Calm and soft conditions early in the first round of the 2026 PGA Tour season saw the same man who reigned supreme at Waialae Country Club the year prior shoot out to the opening lead once again. Nick Taylor was flawless in the initial refrain of his Sony Open title defense as the Canadian carded a bogey-free 62 to command a share of the lead with Kevin Roy.

Taylor’s effort marked his 17 straight par-or-better round at Waialae Country Club, the last 12 coming under par. 

“I think we got lucky with the forecast this morning. I expected some more wind,” Taylor said. “I read I think Michael Kim had a tweet about the direction of the wind this year, which was pretty accurate in the sense [that] a lot of the wind is doing with the dogleg, so it felt like some of the tee shots maybe weren’t as challenging. I hit it great, but again, this course fits my eye. Irons were really sharp, and [I] was able to read the greens well.”

The five-time PGA Tour winner was in control from the onset as he rolled in two early birdies to get his year underway. A diet of pars filled his appetite for his next hour before he made the turn towards the outward half and made six birdies across his final 10 holes.

Taylor was not the only winner from the 2025 season to look the part, however, as Ben Griffin and Chris Gotterup were up to something similar, carding matching 63s to sit one back. Griffin won in his final start of 2025 at the World Wide Technology Championship, while Gotterup credited a couple of matches in TGL the last few weeks for helping him assimilate to competitive golf without a hitch.

“You never really know what the first round back is going to feel like,” Griffin said. “It’s been a couple months since I’ve competed out here. So played a decent amount at home and felt like I was playing well. When you tee up in a Tour event, it always feels a little bit different. So was really happy with my ball striking. Was happy with the way my overall game felt. Need to clean up a couple things, but overall, really happy with the way I played.”

Wind picked up in the afternoon and so did bogeys on scorecards as scoring proved to be more than one stroke more difficult by day’s end. Caught in the breeze was former tournament champion Hideki Matsuyama, who signed for a 69 alongside U.S. Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley and Jordan Spieth, both of whom fired 68s. The trio will have a quick turnaround Friday morning where they will hope to turn on the gas towards the top of the leaderboard and play themselves into weekend contention.

Leaders

T1. Nick Taylor, Kevin Roy (-8): Taylor wasn’t coming in totally cold as he traveled to South Africa last month to play in a DP World Tour event. Crediting the buildup to that tournament as a way to stay sharp, the 37-year-old arrived in Hawaii with additional friends and family and with a mindset ripe for a successful defense.

On Thursday, he played about as stress-free golf as stress-free golf can look. Taylor connected on 10 fairways, 15 greens in regulation and regularly kept the course in front of him. A certified closer, Taylor now looks to keep this going. He knows that, if he gets to Sunday with his name on the first page of the leaderboard, there is a good chance it remains in first by the end of the tournament.

“I was saying earlier, I think I kind of timed the offseason well,” Taylor said. “I didn’t want to like play nothing for four months, so I had a couple tournaments after two months off to have something to gear up towards and take time off. I felt like that was about a month before this. Geared up to that, played decent, and took what I needed from it. Yeah, felt like my game was sharp coming over here. You never know. Coming to do a course I’m comfortable with definitely helps.”

Contenders

T3. Ben Griffin, Chris Gotterup, John Vanderlaan (-7)
T6. Alex Smalley, John Parry (-6)
T8. Denny McCarthy, Kurt Kitayama, Harry Hall, Russell Henley, Nick Dunlap, Adam Svensson (-5)

In his first two seasons on the PGA Tour, Gotterup failed to gather a single top 10 finish across January, February and March. Sick of the idea of starting his season slow again, the Scottish Open winner decided to make the move to Florida this past offseason to practice more and keep his game sharp.

“I made a move this offseason down to Florida for hopefully reasons like this,” Gotterup said. “Feel like my game is in better shape just because I’ve been putting in more work at home. Yeah, me and my caddie were joking that playing TGL the last couple weeks has definitely helped me get ready for feeling some juice, and then playing in Grant Thornton and the Bahamas. I’ve played a decent amount the last couple weeks and months. Yeah, I feel like I’m in a pretty good spot.”

Gotterup’s move paid dividends on Thursday as he carded eight birdies against just one bogey to position himself one stroke behind the leaders. The big-hitting right-hander bullied Waialae CC into submission with an average driving distance north of 310 yards.

“I felt like, the last couple years, I started the tournaments really rough out of the gate,” Gotterup continued. “I loved living in Oklahoma, but 40 degrees and 40 mile an hour winds in December is not ideal for coming to Palm Springs or Hawai’i. So I just figured that was the smart move to make. One round through, it looks good. Yeah, it’s tough leaving a place you call home for a little while. Yeah, got a new home now.”

2026 Sony Open updated picks, odds

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

Ben Griffin: 5-1Nick Taylor: 6-1Russell Henley: 8-1Chris Gotterup: 11-1J.J. Spaun: 19-1Maverick McNealy: 20-1Kevin Roy: 20-1Harry Hall: 20-1

Spaun at 19-1 is intriguing. The U.S. Open champion did not make a ton on the greens on Thursday but still came in with a 4-under 66. The price is similar to the pretournament number, and his ball striking looked much like it did last year, which should allow him to make up ground over the next 54 holes. Berger at 45-1 should also be considered following his 66 in the much more difficult afternoon wave.