2025 Sentry scores, takeaways: Hideki Matsuyama leads, Collin Morikawa lurking one back
Hideki Matsuyama holds a one shot advantage over Collin Morikawa at the midway point of The Sentry.
At the midway point of The Sentry at Kapalua, Hideki Matsuyama sits atop the leaderboard at 16-under par. The 2021 Masters champion looked unstoppable once again on Friday, firing an 8-under 65 for the consecutive day. He relied heavily on his iron play, hitting his trademark tight draw at the flag all day. That explains why he gained more than three strokes on approach on Friday alone, which currently leads the field.
Yet, he leads Collin Morikawa, who has had plenty of success on this course over the past five years, by only a stroke.
“I haven’t played well here in a while, so it’s good to get off to a good start here,” Matsuyama said.
Once again, this tournament has turned into an absolute birdie fest, as Sunday’s winning score will likely threaten 30-under par. Kapalua has already yielded 365 birdies through 36 holes, while players have made only 79 bogies over that same span.
Part of that is because the tradewinds died on Friday, making it much easier on the field. This 59-man field produced a scoring average of 68.1 for the second round, nearly five shots under par. Thursday’s scoring average, meanwhile, was 70.7.
“I think the wind was down, obviously, first of all, so a lot easier to control the golf ball out there. The greens are perfect out here. You feel like if you get within 10, 15 feet, you got a great chance to make ‘em,” explained Tom Hoge, the first-round leader who is now 14-under.
“On top of that, I feel like the fairways are firming up, playing shorter, and you get a few shorter clubs into greens. I think you go through the golf course, and as long as you can avoid some trouble out there, there are so many scorable holes that you should make a lot of birdies out here.”
Leaderboard:
1. Hideki Matsuyama -16 — 65-65
2. Collin Morikawa -15 — 66-65
T3. Corey Conners -14 — 66-66
T3. Maverick McNealy -14 — 68-64
T3. Tom Hoge -14 — 64-68
T3. Thomas Detry -14 — 69-64
T7. Keegan Bradley -13 — 69-64
T7. Harry Hall -13 — 68-65
T7. Cameron Young -13 — 66-67
T7. Wyndham Clark -13 — 69-64
11. Sepp Straka -12 — 69-65
12. Will Zalatoris -11 — 65-70
Eight players fired rounds of 64, including Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley, who is sporting quite the mustache to begin the year. Maverick McNealy, Thomas Detry, and Wyndham Clark also carded 64s to put themselves into contention.
Morikawa, meanwhile, fired one stroke worse, but he will join Matsuyama and Corey Conners in the final pairing on Saturday. The two-time major winner did not get off to a terrific start, making the turn with a 2-under 34. He then turned up the heat on the back nine, shooting a 6-under 31 which included five consecutive birdies on holes 13 through 17.
“I know guys are going to take it low. I like to look at leaderboards, and I know by the time I start tomorrow, someone will probably have the lead, or someone else, before Hideki and I go out,” Morikawa said.
“I feel like from Hole 1 all the way through 18, I can make birdies, and with that mindset, it’s not about rushing, like, getting to 5-under by 9. If it comes, it comes. Today, I just didn’t get off to the hottest start, so I just kept grinding and giving myself chances. You make a few, you get a little momentum, and you have a couple of par-5s coming in. It would be nice to birdie 18, hopefully, once later this week. That would be good.”
Despite ranking as the fourth easiest hole this week, Morikawa has not been able to take advantage of the par-5 18th, which plays severely downhill and measures more than 660 yards. He had a terrific chance to match the lead on Friday, but his 12-footer slid past the hole on the high side.
“I felt like for the entire back nine, I had birdie looks,” Morikawa added.
“Obviously, I made a handful, but it was just nice to see a couple drop and hit also, you know, a couple close on 14 and 15.”
Considering The Sentry is a birdie barrage year in and year out, the tournament usually comes down to putting. Whoever can capitalize on their opportunities will be in contention at the end on Sunday. Morikawa is currently 10th in strokes gained putting, while Matsuyama is 14th. Not bad per se, but if one of these two can improve their putting somewhat over the weekend, then either one should have a firm grasp on the tournament. Interestingly, Tony Finau, who has historically struggled on the greens, leads the field in strokes gained putting at the midway point. Finau is 10-under for the championship and sits in a tie for 13th.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Follow him on X @jack_milko.