Rory Sabbatini celebrated his 25th consecutive start in the Sony Open in Hawaii on Thursday with a five-under-par 65 giving him a share of fourth place when the first round was suspended for darkness.
Sabbatini, the South African who now plays for Slovakia, started his round with a bogey, but he made three birdies ahead of the turn to get things back on track. He started the same way on his homeward nine, but made four birdies after that, including one on the closing 18th.
Sabbatini and six other players were just one stroke behind leaders Chris Kirk and Jordan Spieth, who were on six-under.
Next best of the South Africans was MJ Daffue. The PGA Tour rookie carded a bogey-free three-under-par 67 to be in a share of 22nd, three shots off the lead. Christiaan Bezuidenhout didn’t have such a good start, however, with his four-over-par 74 containing three birdies, four bogeys and a triple-bogey. That left him in a share of 133rd and with plenty of work to do in the second round if he is to make it to the weekend.