Henley on top in Hawaii

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Russell Henley carded a eight under 65 to earn the lead at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions on Friday.

Henley’s round puts him one stroke ahead of Bae Sang-Moon at the Plantation Course at the Kapalua Resort in Hawaii.

The American, who qualified for the event due to his Honda Classic win last March, got off to a flyer, rolling in two birdies in his first three holes.

Henley then went on a three-hole birdie run from the fifth to the seventh. He also kept it tidy on the back nine, sinking three more birdies including a four on the par five 18th.

“I kept the ball in front of me pretty decent today and didn’t scare too many chances at bogey,” revealed the 25-year-old on espn.go.com.

“But my main thing was obviously I putted great and was seeing the lines today. If I can putt like that every day, I would probably have a few more wins. I always putted pretty well. Since I started hitting the ball better … I’ve been playing better golf. And definitely, I think as the swing has gotten better, it has made me play more consistently.”

Meanwhile, Bae enjoyed an impressive run of five birdies on the front nine, with a bogey on the par three 11th being the only blemish on his card

“A little bit hard to focus on my game because I got a little trouble,” said the South Korean.

“But I try to split things. But I don’t want to think about it, the other things on the course. So yeah, I think I did really good today. I really want to the next three days, also.”

The chasing pack includes 2014 WGC-Cadillac Championship winner Patrick Reed as well as fellow Americans Matt Kuchar and Zach Johnson on six under, two shots off the pace.

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