 18-HOLE RECORD: 61, Rickie Fowler (fourth round, 2017) LAST TIME: Henrik Stenson won in 2019 to become the third non-American winner of the Hero World Challenge in the past four years. The event — cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic — saw Stenson top defending champion Jon Rahm by one shot. Stenson’s victory was his first since the 2017 Wyndham Championship. He delivered the knock-out blow with an eagle on the par-5 15th. Four golfers had a share of the lead on the back nine in the final round before Stenson ripped a 5-wood from 259 yards to within 8 inches of the cup. Rahm was looking to become the first back-to-back winner of the Hero since Tiger Woods (2006-07) but finished one shot back. Patrick Reed finished third, while Woods – the tournament host – finished fourth. Eleven of the Americans in the field, including Woods, would go on to board a charter flight to Australia to compete in the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne, which the U.S. Team won after a spirited comeback in Sunday Singles. HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Friday, 1:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 12 p.m.-2:30 p.m. (Golf Channel), 2:30 p.m.-5 p.m. (NBC). Sunday, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. (Golf Channel), 1 p.m.-4 p.m. (NBC)

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