Casey & Simpson atop Sony Open


England's Paul Casey and North Carolinian Webb Simpson opened with 8-under 62s to take the 18-hole lead in the Sony Open. The $5.6 million event - with $1.08 million going to the winner - started Thursday at Waialae Golf Club in Honolulu.

Casey, a 37-year-old who hasn't won since he got his first and only PGA Tour title at the 2009 Shell Houston Open, had five birdies and a bogey. Simpson, the 2012 U.S. Open champion with three other Tour titles, had the same configuration of scores, with seven of his birdies coming on his back nine after the 29-year-old from Raleigh started play on the 10th tee.

Simpson, one of a handful of players who's won majors with an anchored putter, played Thursday with a standard short stick in preparation for golf's long-putter ban that starts at the beginning of 2016. "The putts started falling," he told reporters later.

"Today was a big day for me. I was extremely nervous, first round on the PGA Tour with a short putter, but I just had a couple verses in my yardage book today that I kept reading, and I stayed calm," noted the deeply religious Simpson.

"I made a lot of putts," added the Wake Forest grad. "I didn't hit it great on the back nine, my first nine holes, but then started driving it well. If you drive it well around this golf course, you're going to give yourself opportunities. I was able to do that on the front pretty much for, really, the last 10 holes."

Casey, who attended Arizona State during a much-heralded amateur career, was surprised he played so well. "I don't know what to say," he told reporters. "I mean, I'm ecstatic. First, I'm loving being in Hawaii. I have not been here for a long time. The last time I was here was 2010 when I played in Maui, and it's just - it's great to be back."

Casey added that his accuracy with his approaches to the greens was spot-on. "A lot of pin-high iron shots today," he noted. "I've been working hard on stuff on the swing . . . the key really was the irons predominantly were pin-high, gave myself sort of a lot of 9- to 12 foot putts out there, and I holed a lot of putts.

"I can't explain it, just felt very, very comfortable with the putter, considering I have not done a massive amount of practice, and it's nice to see them going in the middle."

Trailing by one are Colombia's Camilo Villegas and Oklahoman Robert Streb. Villegas got off to a rousing start with six birdies, but could only come home with one more. Streb, winner of last year's McGladrey Classic, had seven birdies, an eagle on the par-5 ninth and two bogeys.

The 27-year-old Streb admitted he felt comfortable on the course Thursday. "I guess if you're playing well, everything is okay," said Streb, who ended up T-8 in last week's Hyundai Tournament of Champions. "Generally, hitting it where you want to, which helps . . . I guess my misses have been pretty good. I feel like I'm putting pretty good, which is always a plus."

Just two behind the co-leaders is Rory Sabbatini, while trailing by three are Australia's Jason Day, South Africa's Tim Clark, and Americans J.J. Henry, Matt Kuchar, John Peterson and Jonathan Randolph.

Defending Sony Open champion Jimmy Walker, who lost in a playoff in the Tournament of Champions to Patrick Reed (who's not playing this week), was among 11 players who started with a 66.

For all the scores, visit http://www.pgatour.com/leaderboard.html.