Nick Taylor began his title defence at the Sony Open in Hawaii with a stellar 8-under-par 62, and the Canadian finds himself tied for the first-round lead at the PGA Tour's season-opening tournament in Honolulu.
Séamus Power carded a three-under-par first round of 67.
The Waterford man, starting on the back nine, began with two birdies and picked up a further shot on the 16th hole but gave it back on the next.
Birdies followed on the third, sixth and seventh holes but bogeys on the fourth and ninth saw the 38-year-old, ranked 163 in the world, drop out of the top ten.
After an injury-interrupted year in 2025, Power fell short in his bid to retain a full PGA Tour card but a decent finish to the season - which included a seventh place finish in the RSM Classic - saw him secure conditional PGA Tour status, which means he could be eligible to play in around 20 events.
Taylor and Kevin Roy shot bogey-free 62s at Waialae Country Club to move one-shot clear of Ben Griffin, Chris Gotterup, John VanDerLaan and South Korea's S.H. Kim
Alex Smalley, England's John Parry and Belgium's Adrien Dumont de Chassart share seventh place at 64.
Taylor began his round on the back nine and birdied five of his first eight holes. He stuck his tee shots at the par-3 11th and 17th holes to seven feet and six feet, respectively, setting up two simple birdies, before adding birdies at two, seven and nine coming in.
"I hit it great, but, again, this course fits my eye," Taylor said.
"Again, with the wind (it) was even a little more so today. Irons were really sharp and (I) was able to read the greens well."
Taylor, 37, won the tournament last year by forcing a playoff with a chip-in eagle at the 72nd hole, then defeating Colombia's Nico Echavarria on the second playoff hole.
Roy, 35, ran off four straight birdies between the eighth and eleventh holes to anchor his round. He had three top-10 finishes last season but is seeking his first PGA Tour title.
Griffin and Gotterup had breakout seasons in 2025, with Griffin claiming three titles and making the U.S. Ryder Cup team and Gotterup winning the Scottish Open.
The Sentry (previously the Sentry Tournament of Champions) had traditionally kicked off the professional golf season in the first full week of January, but the signature event was cancelled this year due to drought conditions on the island of Maui.
Instead, the season opener is a more muted affair at Waialae Country Club in in Honolulu, though 10 of the top 25 players in the Official World Golf Rankings are in the field.
Additional reporting: Reuters
