Englishman Harry Hall grabs share of Sony Open lead
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Harry Hall of England plays his shot from the fifth tee during the first round of the Sony Open.
PHOTO: AFP
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LOS ANGELES – With a tweak of his swing, England’s Harry Hall carded a six-under 64 to grab a share of the lead at the PGA Tour’s Sony Open in Hawaii on Jan 9.
The 27-year-old was among six players tied at the top of the leaderboard as first-round play at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu was halted due to darkness, with a handful of players left on the course.
Hall produced a roller-coaster round sprinkled with 10 birdies, two bogeys and a double-bogey on his way to the top of the leaderboard. He attributed his opening-round success to his rejuvenated swing, the result of recent work with legendary guru Butch Harmon.
The Briton contacted the 81-year-old in 2024 seeking advice.
“I approached him and he reached out to me a few months after and said, ‘It would be great to see you’,” Hall said. “I started working with him, and since then, I’ve played really nice.”
His aggressive play with the driver was instrumental in sparking his birdie spree.
“If you have confidence in the driver, then it really makes a big difference,” Hall added. “It’s quite a tight golf course, so if you can hit a driver straight, then you’re obviously gaining a few strokes on the field, and that’s exactly what I did.
“If I can clean up a few things that happened today – a couple of bogeys and the double – it’ll hopefully be a really good week.”
Hall was the only non-American among the early leaders, with Adam Schenk, Eric Cole, Denny McCarthy, Paul Peterson and Tom Hoge joining him on six under.
PGA Tour rookie Peterson, 36, made a dream start to his first official appearance on the tour with three birdies and an eagle on the front nine to reach the turn at five under.
Two more birdies on the 10th and 12th took him to seven under but bogeys on the 13th and 16th holes checked his progress, before a birdie on the last secured a share of the lead.
“It was pretty fun – just hit it nice, putted it nicely,” Peterson said. “Put some extra time in on the greens yesterday evening and it seemed to pay off.
“It’s been nice to feel like I’m hitting it well and getting off to a good start.”
With conditions perfect for low scores, six players are one off the lead on five under including Sweden’s Henrik Norlander and Canadian Adam Hadwin.
Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, winner of last week’s season-opening The Sentry in Kapalua, was three off the lead after carding a three-under 67. AFP
