The Sentry Round 2: Hideki Matsuyama Goes Bogey-Free to Grab the Lead

Friday at Kapalua was a scoring party, and Hideki Matsuyama was the one who brought nothing to apologize for.

Matsuyama shot a bogey-free 8-under 65 on the Plantation Course to reach 16-under 130 and take a one-shot lead at The Sentry heading into the weekend. Collin Morikawa, who also shot 65, sits alone in second at 15 under. Corey Conners (66) and Thomas Detry (65) are tied for third at 14-under 132, and Wyndham Clark is three back. Ten players are within three shots of the top.

A Clean Card on a Soft Day

The numbers tell you how gentle the course played. The field averaged 68.1, and that figure was inflated a bit by one ugly card. Only four players failed to break par. Eight players shot 64. On a day like that, you do not win the round by surviving. You win it by never giving a shot back.

That is exactly what Matsuyama did. His round turned in the middle, where he made seven birdies in a 10-hole stretch. The highlight was the par-3 11th, where he rolled in a 35-footer across the green. Thursday's late eagle-birdie burst had already announced him. Friday's card, with zero bogeys, made him the man everyone else is chasing.

"I'm definitely satisfied with where I am," Matsuyama said, per the AP.

Morikawa Climbs Out of a Hole

Morikawa's 65 was a different kind of round. Early on, he looked like he might get lapped. Through six holes he was even par, and at one point he trailed by seven.

"When you look at the leaderboard, I'm through six holes and I'm even par and guys are lapping the field already," Morikawa said.

Then he went on a run. He birdied five straight holes late, and only one of those putts came from outside 5 feet, which says everything about how well he was hitting his irons. The streak ended on the par-5 18th, where a 12-foot birdie putt slid by on the high side. It was still his eighth round of 65 or better at Kapalua since his debut in 2020, the most of any player over that stretch, according to the PGA TOUR.

One shot is nothing on a course giving up numbers like this, and Morikawa knows this place.

Conners and Detry Find the Fast Lane

Conners' 66 had the round's loudest single moment. On the par-5 15th, Conners poured in a 40-foot eagle putt, then added two medium-range birdies and finished with a birdie on 18. That closing kick moved Conners into a share of third.

Detry was even hotter at the finish. The Belgian played his final six holes in 6 under. The big swing came on the 306-yard 14th, where he drove the green and holed a 10-footer for eagle. For a player still chasing his first TOUR title, sitting two back of Matsuyama with 36 holes to go is a real opportunity.

The 64 Club

Patrick Cantlay was 10 shots better than in the opening round and posted 64, though still eight back. "Now I need to do it again," Cantlay said.

Davis Thompson matched that 64, a whopping 14 shots better than Thursday. Keegan Bradley also shot 64 and capped it with an eagle on the last, with his two sons running onto the fairway to greet him. Bradley, the U.S. Ryder Cup captain, has not ruled out playing on his own team and said he would reassess by July. "We're two rounds into 2025," he said.

Clark may have had the hottest finish of anyone, birdieing eight of the last 10 holes to get within three, and the former U.S. Open champion is thinking big. "I've never really shot 20 under on the PGA TOUR, so maybe I can break it this week," Clark said. Sepp Straka joined the low-round party with a 65 of his own.

The One That Got Away

Every birdie-fest needs a cautionary tale, and Davis Riley wrote it. Riley made four straight birdies, then made a 9 on the 17th after losing a ball off the tee and hitting the second tee shot into the hazard left. The result was an 80, the first of the 2025 season, and the main reason the field average was not even lower.

It is a reminder that even with some of the widest fairways the TOUR sees all year, Kapalua bites when you get careless.

The Weekend Setup

Matsuyama has the lead, a clean card and a putter that is suddenly behaving. Morikawa has the momentum and the course history. Conners and Detry have the closing stretch they just played. With a forecast calling for moderate wind over the weekend and a field that has already shown it can go low, nobody inside that three-shot window is out of it.

What we know after Friday: one shot separates the top two, and Saturday will reward whoever keeps the card cleanest.

Catch up on how Thursday unfolded in our Round 1 recap. Full scoring is on the official PGA TOUR leaderboard (opens in a new tab), and the TOUR's Round 2 recap (opens in a new tab) has more details.

Sources: PGA TOUR (Round 2 recap and leaderboard), AP. More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: PGA TOUR.