Power starts strongly at Tournament of Champions

Seamus Power made a strong start to the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii, with Jon Rahm, Collin Morikawa and JJ Spaun all sharing the lead on nine under par.

FedEx Cup leader Power got off to a flyer in Maui, sinking eight birdies on his way to a five-under-par 68.

Only a third bogey on 17 would have left the Waterford man frustrated at the finish.

Morikawa and Spaun each shot bogey-free rounds of 9-under-par 64, and they share the lead with Spain's Rahm.

Rahm eagled the par-5 fifth hole on the Plantation Course at Kapalua, and he bogeyed the par-4 14th. South Korea's Tom Kim sits alone in fourth place at 8 under.

Tom Hoge, Aaron Wise, Scottie Scheffler, South Korea's Sungjae Im, Canada's Mackenzie Hughes and England's Matt Fitzpatrick are tied for fifth at 7-under.

The Tournament of Champions, which includes 39 players, is the first of 17 designated PGA Tour events with elevated purses this year. In the past, this event was limited to players who won a tournament the previous year, but the 2023 field was expanded to feature players who did not win in 2022 but did reach the Tour Championship.

Morikawa was just 2 under par at the turn before reeling off six consecutive birdies. Following two pars, he closed with another birdie at the par-5 18th hole.

He credited the strong round to start the year in part to work with two new members of his team, putting coach Stephen Sweeney and chipping coach Parker McLachlin.

"It's good to have someone that knows a lot about short game and you just kind of bounce ideas off," Morikawa said of McLachlin.

As for his work with Sweeney, Morikawa said, "I just have answers. Before when I was putting, it was like guess work. I might have putted well today and then thought I was doing something,