KAPALUA, Hawaii – Collin Morikawa has played enough against Kapalua to know that being seven shots behind Hideki Matsuyama early in the second round was no reason to panic. In fact, he almost caught the Japanese star on Friday at The Sentry.

Matsuyama played bogey-free on another beautiful Maui day in moderate winds, making seven birdies in a 10-hole stretch midway through his round and shooting an 8-under 65 for a one-shot lead over the PGA -Weekend tour season opener.

Morikawa made five straight birdies late in the scoring stretch – only one of which was longer than 5 feet – until his streak ended with a 12-foot birdie putt on the high Page missed.

He also had a 65 and expected more of the same over the weekend. The conditions are optimal for scoring and The Sentry had the best players on the PGA Tour last year.

“If you look at the leaderboard, I’m six holes behind and tied, and the guys are already lapping the field,” Morikawa said. “But like I said, I don’t tell myself that I have to be patient. I just know this golf course and know that you can make a few birdies at any time, and I just had to keep going.”

It was the eighth time Morikawa reached 65 or better at Kapalua, the most of any player since 2020, when the two-time major champion made his debut.

Matsuyama went about his business, flashing a broad smile as he hit a 35-foot birdie putt over the green on the par-3 11th. He was at 16 under 130, and there was a group of players behind him.

“I’m definitely happy with where I am,” Matsuyama said.

Ten players were separated by three shots heading into the weekend of the tournament, which only invites 2024 PGA Tour winners and the FedExCup top 50.

Corey Conners of Canada and Thomas Detry of Belgium were among them at 14-under 132, thanks to their own big finishes.

Conners hit a 40-foot eagle putt on the par-5 15th, followed by two medium birdie putts and two putts from the front of the green on the 18th hole for another birdie and a 66. Detry was tied in the final at 6 under six holes. He hit the green on the 306-yard 14th hole to 10 feet for eagle and had to settle for a par of 65 on the 18th hole.

The field averaged 68.1, skewed slightly by Davis Riley, who scored the first 80 of the season. He made four straight birdies, a tough two-putt par and then made a 9 on the 17th hole with a loss of possession on the right side on one tee shot and a second tee shot into the left hazard. The error rate was about the length of a football field.

Only four players failed to break par.

For everyone else, it was all about targeting the spots on the contoured greens leading to the hole and making money with birdies.

Sepp Straka birdied every hole on the back nine until he hit what he thought was his best shot, a 6-iron from 20 feet, only to miss the putt. He shot 65.

Eight players shot 64, a group that included Davis Thompson, who was 14 shots better than his first round of the year. Patrick Cantlay’s 64 was 10 shots better.

“Now I have to do it again,” said Cantlay, who was still eight strokes behind Matsuyama.

The group three shots behind included former US Open champion Wyndham Clark, who birdied eight of his last 10 holes. Clark argued that the low score was due to the players and not the court.

“I don’t necessarily prefer that low level, but at the same time we make courses like this look easy,” Clark said. “To be honest, it’s not that easy. There is usually a lot of wind here and we didn’t have much wind today so you will get a lot of bird views and sometimes eagle views.

“I’ve never really shot 20 under on the PGA Tour, so maybe I’ll be able to crack it this week.”

At this rate, that won’t be enough.

Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley also had a 64, marked by an eagle on the final hole and his two sons rushing onto the fairway as he walked to the 18th green. Bradley hasn’t ruled out taking part in the Ryder Cup. But that is still a thing of the future.

“We have two rounds in 2025,” he said. “So when we get to July and it looks like that, we’ll start talking, but for now I’m just going to keep doing my best.”