LOS ANGELES • Joaquin Niemann knew he had to put disappointments behind and just focus on one tournament at a time.
On Thursday, he did just that, chipping in for eagle from off the green at the 18th hole to grab a share of the first-round lead in the US PGA Tour Sony Open alongside Peter Malnati and Jason Kokrak.
Niemann, who lost a play-off to Harris English at the Tour Championship last Sunday, added seven birdies and one bogey in his eight-under 62 at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu, Hawaii.
The 22-year-old, who grabbed his first US tour title at the Greenbrier in 2019, said his near-miss at Kapalua last weekend provided "a little extra motivation".
"It hurt a little bit," said the Chilean, who has competed in just two Majors, tying for 71st in the 2018 PGA Championship and sharing 23rd in last year's US Open.
"But you have to go to the next page. We're in another week, (you've) just got to forget about it and take the positives of last week."
He added that a little bit of everything was going right for him on Thursday.
"Hitting the ball great off the tee, my irons are pretty good, I'm putting well - it's easy when you're playing that way," he said, adding that his chip-in at the last "will help me sleep for tomorrow".
Malnati had nine birdies and one bogey, and Kokrak fired eight birdies to match his career-low round on the PGA Tour.
Malnati kick-started his day with a 35-foot birdie putt at the 11th - his second hole.
He added another birdie at No. 12 and answered his lone bogey with a birdie at No. 14. After back-to-back birdies at the 17th and 18th, he added four more birdies coming in, including a five-footer at the ninth.
Kokrak also teed off on No. 10 and rolled in a 13-foot birdie putt at the 11th. After a seven-foot birdie at No. 14 he gave himself a tap-in birdie at the par-three 17th and birdied No. 18. His four birdies coming in included back-to-back birdies at the eighth and ninth.
They were two strokes ahead of six players on 64: Australian Aaron Baddeley, South Korean Kim Si-woo and Americans Vaughn Taylor, Jim Herman, Patton Kizzire and Daniel Berger.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS
