In a sharp reversal of form after missing his first five cuts of the 2019-2020 wrap-around season, Ted Potter finds himself in a tie for second after posting a 3-under-par 67 in the first round of the Sony Open in Hawaii.

    Ted wound up the windy afternoon at Waialae Country Club  two strokes behind Collin Morikawa, who fired his 65 early in the day and waited for hours before seeing his round hold up against the 144-man field. Matt Jones, Ryan Palmer and Sam Ryder are the other three involved in the deadlock for second with Ted. There are 10 more deadlocked at 2 under and another 15 at 1 under. The early projected cut came at plus 2 and there are 87 players within that number.

    Ted played the back nine first and made a quick bogey on No. 11. But he birdied the par-4 12th to get back to even and was never over par again for the rest of the round. He saved par on No. 15 by making a putt of 14 feet, 5 inches, then closed out the nine with his second birdie when he hit the par-5 in two and made a putt of 3 feet. 

    On the front nine, Ted went to 2 under on No. 3 after hitting his second to within six feet of the hole, then got it to minus 3 with a birdie on the par-4 fifth. At the time, he had moved up to third place all alone. A three-putt green from 46 feet, 5 inches on No. 7 slowed him down temporarily, but Ted got that one back on his final hole when he hit the par-5 ninth in two with a 228-yard iron from a fairway bunker and two-putted from 45 feet, 7 inches. 

    Ted hit 9 of 14 fairways and 11 of 18 greens. But he tied for 5th in the scrambling department, which led directly to his high finish. 

    Defending champ Matt Kuchar had a see-saw day and finished at 1 under. Gators: Brian Gay, 2 over, tied for 63rd; Matt Every, 3 over, tied for 88th. Seminoles: Daniel Berger, even, tied for 31st; Hank Lebioda, 3 over, tied for 88th.  

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