Early in the first round of the 2026 PGA Tour season, in calm, soft conditions, the same man who reigned supreme at Waialae Country Club the year before again took the lead in the opening round. Nick Taylor nailed the first refrain of his Sony Open title defense as the Canadian shot a bogey-free 62 to share the lead with Kevin Roy.
Taylor’s performance led to 17 consecutive rounds of par or better at Waialae Country Club, with the last 12 being under par.
“I think we were lucky with the weather forecast this morning. We were expecting a little more wind,” Taylor said. “I think Michael Kim was tweeting about the wind direction this year. It was pretty accurate in the sense that there was a lot of wind in the dogleg, so I felt like some of the tee shots weren’t too difficult. I hit some great shots, but again, this course was perfect for my eyes. The irons were really sharp and I was able to read the greens really well.”
The five-time PGA Tour winner started the year with two early birdies. A par meal satisfied my appetite for the next hour, then I moved to the outside half and had six birdies over the last 10 holes.
But Taylor wasn’t the only one playing his part in winning the 2025 season. Ben Griffin and Chris Gottterup planned to do the same, posting 63s for a one-point lead. Griffin won his final start of 2025 at the World Wide Technology Championship, and Gottap credited his few matches at TGL in recent weeks with helping him smoothly adjust to competitive golf.
“I have no idea what the first round back is going to look like,” Griffin said. “It’s been a few months since I played a game here. I played a decent amount at home and felt like I played well. It always feels a little different when you tee it up at a tour event, so I was really happy with the way I hit the ball. I was happy with the feel of my game overall. There are some things I need to improve on, but overall I’m really happy with how I played.”
As the afternoon progressed, the wind picked up and there were more bogeys on the scorecard, and by the end of the day scoring proved to be more than one shot difficult. Riding the wind, former tournament champion Hideki Matsuyama signed with a 69, while U.S. Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley and Jordan Spieth also posted 68s. The trio will be looking to make a quick turnaround on Friday morning, accelerate towards the top of the leaderboard and be in contention for the weekend.
leader
T1. Nick Taylor, Kevin Roy (-8): Taylor was in South Africa last month to compete in a DP World Tour event, so it wasn’t completely cold. Seeing this tournament build-up as a way to stay sharp, the 37-year-old arrived in Hawaii, along with additional friends and family, ripe for a successful defense.
On Thursday, he played an incredibly stress-free game of golf. Taylor connected the course with 10 standard fairways and 15 greens, and regularly put the course in front of him. Taylor, who has been identified as a closer, hopes to continue this form going forward. He knows that if he can enter Sunday with his name on the first page of the leaderboard, he has a good chance of staying in first place by the end of the tournament.
“Like I said, I think we timed the offseason really well,” Taylor said. “I didn’t want to play anything for four months, so after two months off, I played a few tournaments to get ready and take some time off. It felt like it was this past month or so. I prepared for it, played decently and got what I needed from it. Yeah, I felt like my game got sharper coming here. I don’t know. It definitely helps that I come here to play courses that I’m comfortable with.”
contestant
T3. Ben Griffin, Chris Gotthardt, John Vanderlaan (-7)
T6. Alex Smalley, John Parry (-6)
T8. Denny McCarthy, Kurt Kitayama, Harry Hall, Russell Henry, Nick Dunlap, Adam Svensson (-5)
In his first two seasons on the PGA Tour, Gotterup never had a top-10 finish in January, February or March. Fed up with another slow start to the season, the Scottish Open winner decided to move to Florida this offseason to practice more and stay sharp in his game.
“Hopefully that’s why I transferred to Florida this offseason,” Gottapp said. “I feel like my game is getting better because I’ve been working more at home. Yeah, me and my caddy joked that playing in the TGL the last few weeks has been fulfilling and then I’m ready to play at Grant Thornton and the Bahamas. I’ve been playing a fair amount in the last few weeks and months. Yeah, I feel like I’m in a pretty good place.”
Gotterup’s moves paid off Thursday, with eight birdies to one bogey, putting him one stroke behind the lead. The big-hitting right-hander averaged over 310 yards and brought Waialae CC to its knees.
“The last few years I’ve felt like I’ve had very sloppy starts to tournaments,” Gottapp continued. “I loved living in Oklahoma, but 40 degrees an hour and 40 mph winds in December isn’t ideal for coming to Palm Springs or Hawaii. So I thought it was a smart move. I’ve come full circle and it feels good. Yes, it’s hard to be away from a place you call home for a little while. Yes, I got a new home.”
2026 Sony Open picks and odds updated
Odds from DraftKings Sportsbook
- Ben Griffin: 5-1
- Nick Taylor: 6-1
- Russell Henry: 8-1
- Chris Gottapp: 11-1
- JJ Spahn: 19-1
- Maverick McNeely: 20-1
- Kevin Roy: 20-1
- Harry Hall: 20-1
Spahn, 19-1, is interesting. The U.S. Open champion didn’t make much money on the greens Thursday, but still shot a 4-under 66. Price is about the same as his pre-tournament numbers and his ball striking is very similar to last year, so he should be able to recover over the next 54 holes. Berger, 45-1, should be considered following his 66 points in the more difficult afternoon waves.
