RESULTS: First Round, Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai

Hualālai Resort photo, Mistubishi Electric Championship, 2016.

The first round of the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai Golf Course in Ka‘upulehu-Kona took place on Thursday, Jan. 17, 2019.

The tournament began Jan. 14 and ends on Saturday, Jan. 19.

Course Setup: Par 72 / 7,107 yards

Weather: Mix of clouds and some sun with increasing southwesterly winds in the evening. High in the low 80’s and wind from the SE at 5 to 10 mph with gusts up to 20 mph.

Joe Durant, 65 (-7)
• Durant, who earned his spot in the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai via his win at the 2018 Chubb Classic, utilized eight birdies against a lone bogey on the par-4 16th en route to his opening-round 65. Durant has been a leader or co-leader after 18 holes eight times in his PGA TOUR Champions career, but has never converted one of those leads into a victory. His best finish in that situation came at the 2014 Greater Hickory Classic, where a share of the 18-hole lead gave way to a T2 finish.
• Durant’s only 18-hole lead of the 2018 season came at the Rapiscan Systems Classic, where a first-round 66 gave way to back-to-back 72s and a T7 finish.
• The 65 tied Durant’s low round at Hualalai, dating back to the opening round of the 2016 event, where his 7-under-par effort netted a one-shot lead through 18 holes. The Pensacola, Florida, native went on to finish T4 that week, marking his career-best effort in three appearances at the event.
• In 108 prior starts on PGA TOUR Champions, Durant has amassed three victories and 48 top-10 finishes, but has only finished inside the top 10 in the Charles Schwab Cup two times – 2015 (5th) and 2016 (5th).
• Durant competed in the PGA TOUR’s Sony Open in Hawaii 15 times in his career, making just five cuts and posting two top-10 finishes – including a career-best T7 in 2003

David Toms, 65 (-7)
• Toms, who made his PGA TOUR Champions debut at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai in 2017, opened the first round of the 2019 season with a bogey-free 33-33, 65.
• At Toms’ PGA TOUR Champions rookie debut, the Louisiana-native posted rounds of 69-63—132 (12-under) to finish T4 after strong winds cancelled the final round.
• In his first two starts at Hualalai Toms has notched two top-five finishes, posting 16-under 200 to finish in solo-third place in 2018 and a 12-under 132 in 2017 to finish T4.
• Toms competed in the PGA TOUR’s Sony Open in Hawaii 11 times in his career, which included a first-place finish in 2006 and an additional two top-fives (T4, 2002; T2, 2009).
• His first win on PGA TOUR Champions came last season at the U.S. Senior Open Championship at The Broadmoor Golf Club where he finished 277/-3

Miguel Angel Jiménez, 68 (-4)
• Angel Jiménez, who won the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai in 2015, posted a bogey-free 68 on Thursday to sit T3 through 18 holes of play.
• The 68 marked his second-straight bogey-free effort on PGA TOUR Champions dating back to a final-round 66 at the 2018 Charles Schwab Cup Championship.
• Jimenez won twice on PGA TOUR Champions in 2018, collecting major championship titles at the Regions Tradition and The Senior Open Championship presented by Rolex. His win at Regions marked his fifth straight year with a victory. It is the second-longest active streak on Tour, trailing only Bernhard Langer’s all-time record of 12 straight seasons with a win.

Scott Parel, 68 (-4)
• Parel, who won the 2018 Boeing Classic and Invesco QQQ Championship to earn his spot in the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai, posted a bogey-free 68 on Thursday to sit T3 through 18 holes of play.
• The 68 marked Parel’s 23rd consecutive opening round of par or better (and 19th in the 60s during that stretch) on PGA TOUR Champions in individual stroke play events, dating back to a first-round 67 at the 2018 Hoag Classic. Parel finished the 2018 season with a first-round scoring average of 68.54, which was good for third on the Champions Tour.
• Parel is one of five players making their Mitsubishi Electric Championship debuts this week. Ten players have claimed the title in their first appearances, including recent champions Jerry Kelly (2018), Miguel Angel Jiménez (2015) and Duffy Waldorf (2016). Prior to Jiménez, the last to do so was Loren Roberts (2006). Others to accomplish the feat are John Jacobs (1999), John Bland (1996), George Archer (1990), Dave Hill (1988), Peter Thomson (1985) and Orville Moody (1984).

Tournament Notes
• Defending champion, Jerry Kelly opened the day with bogeys on hole No’s. three, six and nine en route to a first-round 1-under 71 and is T21.
• Ten players posted a 3-under 69, each sitting at T5 going into the second-round.
• On opening day there were only 15 rounds in the 60s and four players who posted bogey-free rounds (David Toms, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Scott Parel and Kirk Triplett).
• 29 out of 42 player field finished round one under par.
• Bernhard Langer, 2018 Player of the Year and three-time Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai winner, posted a 70 in his first round and currently sits at T16, five shots off the lead. In his 12 appearances at Hualalai, the World Golf Hall of Famer has never posted a first round over par.
• 2018 Rookie of the Year Ken Tanigawa opened at even par, posting a 72 and is T30.
• Loren Roberts, who holds the record for the best 18-hole score at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai set in 2006 (61), is currently in last position at 42nd in the field.