Tom Hoge birdied four of his first five holes on his way to a nine-under opening round of 64 as he secured a one-stroke lead at The Sentry in Hawaii.
The 35-year-old American registered 10 birdies and one bogey, at the sixth, to nudge ahead of countryman Will Zalatoris
and Japan's Hideki Matsuyama on day one of the opening event of the 2025 PGA Tour season.
Matsuyama's move up the leaderboard came courtesy of a stunning birdie-eagle-birdie streak across holes 14 to 16 on the back nine; Collin Morikawa, Cameron Young and Canada's Corey Conners are bunched one further back at seven under in in a tie for third.
Xander Schauffele, a two-time major winner in 2024 and the highest-ranked player in the field, carded a disappointing opening round of 72, seeing him eight off the lead at one-under-par.
Defending champion Chris Kirk shot a 74 with two double-bogeys and is back near the bottom of the leaderboard in a tie for 48th place.
The Sentry brings together 31 PGA Tournament winners and 29 players who finished inside the top 50 FedEx Cup standings last year.
World No 1 Scottie Scheffler was ruled out after undergoing surgery to repair a hand injury sustained while cooking Christmas dinner.
Overnight leader Hoge, meanwhile, enjoyed some time off from golf as he became a father for the first time in December.
"There wasn't a whole lot of play or practice the last few months," he said. "I think when we kind of start off the year, expectations aren't as high, you don't know where the game's at.
"I feel like I'm maybe a little bit freer out here on the golf course, just because you shake off the bad shots a little bit easier and just chalk it up for being January."
Watch the second round of The Sentry, live on Sky Sports Golf from 6pm on Friday or stream with NOW.
