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The PGA Tour's 2024 season kicked off on Thursday, January 4, with the first round of the Sentry. From Sahith Theegala taking the lead to Collin Morikawa making the emotional first tee of the day, the opening round of the Sentry had several highlights.
Here in this article, we will delve into the five top highlights of the opening day at the Kapalua Plantation Course.
Top five highlights of Sentry 2024, day 1
1) Sahith Theegala takes the lead in his second outing
Sahith Theegala began his second outing at the Sentry 2024 after shooting 9-under 64 on the first day. He sank one bogey and 10 birdies, which included six back-to-back from holes 10–15. Out of these, he picked the one on the 12th as his favorite. He said, as per ASAP Sports:
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"I hit a great drive, almost hit it in the greenside bunker there. Didn't hit a great bunker shot and I had a really gnarly 8- or 9-footer that I didn't know which way it was going to break, grain was going all over the place.
"I just aimed it dead center and tried to hit it hard and hearted that putt, and that settled me down a little bit more, because I knew 13, 14, 15 were very gettable too, so to make that putt was nice."
Last year, Theegala aggregated at 10-under after four rounds and finished 33rd. However, at that time, he hadn't tasted the win on the PGA Tour. Now, after winning the Fortinet Championship, we might see a much-improved performance this week.
2) Morikawa makes an emotional tee start
For Collin Morikawa, it was an emotional outing at Maui after what the city went through last August. Over 100 people died and the city was leveled due to the wildfires. Both of Morikawa's grandparents were from Lahaina, and his grandfather once used to run a restaurant there.
On Thursday, he was given the opportunity to make the first tee of the event. He said it was as big an honor as it could have been. He was quoted as saying, via Golfweek:
"I wasn’t on the first tee for the opening ceremony, but I heard it as I was walking up to go to the range. It got a little bit emotional. I think just because I know what everyone has gone through, you hear it from these families, and you meet everyone out here on the island that knows someone or has been affected firsthand.
"Maui’s small. Hawaii’s very, very small. People know everyone. Just got emotional. Being able to hit that first tee shot, it was an honor just to be able to do that and, yeah, it’s a great way to kick off the new year.”
Morikawa had pledged to donate $1,000 to World Central Kitchen for every birdie at the 2023 FedEx St. Jude Championship, which was matched by FedEx too. This time, he's donating $2,000 for every birdie and $4,000 for every eagle made at the Sentry 2024.
He has so far made six birdies and one eagle, resulting in a total donation of $16,000 so far. The amount has also been matched by his apparel sponsor, Adidas.
3) Villegas makes his first appearance in Maui after nine years
Camilo Villegas returned to the Sentry after almost a decade. He started well with a first-round 65 to finish the day at T2. On the back nine, he made seven birdies, one par, and a bogey.
Villegas got the opportunity to compete at Kapalua after winning the Bermuda Championship in the last FedEx Fall season, which also helped him save his PGA Tour card.
5) Jason Day shines on the back nine in the second straight event
Last month, Jason Day bombarded birdies along with Lydia Ko on the back nine to win the Grant Thornton Invitational in December. This time he repeated something similar as he carded four birdies and an eagle on the last nine holes to finish the day at 8-under.
"I felt like I just really kind of found my footing in the middle part of my round," Day said as per ASAP Sports. "Started getting a little bit more confident with my strikes and my trajectory control, spin control coming into the greens, because that's what you need here. Rolled in some good putts, which was good."
This was Day's first start at the Sentry in five years. His best result was a T3 finish in 2015.
5) Xander Schauffele tops the SG: Off the Tee list
Xander Schauffele shot a bogey-free 66 in the first round of the Sentry and leads the strokes gained: Off the Tee after 18 holes. He has had a good record at Kapalua in the past, where he has registered one win, one playoff defeat, and another top-five finish in six appearances.
