HONOLULU – Joaquin Niemann did not regret the 18th hole at the Sony Open.
Four days after a few pars on the final hole in Kapalua led to a playoff loss, Niemann ran a 15-meter chip for Eagle on Thursday 18 holes for an 8-under 62 and part of the lead with Jason Kokrak and Peter Malnati. .
“It was a good way to end,” said Niemann. “Thought about that last hole for a few days, but took all the positives from the week and got it out for this week.”
These were not easy days for Niemann. The 22-year-old from Chile is too young to have experienced the inevitable losses that accumulate in this sport. He played in Kapalua on Sunday with Sergio Garcia, who has experienced many failures and who told him to think about what went well.
Done so much on a windy afternoon in Waialae on a course with dry fairways and smooth greens and low scores. Niemann’s only bogey was when he fell asleep on a 25-foot birdie-putt above the hole at No. 12, ran it 10 feet past the hole and three-putted. The workmanship was exquisite.
Kokrak played bogey-free, and he was just as pleased with a 4.5-meter par putt on No. 1 – his 10th hole of the round – as his nine birdies. He had a 25-foot eagle putt for 61 on his closing hole that just missed.
Malnati was the only one of 62 to play in the morning, although conditions were similar for most of the day.
The group of 64 consisted of Daniel Berger, one of 31 players in the Sentry Tournament of Champion on Maui last week, and Jim Herman, who should have been there.
Herman reached Hawaii a week later than he’d hoped and was happier than ever. He was recovering from the coronavirus and had his lowest score in his 10th appearance at the Sony Open to start his year off right.
He qualified for Kapalua’s Sentry Tournament of Champions by winning the Wyndham Championship, his third win in his career. But his COVID-19 test came back positive as he prepared to go to Maui, and self-isolation for 10 days left him with no time to go to Kapalua.
“I feel pretty good,” said Herman. Clearly, today’s low score helps you feel a little bit better. I didn’t know what to expect this week. ‘
Herman said he had had a miserable four days with the virus and still hasn’t gotten his full taste and smell back. The main concern was mild inflammation of the lungs, which pressed against his back and made sitting difficult. He was finally able to hit some golf balls last weekend and only played one round of golf.
Scoring was ideal for other reasons than Kapalua on a completely different course. Winds from the Pacific coasts at the edge of the track are normal. But it’s been dry enough for the ball to roll, which is useful on fairway tee shots, not so much when it’s off-line going into the rough.
There was another twist at Waialae – out-of-bounds posts about 350 yards down the left side of the 18th fairway. The tour she set up this year out of safety for those coming off the 10th fairway, and without the tents and stands as there were no spectators, it might be tempting for more players to take their tee shot at 18 on the 10th.
That never occurred to Niemann. He hit a high draw that still tumbled down the fairway into the rough, came just short and ended on a good note.
It was certainly different from last week. Niemann missed a 6-foot birdie in regulation (and shot 64), and when in a playoff on the par-5 18th, he pulled him slightly and went down a slope to the left of the green, giving him a hard chip and a par left behind. Harris English won with a birdie putt.
“It was the first time that it really hurt me, like I was finishing a golf tournament,” he said. “Probably I’ll spend a day or two thinking about how I couldn’t birdie at 18 and get it done. I spoke to my coach, to my psychologist. We talked about the whole tournament for an hour, not that 18th hole. was a good way to capture all the positive things from that week. “
English, hoping to be just the third player to swipe the Hawaii swing, had three bogeys in a four-hole stretch on his second nine and had to birdie two of the last three holes for an even par 70.
The score was so low that only 30 players from the 144-man field were above measure.
“They play fantastic,” said Webb Simpson, one of 22 players aged 65 or better. “I think all of our golfers love it for the most part when we see a good drive and the ball bounces 3 meters into the air, that’s a good feeling.”