For many of us northerner's caught in the grips of winter and back into the daily grind of 2016 it is always ray of warmth to turn on the telly and watch the 32 lucky pros who are invited by Hyundai to bring their families to beautiful Kapalua, Hawaii, to play the magnificent Plantation Course built on the side of a mountain with it's stunning vista's including the magnificent whales who seem to come to entertain us every year.
In near perfect conditions two of the young guns who need no introduction, and who will be the backbone of the American Ryder Cup team for years to come were paired together and are on top of the leaderboard.
Defending champion Patrick Reed hit a 3 wood some 300 yards onto the 18th green and holed the eagle putt to shoot -8 65 for a one shot lead over Jordan Spieth who had 7 birdies for -7 66.
You'll remember they were the bright spot in the American team that took such a drubbing at Gleneagles with their enthusiasm and their 2-0-1 record as partners, and they have a history with each other on tour as well, both winning over the other in playoffs.
While Speith won all the spoils last year, Reed hasn't won since Kapalua last season although as I have been writing here every week, he was very impressive at the end of 2015 with 6 T10's as he travelled to Asia and played the Race to Dubai in five different countries.
Brandt Snedeker, J.B. Holmes and Danny Lee are at -6 67, while rapidly improving Fabian Gomez of Argentina is -5 68. Snedeker is one who came with his family a week early and he looked more like his old self, holing putts confidently with that little pop stroke of his, while Holmes, dressed like a beefy daffodil was smashing the ball tremendous distances on the wide open fairways that are part of this hilly course.
Jason Day looked a little rusty, not a surprise since he has not played in three months could only manage a -3 70 as only seven players of the 32 winners from last year didn't break par.
Although he has a flakey reputation on tour, Bubba Watson is simply worth the price of admission, especially on a course like this with all of it's elevation changes and wide open fairways. He never hits a shot straight, and with the advent of pro tracer it helps us see how he and his caddie have decided to attack every hole.
On the par 5 15th some 555 yards, he smashed a drive nearly 400 yards, bounding down the fairway and leaving him a flip wedge onto the green for an easy birdie. He is such a throw back in an era of automated perfect swings, with his wide open stance, his ability to use his hands, knees, hips and shoulders with innate timing that produce such a stunning array of shots, unlike any of his current peers.
Bryan Angus
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