Scottie Scheffler drives off the Kapalua Plantation Course’s 14th tee during the second round of The Sentry on Friday. — The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
KAPALUA — Scottie Scheffler is the No. 1-ranked golfer in the world who just won his second straight Jack Nicklaus Trophy as the PGA Tour player of the year.
He found himself at the top of the leaderboard Friday at the midway point of The Sentry, the PGA Tour opener at the Kapalua Plantation Course.
He stands at 16-under-par 130 after a 9-under 64 on Friday. He knows, with the benign conditions that have left the 7,596-yard layout somewhat defenseless, that it will take more of the same type of scoring to hold the winner’s trophy and cash the $3.6 million champion’s check on Sunday.
“Probably a lot more of what I did today and yesterday,” Scheffler said. “Scores around this place are pretty low, but it’s one of those places if you go out there and play well you’re going to get rewarded. If you start not hitting it in the right spots, you can get in trouble. Just got to keep the pedal down out here.”
Tyrrell Hatton fired the round of the day — and the low round of his career — with an 11-under 62. He finished the round birdie, birdie, birdie, eagle and is tied with Brendon Todd (64) and Sungjae Im (66) at 131, one stroke behind Scheffler.
Scottie Scheffler watches his drive off the Kapalua Plantation Course’s 15th tee find the rough Friday afternoon. Scheffler survived to make his fourth straight birdie on the back nine. — The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
Hatton said the more than 24-hour trip from England to Kapalua — he arrived late Saturday night — had taken a toll on his body.
“Yeah, it was a really good day,” Hatton said. “If I’m being honest, body didn’t feel great, and tee to green wasn’t, didn’t feel amazing. I had a mad day on the greens. Every putt I seemed to look at went in, which is a nice feeling. Hopefully that continues over the weekend.”
Hatton elaborated that he still felt fatigue and jet lag, especially after taking most of December off from golf.
“Just very stiff. I think traveling from England, the 25 and a half hours, door to door, and my body still, I wouldn’t say I looked after myself in the December period, maybe that played a part,” he said smiling. “Yeah, so body hasn’t been moving well. I’m sure if you had seen some flight tracers of some of my tee shots you would be disgusted. They’re kind of going into not too bad of spots, so, yeah, managing fairly well at the moment.”
When asked what he thought the day might go like, Hatton laughed.
Tyrell Hatton watches his drive on No. 11 Friday. — The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
“Well, I guess it shows how much of a stupid game it is,” he said. “Obviously, I putted amazing today, that’s the big thing for how my score ended up as low as it was. Yeah, with how bad my body felt, I’m surprised that, going out this morning, that score was just not even entering my mind. It’s more probably like over, (11) over par.”
Scheffler is making his third appearance here — he finished tied for 13th in 2021 and tied for seventh last year — and he said course knowledge is valuable here, at least when the wind is a little more consistent.
“I think it helps a decent amount,” Scheffler said. “This is a place where we typically see a lot of the same wind direction. Today was actually the opposite that I’ve always seen the golf course, so my course knowledge didn’t help too much going into today. It was a bit of an unusual day with the wind direction, but just adjusted, and obviously the scores are pretty low.”
Todd was also smiling when asked what it might take to win here this weekend. The PGA Tour’s top five scores to par for a four-round event have all been shot here, including the record 34 under that Cam Smith fired in winning here two years ago.
“Gosh, I was telling my son, he said if I shoot 6-under four times that’s 24-under. I said, ‘That’s not going to be enough to win.’ He said, ‘Really?’ “ Todd said. “I said, ‘Well, 34 under won two years ago.’ I think we’re looking like something like that. Something in the low 30s. There’s just so many great players and the golf course is in perfect shape and without the wind you’re able to hit wedges close and reach the par-5s.”
The gallery watches the threesome of Scottie Scheffler, Jordan Spieth and Viktor Hovland tee off on the Kapalua Plantation Course’s 11th hole during the second round of The Sentry on Friday. — The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
There are 18 players within four shots of Scheffler’s lead.
Collin Morikawa, last year’s runner-up, is two strokes back in a group of five tied for fifth going to the weekend even though he was not overly pleased with his 67 Friday.
“Just never got any momentum going,” Morikawa said. “Never felt comfortable with some shots. Irons actually felt the best part of my game. I just wasn’t able to convert on the putts. Hit some good putts, they didn’t go in. Speed was a little off. Out here you just got to just find a groove out here.
“If you can find a groove out here you can make three, four, five birdies in a row. We have seen it with a lot of these guys, hopefully we get in that groove starting tomorrow.”
