Sony Open 2014: Sang-Moon Bae goes low, Adam Scott and Jason Dufner in the hunt

While it’s the first full field event of the calendar year, the Sony Open is one of the more unique setups the Tour pros will face all season. Waialae Country Club is short and tight compared to most Tour layouts, particularly many of the cookie cutter TPC courses that dot the schedule. Waialae demands consistency off the tee and steady ball-striking, which are required to navigate the winding and tighter classic setup on Oahu.

But the course is also vulnerable to low numbers for those who are in form, and Sang-Moon Bae, the immensely talented 2013 winner at the Byron Nelson, took aim in Thursday’s first round. Bae was out early in the morning wave, and set a pace that would not be matched by firing a 7-under round of 63. Bae did much of his work on Waialae’s front nine, going out in 30 with five birdies, including four in the first six holes. Chris Kirk, another winner last year, came close to matching that number and is just one back at 6-under.

The superstar trio of Adam Scott, Jason Dufner, and Matt Kuchar all posted rounds under par and are right there heading into the second round. Scott and Dufner both finished 3-under, while the lanky Kuchar is one back at 2-under. Kuchar had, well, a pretty boring first loop -- bogey free with 16 pars and two red numbers at the par-5s. Scott had a comparable round, picking up birdies on the two par-5s at the end of each nine and avoiding bogey all round. Dufner, on the other hand, had a wild closing nine (Waialae’s front 9) with three bogeys, three birdies, and three pars to finish in the red next to Scott.

Those three will all be out together again in the afternoon on Friday, during Golf Channel’s primetime coverage back in the eastern U.S. As we saw on Thursday, all three have the talent to make a run to the low 60s and charge to the top of the leaderboard at a gettable Waialae. Here are the complete results from Thursday’s opening round:

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