Watch Sony Open in Hawaii 2021 Live Reddit Streams Free Golf Online TV Coverage. The Sony Open is a great contrast to the previous week's Tournament of Champions, but in Round 1 on Thursday, it provided a similarly great leaderboard. Waialae Country Club is full of nuance and intrigue, but it can hardly stand up to the power of the modern game on the PGA Tour, which is why scores -- as they normally do here -- dipped into the mid- and low-60s on Thursday.
There's a three-way tie at the top as Joaquin Niemann, Jason Kokrak and Peter Malnati all shot 8-under 62 to jump in front of an eclectic six-way tie at 6 under including Jim Herman, Vaughn Taylor, Si Woo Kim, Daniel Berger, Patton Kizzire and Aaron Baddeley who are all two back. Niemann is the biggest name among those six and consequently the favorite going into Round 2 (more on that below).
After a really fun first day and a broadcast full of golf, intriguing strategy chatter and a the nice cast of characters vying for this trophy, it's time to discuss a great Round 1. Here are five takeaways from the opener in Honolulu.
1. Leaderboard look: Opposites attract, apparently, at the top of this board. Kokrak and Malnati could not be more different stylistically, but both played wonderful golf on Thursday. Kokrak probably has more staying power than Malnati just because he's the superior tee-to-green golfer, but this course also disproportionately rewards great putters, which Malnati often is. Niemann -- who chipped in at the last to join the 8-under group -- is pretty clearly superior to those two with the way he's playing right now, but I'll dive deeper into him in a second.
Other names in the top 10 that pop out are Billy Horschel (-5), Webb Simpson (-5) and Daniel Berger (-6). There are enough studs in this tournament that at least a few of them will rise to the top by the end of the week. However, this is now Niemann's tournament to lose.