* Robert Collias is at
Jason Day tees off on the 14th hole Friday. — The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
_______________
The Sentry
Friday’s Second-Round Leaders
At Kapalua Plantation Course
Scottie Scheffler 66-64–130 -16
Sungjae Im tees off on No. 11 Friday. — The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
Tyrrell Hatton 69-62–131 -15
Sungjae Im 65-66–131 -15
Brendon Todd 67-64–131 -15
Byeong Hun An 68-64–132 -14
Viktor Hovland 65-67–132 -14
Chris Kirk 67-65–132 -14
Collin Morikawa 65-67–132 -14
_______________
PGA TOUR THE SENTRY
Friday’s Second Round
At Kapalua Plantation Course
Scottie Scheffler 66-64–130 -16
Tyrrell Hatton 69-62–131 -15
Sungjae Im 65-66–131 -15
Brendon Todd 67-64–131 -15
Byeong Hun An 68-64–132 -14
Viktor Hovland 65-67–132 -14
Chris Kirk 67-65–132 -14
Collin Morikawa 65-67–132 -14
Akshay Bhatia 69-64–133 -13
Matt Fitzpatrick 69-64–133 -13
Brian Harman 67-66–133 -13
Jordan Spieth 66-67–133 -13
Sepp Straka 67-66–133 -13
Sahith Theegala 64-69–133 -13
Patrick Cantlay 66-68–134 -12
Jason Day 65-69–134 -12
Emiliano Grillo 66-68–134 -12
Patrick Rodgers 69-65–134 -12
Adam Schenk 69-65–134 -12
Tony Finau 69-66–135 -11
Xander Schauffele 66-69–135 -11
Cameron Young 68-67–135 -11
Eric Cole 70-66–136 -10
Adam Hadwin 70-66–136 -10
Tom Hoge 67-69–136 -10
Max Homa 67-69–136 -10
Si Woo Kim 70-66–136 -10
Kurt Kitayama 72-64–136 -10
Taylor Moore 71-65–136 -10
J.T. Poston 68-68–136 -10
Camilo Villegas 65-71–136 -10
Sam Burns 69-68–137 -9
Nicolas Echavarria 70-67–137 -9
Harris English 71-66–137 -9
Rickie Fowler 70-67–137 -9
Lee Hodges 72-65–137 -9
Luke List 67-70–137 -9
Erik Van Rooyen 72-65–137 -9
Lucas Glover 72-66–138 -8
Nick Hardy 71-67–138 -8
Mackenzie Hughes 68-70–138 -8
Tom Kim 68-70–138 -8
Adam Svensson 70-68–138 -8
Nick Taylor 69-69–138 -8
Matt Wallace 68-70–138 -8
Ludvig Aberg 69-70–139 -7
Keegan Bradley 69-70–139 -7
Wyndham Clark 71-68–139 -7
Corey Conners 69-70–139 -7
Hideki Matsuyama 71-68–139 -7
Denny McCarthy 70-69–139 -7
Tommy Fleetwood 70-70–140 -6
Justin Rose 71-69–140 -6
Russell Henley 69-72–141 -5
Davis Riley 70-71–141 -5
Seamus Power 71-71–142 -4
Cameron Davis 75-68–143 -3
Vincent Norrman 73-70–143 -3
Andrew Putnam 74-71–145 -1
Today’s Third-Round Tee Times
Tee No. 1
7:57 a.m.–Tom Hoge, J.T. Poston, Si Woo Kim.
8:09 a.m.–Taylor Moore, Eric Cole, Camilo Villegas.
8:21 a.m.–Tony Finau, Adam Hadwin, Kurt Kitayama.
8:33 a.m.–Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Cameron Young.
8:45 a.m.–Jason Day, Adam Schenk, Patrick Rodgers.
8:57 a.m.–Brian Harman, Sepp Straka, Emiliano Grillo.
9:09 a.m.–Akshay Bhatia, Sahith Theegala, Jordan Spieth
9:21 a.m.–Collin Morikawa, Byeong Hun An, Matt Fitzpatrick.
9:33 a.m.–Sungjae Im, Chris Kirk, Viktor Hovland.
9:45 a.m.–Scottie Scheffler, Tyrrell Hatton, Brendon Todd.
Tee No. 10
7:57 a.m.–Max Homa, Nico Echavarria, Erik van Rooyen.
8:09 a.m.–Sam Burns, Lee Hodges, Luke List.
8:21 a.m.–Harris English, Rickie Fowler, Matt Wallace.
8:33 a.m.–Nick Taylor, Lucas Glover, Adam Svensson.
8:45 a.m.–Tom Kim, Nick Hardy, Mackenzie Hughes.
8:57 a.m.–Keegan Bradley, Corey Conners, Wyndham Clark.
9:09 a.m.–Hideki Matsuyama, Denny McCarthy, Ludvig Aberg.
9:21 a.m.–Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood, Davis Riley.
9:33 a.m.–Russell Henley, Seamus Power, Cam Davis.
9:45 a.m.–Vincent Norrman, Andrew Putnam.
Collin Morikawa studies his golf shoe on the first hole after installing a new spike before his round Friday. — The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
Spieth (right) watches his drive off the first tee Friday along with playing partner Scheffler. — The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
First-round leader Sahith Theegala chips to the 14th green Friday. — The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
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