Hideki Matsuyama narrowly avoids the pilot accident at Sony
Josh Schrock
Hideki Matsuyama’s first round got off to a rough start at the Sony Open.
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Hideki Matsuyama came into this week’s Sony Open fresh off a historic win over Sentry in the season opener, looking to start the season with back-to-back wins in Hawaii.
But the 32-year-old’s week got off to a bad start on Thursday when he hit an errant tee shot on the ninth hole. Matsuyama failed to catch his driver while following him and presented to the buyers at the finish line.
Fortunately for the former Masters champion, the wayward club hit the string and missed the spectators.
The near disaster didn’t faze Matsuyama on the 517-yard Par 5.
The offline shot landed near the left boundary fence, but that was no problem for Matsuyama. He survived the crash and left his second shot just short of the green. The pitch and putt allowed him to leave the hole with a birdie en route to a three-under-par 67.
Matsuyama’s 67 was good enough to put him in a tie for 26th after Day 1. He is currently three shots behind Denny McCarthy, Harry Hall, Eric Cole, Adam Schenk, Tom Hoge, and Paul Peterson. High-profile freshman Luke Clanton, who can’t secure his Tour card with a top-five finish this week, has scored five goals to one.
The Japanese star will begin his Friday round at 12:50 pm ET along with Russell Henley (four under) and Sahith Theegala (three under).
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Golf.com Editor
Josh Schrock is a Golf writer and reporter. com. Prior to joining GOLF, Josh was the Chicago Bears insider for NBC Sports Chicago. He previously covered the 49ers and Warriors for NBC Sports Bay Area. A native Oregonian and UO alum, Josh spends his free time walking his wife and dog, thinking about how the Ducks are going to break his heart again, and trying to be as creative as possible in the trap. A true golfer, Josh will never stop trying to break 90 and will never lose faith that Rory McIlroy’s drought will end. Josh can be reached at josh.schrock@golf.com.
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