2025 Sony Open leaderboard, takeaways: Six tied for the lead with Hideki Matsuyama, Russell Henley lurking
CBSN
It's crowded at the top after Round 1 at Waialae Country Club
It is amazing how much difference a week can make on the PGA Tour. Despite remaining in the Aloha State for the 2025 Sony Open, players faced a far stouter test Thursday at Waialae Country Club compared to last week's Plantation Course. Amid a round filled with higher scores and frustrating moments, six men raced to the top of the leaderboard with Harry Hall, Adam Schenk, Denny McCarthy, Eric Cole, Tom Hoge and Paul Peterson all sharing the lead at 6 under through 18 holes.
Six players holding the first-round lead ties a tournament record set in 1980. Five of those names came from the morning wave with Hoge being the lone player to post his 64 in the afternoon after narrowly missing his bid for 63 on the par-5 finisher. While the leaderboard is congested at the top and filled with long-time PGA Tour members like Schenk and McCarthy eyeing their first wins, the day belonged to Peterson -- a 36-year-old rookie making his first start.
"[I had] the best kind of nerves," Peterson said. "Just ready to go. I felt ready to go yesterday. I had a good range session on Tuesday and sent some TrackMan reports to my coach, and was just like, 'Can we go tomorrow?' Yeah, it's been nice to feel like I'm hitting it well and getting off to a good start."
