Seamus Power chipped some winter rust off his game when he eagled his final hole of the day to open with a level par 70 in the Sony Open in Hawaii.

Making his first appearance on the PGA Tour since undergoing elbow surgery in November, the West Waterford man (33) opened with a birdie on the 10th at Waialae Country Club but bogeyed the 16th and 17th and then three-putted the second to slip to two-over par.

While he was hitting the ball well off he tee, his iron play was understandably rusty after a 10-week layoff and he was unable resolve all his problems with his short game, taking 32 putts.

However he repaired some of the damage at the 501-yard ninth when he hit a 207-yard approach to 17 feet and rolled in the putt for eagle.

His 70 left him tied for 99th, two shots outside the projected cut mark and 10 strokes behind Peter Malnati, Jason Kokrak and last week’s Sentry Tournament of Champions runner-up Joaquin Niemann, who shot eight-under 62’s to lead by two shots from a six-strong group. Scores

2021 Sony Open in Hawaii

(14th of 50 events in the 2020-21 PGA TOUR Season)

Honolulu, HI January 14-17, 2021 Purse: $6,600,000 ($1,188,000) Waialae Country Club Par/Yards: 35-35—70/7,044 500 FedExCup points to winner

First-Round Notes – Thursday, January 14, 2021

Weather: Partly cloudy. High of 80. Wind ENE 10-15 mph, gusting to 18 mph.

First-Round Leaderboard

Peter Malnati 62 (-8)

Jason Kokrak 62 (-8)

Joaquin Niemann 62 (-8)

Six players 64 (-6)

Things to Know

• Peter Malnati, Jason Kokrak and Joaquin Niemann share the first-round lead after rounds of 8-under 62.

• It marks the third time there have been three scores of 62 or better in a round at the Sony Open in Hawaii (since 1983). The other times were 2015 (second round) and 2017 (second round).

• Justin Thomas (59/2017) is the only player to shoot 62 or better in the opening round of the Sony Open in Hawaii and go on to win.

• Defending champion Cameron Smith opens with a 3-under 67 in his bid to become the fifth player to win back-to-back at the Sony Open in Hawaii.

• Harris English posts opening-round 70 in attempt to join Ernie Els (2003) and Justin Thomas (2017) as the only players to win the Sentry Tournament of Champions and Sony Open in Hawaii in the same season

  
  

Peter Malnati (-8/T1)

• His 8-under 62 matches his career-best round on the PGA TOUR (9-under 62, R2/2020 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open)

• Has four rounds of 63 or better this season, the most by a player on TOUR. He did not shoot 63 or better in his first 450 rounds on TOUR; he has four such scores in his last 16 rounds.

• Needed just 21 putts on Thursday, tied for a career best (R1/2017 RBC Canadian Open)

• This is the second time he is a first-round leader/co-leader (Last: 2020 Bermuda Championship/T21)

• Entering this week, made 140 starts since he won the 2015 Sanderson Farms Championship, his only PGA TOUR win

  
  

Jason Kokrak (-8/T1)

• His 8-under 62 matches his career-best round on the PGA TOUR (8-under 62, R2/2017 AT&T Byron Nelson)

• He’s a first-round leader/co-leader for the third time and first since the 2019 BMW Championship (T19)

• On Thursday, Kokrak made five putts from outside 10 feet and was 7th in Strokes Gained: Putting (1.61). When he won THE CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK in October, he led the field in Strokes Gained: Putting and made a career-best 14 putts from outside 10 feet.

  
  

Joaquin Niemann (-8/T1)

• A week after losing in a playoff at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, Niemann chipped-in for eagle on the par-5 18th to earn a share of the first-round lead at 8-under

• He is a first-round leader/co-leader for the second straight week and third time overall

• He is 33-under par in 90 holes played so far in the 2021 calendar year. He has made birdie or better on 43% (39 of 90) of his holes played in his last five rounds on TOUR.

• He leads the field in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee (1.40) and Strokes Gained: Tee to Green (2.38)

  
  

Additional Player Notes

• A year after finishing runner-up, Brendan Steele opened with a 5-under 65 and is T10

• Sepp Straka (-1/T72) made two putts from over 50 feet (10th hole/58' 10", 14th hole/59' 5"), two of the three longest putts made in his career. Straka joins Michelle Wie West (R2/2004) as the only players to make multiple putts from over 50 feet in a round at Waialae Country Club since 2004 (7th hole/58' 8", 11th hole/52' 5")

• With 198' 1" of putts made Thursday, Straka is the second player to make more than 190 feet of putts in a round at Waialae Country Club since 2004 (Scott Langley/2013 1st Rd/198' 8")

• Cameron Smith posted an opening-round 67 in his title defense; can join the following players who have won back-to-back at the Sony Open: Hubert Green (1978, 1979), Corey Pavin (1986, 1987), Ernie Els (2003, 2004), Jimmy Walker (2014, 2015)

• Harris English carded a first-round 70; hoping to join Ernie Els (2003) and Justin Thomas (2017) as players to win the Sentry Tournament of Champions and Sony Open in Hawaii in the same season

• Charles Howell III recorded an opening-round 67 in his 20th start at the Sony Open in Hawaii; has 10 top-10 finishes and has not missed a cut in 19 starts at the Sony Open in Hawaii; is the all-time earnings leader at the event despite not having won it ($2,948,281)

• World No. 118 and former top-ranked amateur Takumi Kanaya of Japan posted an even-par 70 Thursday; making his second Sony Open in Hawaii start (MC/2019) as a sponsor exemption

• 2018 Punahou School (Honolulu, Hawaii) graduate and current University of San Diego golfer Evan Kawai won the Sony Open amateur qualifier to achieve a childhood dream to play in the Sony Open; he opened this week with a 74

  
  

Bogey-free rounds:

R1 (12): Jason Kokrak (62), Vaughn Taylor (64), Jim Herman (64), Si Woo Kim (64), Billy Horschel (65), Nick Taylor (66), Emiliano Grillo (66), Cameron Smith (67), Charles Howell III (67), Grayson Murray (67), Sungjae Im (68), Sam Ryder (68)