KAILUA-KONA — The wind was out in full force Thursday at the Hualalai Golf Course, but that didn’t stop two former winners from having a birdie-filled day at the PGA Tour Champions opening tournament.
Miguel Angel Jimenez made three consecutive birdies on the 13th, 14th and 15th holes to finish with a bogey-free 8-under 64 and tie Bernhard Langer in the first round of the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai on Thursday.
Langer, a three-time champion at Hualalai, finished the day with nine birdies and Jimenez, the 2015 tournament winner, finished the day with eight. Jimenez said the course at Hualalai “fits his game” and his familiarity with the fairways and greens allowed him to take the early lead, despite the less than ideal conditions.
“I missed just a couple of shots, but I’m not used to the distance,” Jimenez said. “I made good ups-and-downs, and then chances for birdies. I made my birdies, and here we are.”
Both Jimenez and Langer finished the first round with birdies on the 18th hole.
“Is it nice to be back here? That’s the understatement of the year,” Langer, who won the tournament in 2009, 2014, and 2017, said. “This is my favorite event, not just because of the golf course, but because of everything.”
Jimenez and Langer will enter the second round at Hualalai on Friday one stroke ahead of Woody Austin, who finished the first round with a 7-under 65.
Austin, who had his best round in his three years of playing at Hualalai Golf Course, credited the wind for his success on the first day this year.
“I need the wind, so I’m glad the wind picked up,” Austin said. “The only chance I have early in the year is for the conditions to be tough. I’m only in the second week of getting back to playing, so my game’s not sharp. But if you throw the wind in there so I don’t have to make normal, full swings? I love to play with the golf ball.
“As long as I’m allowed to tinker with it, I can keep the ball in play.”
Austin had only one bogey in the first round, which came in the front nine on the second hole, and shot two eagles and three birdies.
“You don’t see two eagles in a day and all that,” Austin said. “It’s the rarity that you always ask for. There’s many, many times that you play better than you score. This was the rarity where I scored way better than I played.”
Defending champion Tom Lehman finished with a 1-under 71 and tied for 25th next to Sandy Lyle, Jay Haas, Fred Funk, and Colin Montgomerie.
PGA Tour Champions and Hualalai Golf Course newcomer Ernie Els started the day strong with a birdie on the par-4 first hole, and but two bogeys and a double bogey on the fifth hole had him finish at an even-par score of 72.
Retief Goosen finished 5-under 67 and Doug Barron finished 4-under 68 for their first rounds at the tournament.
Langer, who said he still plans on playing at the Masters this coming April, has hope he can hold onto the lead in the second round Friday and maybe win a fourth title at Hualalai, even with the younger golfers joining the tournament.
“Obviously I’m 62, so getting up there in age,” Langer said. “There’s young guys coming out like Ernie Els and Retief Goosen and many others who hit it 20, 30, maybe 40 by me. So it’s going to get harder, but I still believe that I can improve and compete at a high level.”
