Paul Peterson is tied for the lead at the Sony Open for the first time on the PGA Tour

HONOLULU — The Sony Open is a stop on the PGA Tour where introductions line up, and Paul Peterson is making a first impression. He opened with a 6-under 64 and shared the lead with five others Thursday on a great day at Waialae.

Harry Hall, Denny McCarthy and Eric Cole, who all started early in Hawaii last week at Kapalua, also opened with 64s along with Adam Schenk.

Tom Hoge, who was tied for eighth at Kapalua, had a 64 on the afternoon in a round that included two eagles. Hoge’s second was described as a gift — an effortless 8-iron from 189 yards that hit the pin and landed in the cup.

“I was hoping it would go down before it went behind the green,” he said.

Hideki Matsuyama, who is coming off a par at Kapalua, birdied two of the last three holes for a 67. You are trying to be the third player to sweep Hawaii’s swing.

Peterson is no ordinary rookie.

The rest from Oregon State have five passport books with stamps from 44 countries. He holds six tour cards around the world, not including a small trip to Arizona and the Dakotas when he was just starting out.

“Even if I feel like a rookie, no,” Peterson said. “I’ve traveled a lot. I’ve seen a lot of golf in a lot of places. I feel like all of that helped prepare me to get here. … Do I wish I was here sooner? Yes. But do I regret the experiences I’ve had along the way?

The Sony Open is the first full-field tournament of the year on the PGA Tour, attracting a large contingent of rookies and Korn Ferry Tour graduates.

Peterson finally returned home with a top-30 finish on the Korn Ferry Tour, including a win in Tennessee. He had been feeling good all week, and had such a good session on Tuesday that he wanted the tournament to start a day early.

The wait didn’t hurt him. He had a drive and three birdies on eight holes while putting his 7-wood into the cool, hot air on the 5-by-5-foot hole for eagle. With birdies on two of the next three holes — six straight 3s on his card — he became the first player to reach 7 under.

A couple of soft bogeys followed, and Peterson followed with another 7-wood to two-putt birdie distance on the closing par-5 hole to join the rest.

Peterson left Oregon State and tried the Canadian tour before getting his card on the Asian Tour. He earned his first Czech Masters victory over Thomas Pieters on the European Tour, added another title in Myanmar and thought membership on the Japan Golf Tour might help him break into the world’s top 100.

He didn’t hit that high — No. 120 was much better — and he’s yet to play a big game.

But the travel, the different situations within the ropes and the culture of the night helped him to improve. And there were a few memories along the way. No one was better than in 2015, when he got an exemption from the KLM Open.

“Tom Watson did his last European tour and we left at two on Sunday,” said Peterson. “It was so much fun. He was the coolest. He signed a golf ball for me.”

The trip also informs him that he does not have a good temper. When it hit Oregon, he didn’t play. He has a home in Arizona and the conditions were very pristine. So he moved to Sea Island off the coast of Georgia in northern Florida, where he also had a lot of action with several PGA Tour players.

So yes, he is a rookie. He doesn’t feel like himself, and he doesn’t seem human.

Cole, McCarthy and Schenk all played bogey-free. Hall, from England, had a stressful time, at least when he didn’t make 10 birdies. The 27-year-old, who played college golf at UNLV and now lives in Las Vegas, took two shots out of the hole on No. 8 to get a double bogey that slowed his momentum.