(Photo credit score: Marco Garcia-Imagn Images)
Nick Taylor started his title protection on the Sony Open in Hawaii with a stellar 8-under-par 62, and the Canadian finds himself tied for the first-round lead on the PGA Tour’s season-opening match Thursday in Honolulu.
Taylor and Kevin Roy shot bogey-free 62s at Waialae Country Club and held a one-shot lead over Ben Griffin, Chris Gotterup and John VanDerLaan because the final a number of teams have been ending their rounds.
Taylor started his spherical on the again 9 and birdied 5 of his first eight holes. He caught his tee photographs on the par-3 eleventh and seventeenth holes to 7 toes and 6 toes, respectively, organising two easy birdies. He added birdies at Nos. 2, 7 and 9 coming in.
Taylor, 37, gained the match final yr by forcing a playoff with a chip-in eagle on the 72nd gap, then defeating Colombia’s Nico Echavarria on the second playoff gap.
Roy, 35, ran off 4 straight birdies at Nos. 8-11 to anchor his spherical. Roy had three top-10 finishes final season however is looking for his first PGA Tour title.
Griffin and Gotterup had breakout seasons in 2025, with Griffin claiming three titles and making the U.S. Ryder Cup crew and Gotterup profitable the Scottish Open.
Notable names included Russell Henley at 5-under 65, J.J. Spaun at 4-under 66, Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre at 3-under 67 and Collin Morikawa at 2-over 72.
–Field Level Media