KAPALUA, Hawaii – Patton Kizzire was more than happy to talk about his first PGA TOUR ace before his first round was over at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. The two-time TOUR winner became somewhat of a pioneer when he fronted up to chat about his 186-yard 7-iron on the par-3 8th hole which bounced just short of the cup before hopping up and in. While mid-round interviews have been conducted on the PGA TOUR Champions before it is a rare occurrence on the PGA TOUR. Maybe not so anymore. Kizzire chatted to Golf Channel’s Aaron Oberholser on the 15th fairway. “I was just trying to hit the green. The toughest part is judging the wind,â€� he said of his ace before signing for a 4-under 69 and share of sixth. “It was pretty sweet.â€� Players have the choice of making themselves available or not for the walking quick fire chats intended to bring a better experience to the viewers. Playing with Kizzire was Marc Leishman who had surged he way to one shot off Kevin Tway’s lead when he provided a few mid-round soundbites. The Australian, who led after the first round a year ago, attributed his scoring to his driving. He then promptly went to the 17th tee box and wildly blocked his ball into a native area, leading to a double bogey. He refused to blame the talk as a distraction or jinx. “Nah that was just me, that was just a crap shot,â€� Leishman joked after his 5-under 68 left him fifth. “I do (those type of interviews) in Australia every year; I think it’s cool as it gives good access for the fans. “I’m certainly not blaming my bad shot on it as it was walking up to 16 green so it wasn’t as though it was right before (that tee shot). “No one is going to blame an interview if they go birdie, birdie, birdie.â€� Another to get a taste of the chat was defending champion Dustin Johnson who pieced together a 6-under 67 to be tied second just one shot back. “It was fine. I don’t like pre-round interviews and such normally but hey we are in Hawaii,â€� Johnson said. “Now if we were at Augusta maybe I wouldn’t do it but it’s okay.â€� MUST-READS Tway taps in to Kapalua memories
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