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Sony Open: The key stats of the leaders after round one at Waialae

A close look at the Strokes Gained numbers of the top performers after the opening day of the PGA Tour's first full-field tournament of 2022.

Kevin Na opened the defence of his Sony Open in style, carding a 61 to take a one-shot lead over fellow former winner Russell Henley (above) and veteran Jim Furyk.

Here we look at how the leaders performed in the various statistical categories.

Kevin Na - (9-under 61)

SG: Off The Tee - 3rd
SG: Approach - 2nd
SG: Around The Green - 38th
SG: Tee To Green - 1st
SG: Putting - 55th
Notes: Na said his iron play was "amazing" in round one and the stats back it up: he ranked 2nd in Approach, gaining 4.2 strokes on the field. His putter was only modest (+0.65 SGP) so no wonder he thought he could have broken 60.

Jim Furyk - (8-under 62)

SG: Off The Tee - 124th
SG: Approach - 17th
SG: Around The Green - 46th
SG: Tee To Green - 41st
SG: Putting - 1st

Notes: In contrast to Na, Furyk wielded a red-hot putter and that was the key to his 62. The 51-year-old veteran picked up a whopping +4.85 shots with the flatstick and said later: "I led the day off with a three-putt and from there just putted beautifully." Having a hole-in-one also helped fuel his 8-under lap of course!

Russell Henley (8-under 62)

SG: Off The Tee - 1st
SG: Approach - 13th
SG: Around The Green - 91st
SG: Tee To Green - 4th
SG: Putting - 20th
Notes: Long game was the key for Henley who ranked 1st Off The Tee and 4th Tee To Green. His putting wasn't too shabby either: he ranked 20th, a marked improvement on his seasonal SGP rank of 125th (also 105th and 138th in the previous two seasons). Henley was actually 1st for SGP when he won this event on debut in 2013.

Kevin Chappell (7-under 63)

SG: Off The Tee - 30th
SG: Approach - 35th
SG: Around The Green - 85th
SG: Tee To Green - 32nd
SG: Putting - 6th
Notes: Chappell is 193rd in SG: Putting this season but he leant on the shortstick to fuel him in round one, picking up 3.31 strokes on the Waialae greens. Otherwise he did most things well on a course he hasn't played since finishing tied 59th in 2012.

Patton Kizzire (7-under 63)

SG: Off The Tee - 68th
SG: Approach - 1st
SG: Around The Green - 37th
SG: Tee To Green - 2nd
SG: Putting - 79th
Notes: Like Na and Henley, Kizzire is another former winner (2018). He also placed in the top 10 last year. He was 3rd in both Approach and Putting when he won here four years ago and in round one his irons were again razor sharp as he topped the Approach stats. But he actually lost strokes (-0.27) with the putter despite shooting 63. "I think I had three putts inside six feet that I missed."

Michael Thompson (7-under 63)

SG: Off The Tee - 107th
SG: Approach - 31st
SG: Around The Green - 9th
SG: Tee To Green - 23rd
SG: Putting - 13th
Notes: Thompson, who was 25th here last year, 20th in 2017 and a best of 6th in 2012, was weak off the tee but impressive around and on the greens. And yet he said later: "I was hitting my driver really good in the warmup sessions so I had a lot of confidence off the tee. Could have hit a few more fairways but I think that's what propelled me to play consistent all day."

Seamus Power (7-under 63)

SG: Off The Tee - 83rd
SG: Approach - 7th
SG: Around The Green - 32nd
SG: Tee To Green - 8th
SG: Putting - 25th
Notes: Coming off a tied 15th in the Sentry Tournament of Champions (courtesy of a win at July's Barbasol Championship), the Irishman continued his hot play (four top 15s in last five starts) with his lowest lap of Waialae by three strokes. His quote that "everything was kind of in decent order" is backed up by the stats.

HaoTong Li (7-under 63)

SG: Off The Tee - 21st
SG: Approach - 8th
SG: Around The Green - 78th
SG: Tee To Green - 5th
SG: Putting - 31st

Notes: Having once been 32nd in the world, the Chinese golfer has plummeted to 460th. And yet there have been some positive recent signs such as finishing runner-up in last month's Volvo China Open last time and T14 at October's Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. He was solid in most departments in round one.

Further notes...

Cameron Smith, last week's winner and the champion here two years ago, shot 3-under 67. He was a lowly 113th for SG: Approach.

Webb Simpson, who has made the top four here for the last three seasons, also shot 3-under on day one. His short game was strong but he lost strokes on both Approach and Off The Tee.

Hideki Matusyma (-4) got the putter going (17th for SGP) but was also poor with his irons, ranking 92nd on Approach.

Hudson Swafford ranked 6th on Approach but 139th in Putting.

READ MORE: Defending champion Kevin Na cards a 61 to claim the first-round lead in the Sony Open

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