On the halfway level of The Sentry at Kapalua, Hideki Matsuyama sits atop the leaderboard at 16-under par. The 2021 Masters champion appeared unstoppable as soon as once more on Friday, firing an 8-under 65 for the consecutive day. He relied closely on his iron play, hitting his trademark tight draw on the flag all day. That explains why he gained greater than three strokes on method on Friday alone, which at present leads the sphere.
But, he leads Collin Morikawa, who has had loads of success on this course over the previous 5 years, by solely a stroke.
“I haven’t performed nicely right here shortly, so it’s good to get off to a superb begin right here,” Matsuyama stated.
As soon as once more, this event has changed into an absolute birdie fest, as Sunday’s profitable rating will seemingly threaten 30-under par. Kapalua has already yielded 365 birdies by 36 holes, whereas gamers have made solely 79 bogies over that very same span.
A part of that’s as a result of the tradewinds died on Friday, making it a lot simpler on the sphere. This 59-man area produced a scoring common of 68.1 for the second spherical, practically 5 photographs below par. Thursday’s scoring common, in the meantime, was 70.7.
“I believe the wind was down, clearly, initially, so rather a lot simpler to manage the golf ball on the market. The greens are good out right here. You are feeling like if you happen to get inside 10, 15 toes, you bought an awesome likelihood to make ‘em,” defined Tom Hoge, the first-round chief who’s now 14-under.
“On high of that, I really feel just like the fairways are firming up, taking part in shorter, and also you get a number of shorter golf equipment into greens. I believe you undergo the golf course, and so long as you may keep away from some hassle on the market, there are such a lot of scorable holes that you need to make plenty of birdies out right here.”
Leaderboard:
1. Hideki Matsuyama -16 — 65-65
2. Collin Morikawa -15 — 66-65
T3. Corey Conners -14 — 66-66
T3. Maverick McNealy -14 — 68-64
T3. Tom Hoge -14 — 64-68
T3. Thomas Detry -14 — 69-64
T7. Keegan Bradley -13 — 69-64
T7. Harry Corridor -13 — 68-65
T7. Cameron Younger -13 — 66-67
T7. Wyndham Clark -13 — 69-64
11. Sepp Straka -12 — 69-65
12. Will Zalatoris -11 — 65-70
Eight gamers fired rounds of 64, together with Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley, who’s sporting fairly the mustache to start the 12 months. Maverick McNealy, Thomas Detry, and Wyndham Clark additionally carded 64s to place themselves into rivalry.
Morikawa, in the meantime, fired one stroke worse, however he’ll be a part of Matsuyama and Corey Conners within the ultimate pairing on Saturday. The 2-time main winner didn’t get off to a terrific begin, making the flip with a 2-under 34. He then turned up the warmth on the again 9, taking pictures a 6-under 31 which included 5 consecutive birdies on holes 13 by 17.
“I do know guys are going to take it low. I like to take a look at leaderboards, and I do know by the point I begin tomorrow, somebody will in all probability have the lead, or another person, earlier than Hideki and I’m going out,” Morikawa stated.
“I really feel like from Gap 1 all through 18, I could make birdies, and with that mindset, it’s not about dashing, like, attending to 5-under by 9. If it comes, it comes. In the present day, I simply didn’t get off to the most well liked begin, so I simply stored grinding and giving myself probabilities. You make a number of, you get just a little momentum, and you’ve got a few par-5s coming in. It will be good to birdie 18, hopefully, as soon as later this week. That will be good.”
Regardless of rating because the fourth best gap this week, Morikawa has not been in a position to make the most of the par-5 18th, which performs severely downhill and measures greater than 660 yards. He had a terrific likelihood to match the lead on Friday, however his 12-footer slid previous the outlet on the excessive facet.
“I felt like for all the again 9, I had birdie appears to be like,” Morikawa added.
“Clearly, I made a handful, however it was simply good to see a pair drop and hit additionally, , a pair shut on 14 and 15.”
Contemplating The Sentry is a birdie barrage 12 months in and 12 months out, the event normally comes all the way down to placing. Whoever can capitalize on their alternatives will probably be in rivalry on the finish on Sunday. Morikawa is at present tenth in strokes gained placing, whereas Matsuyama is 14th. Not dangerous per se, but when considered one of these two can enhance their placing considerably over the weekend, then both one ought to have a agency grasp on the event. Curiously, Tony Finau, who has traditionally struggled on the greens, leads the sphere in strokes gained placing on the halfway level. Finau is 10-under for the championship and sits in a tie for thirteenth.
Jack Milko is a golf employees author for SB Nation’s Enjoying By. Observe him on X @jack_milko.