Australia’s Marc Leishman was often termed as the Wind Warrior and on the day 1 of the Sentry Tournament of Champions, he certainly lived up to his name. 

 

 

With quite a turbulent weather that hit the Plantation Course, Leishman’s leading 6-under 67 was an incredible effort. 
Leishman strung together four birdies in a row from the seventh through the 10th holes on the par-73 Plantation Course at Kapalua on Maui.

 

 

He rolled in a 19-foot birdie putt at the 17th to take sole possession of the lead, with American Brian Harman and Venezuela's Jhonattan Vegas sharing second on 68.

 

It was a further stroke back to world number one Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler and South Korean Kim Si-Woo on 69.

 

 

"Pretty solid," Leishman said of his round in the first USPGA Tour event of the calendar year, which features a 34-player field made up of last season's tournament winners.

"I played well, drove the ball pretty well - with the exception of a couple of drives - and the putter was really, really solid.

"So, happy with eight birdies," added Leishman after a day that saw strong winds buffet some of the bigger names in the field.

 

 

Defending champion Justin Thomas, whose victory here last year marked the start of a five-win season that included his first major title and the FedEx Cup playoff crown, carded a one-under par 71.

British Open champion Jordan Spieth struggled to a two-over par 75.