HONOLULU – A month away from turning 53, Vijay Singh showed Thursday in the Sony Open why he doesn’t spend a lot of time with players his own age.

Singh made birdie on his last two holes in gorgeous weather near the shores of Waikiki for a 7-under 63 and a share of the early lead with Ricky Barnes and Morgan Hoffmann. It was Singh’s best score at Waialae by two shots and his lowest opening round in more than three years.

Barnes made four straight birdies at the turn and closed with an up-and-down from behind the green on the par-5 18th, while Hoffman holed a 25-foot eagle putt on his final hole at the par-5 ninth to join the early leaders.

Si Woo Kim of South Korea was another shot back, while Luke Donald and Sean O’Hair were in the group at 65.

Singh won the Sony Open in 2005 when he was No. 1 in the world, a year after the former Masters and PGA champion turned in a nine-win season on the PGA Tour. But he hasn’t won since the Deutsche Bank Championship in 2008, which effectively wrapped up the FedEx Cup.

The big Fijian has been around long enough to realize that a good start is nothing more than that.

“I’ve been playing really well,” he said. “I just haven’t produced the scores. I feel I’m playing well, and see what the next three days bring.”

It helped to hole some long putts, and Singh knocked in a 50-footer for birdie on his third hole. He added a pair of 20-foot birdie putts and a 30-foot birdie putt. More than a good day on the greens, and some solid scrambling at the start, was a book.

He said his body feels better than it has in years, which certainly helps. But he found a book that he has carried with him for the last 20 years that he began reading.

“I haven’t read it for the last 10 years,” he said. “So I picked it up yesterday and started reading a few things that I’ve been doing, and it’s just a different mindset. Golf swing has been the same (so) become a lot more aggressive this year. That’s the plan, to attack the golf course instead of just trying to put it in the fairway and trying to make a good swing.”

The name of the book?

“I can’t tell you,” he said. “I’d have to kill you.”

He laughed.

It was easy to be in good spirits in the warm sun of Oahu and a 63 on his card. Singh is stick around next week for the Champions Tour opener on the Big Island. That’s what of his rare ventures onto the 50-and-older circuit, where he has played only six times since he became eligible in 2013.

Barnes and Hoffman are both trying to win for the first time, and one has been at it a lot longer than the other. Barnes has gone 205 starts on the PGA Tour since he turned pro without winning. He was runner-up at the 2009 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black, and he’s had three third-place finishes in his career.

He had to return to Web.com Tour Finals to get his card back, but making it through and getting off to a reasonable start in the fall were indications that his game was on the right path. He changed coaches 18 months ago to get away from relying on his athleticism to find something more repeatable.

“Some things would click for a round, and then they would kind of go away,” he said. “But I felt like the stuff we are working on now is here to stay.”

Donald made headlines in Britain recently for sharing his thoughts about wanting to quit the game because of the struggles that knocked him from No. 1 in the world to No. 50. He said he was frustrated at the lack of progress, though his wedge game looked sharp at the Sony Open, and that’s the key to getting back in the right direction.

“Those are some fleeting thoughts seven or eight months ago,” he said. “I was feeling a bit down about my game, and I think I was in Memphis in a hard place. And my wife at the time was in Paris with Michael Jordan. I was just thinking I need to be in a higher place in Memphis right now while she’s in Paris. That was just putting it in context.”

Canada’s David Hearn shot 65 and has a share of 9th.

Tim Clark, in his first event since the anchored stroke for long putters was banned, opened with a 66.

Robert Allenby, returning to the Sony Open after a bizarre episode last year that left him with a bloodied forehead, no wallet or cellphone and no memory of what happened, hit his first tee shot out-of-bounds onto the driving range, made triple bogey and played even par the rest of the way for a 73.

JOHANNESBURG – Justin Walters made birdie on the last hole to take a one-shot lead after the first round of the European Tour’s Joburg Open on Thursday.

The South African made his sixth birdie of the day on No. 18 for a 7-under 65 on the East Course at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington. That gave Walters a narrow advantage over six men tied for second on 6 under.

That tie includes English pair Anthony Wall and David Howell, and Zimbabwe’s Mark Williams, who all carded 65s on the easier par-71 West Course.

Also tied for second are Haydn Porteous and Swedes Johan Carlsson and Michael Jonzon.

After missing the cut at the South African Open last week, Ernie Els opened with a 1-under 70 on the West to be tied for 69th.

HONOLULU – Jordan Spieth has an endorsement with another major company, signing on as a brand ambassador for Coca-Cola.

Spieth is No. 1 in the world and is coming off an eight-shot victory to start the new year. The Masters and U.S. Open champion has his second endorsement with a Fortune 100 company. He also has a corporate deal with Dallas-based AT&T.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Spieth last year rose to the top of golf with two majors and the Tour Championship, which Coca-Cola sponsors, that gave him the FedEx Cup title and a $10 million bonus.

The partnership with Coca-Cola will cross all forms of advertising, including the “6-Pack of Olympians and Paralympians” leading up to the Rio Games. Golf is back in the Olympics for the first time since 1904.

Proud to join Team @CocaCola and partner with such an iconic American brand. https://t.co/Nf3dhz9fCU

— Jordan Spieth (@JordanSpieth) January 13, 2016

Motivated by his growing family and feeling better than he has in more than a year, Graham DeLaet is happy to be back on the PGA Tour.

The Canadian golfer will be in the field this week at the Sony Open in Honolulu, along with countrymen David Hearn, Nick Taylor, and Adam Hadwin.

DeLaet, who turns 34 this month, played three events in late 2015 as part of the PGA Tour’s Fall Series – the official start of the 2015-’16 PGA Tour season – and earned US$52,795.

After his final putt dropped at the Sanderson Farms Championship in November, the native of Weyburn, Sask., rushed home to more important matters. His wife, Ruby, gave birth to twins – Roscoe Fawce and Lyla Victoria – on the Tuesday after the tournament concluded.

DeLaet admitted he wasn’t grinding on the driving range after his kids were born, but he has played a few rounds with friends near his home in Scottsdale, Ariz.

“The last couple of weeks when I was home, my wife and I talked and I was like, ‘`I have to get working again, it has to happen,”’ DeLaet explained. “My game is feeling pretty good. Right after Christmas is when I got pretty serious again and did a lot of work in those few weeks.”

Now, DeLaet begins a new routine as both a professional golfer and a father. His trip to Hawaii was the first without his children.

“I was so lucky that they were born when they were and I was able to hang out with them for the first two months of their lives. It was tough to leave them, that’s for sure,” he said. “It’s pretty fun though. You have to be selfish as a professional golfer, and for the first time in my life I’m not being selfish and it’s pretty nice.”

DeLaet has also been able to recover from injuries he suffered last summer. A thumb injury forced him to withdraw from the RBC Canadian Open, miss the PGA Championship, and cause him to limit his schedule to 22 events – his lowest total since 2012.

He earned $988,349 for his efforts in 2015 with three top-10 finishes. But it was the first time since 2011 (when he suffered a serious back injury and only played in two tournaments) that he didn’t crack the $1-million mark.

“It was frustrating for sure,” he said. “It was not ideal timing by any means. It was disappointing for it to happen when it did.”

Now fully healthy, DeLaet said his biggest goal of the year is to represent Canada at the Olympics.

“It would be amazing, honestly,” he explained. “No matter who goes for Canada, it’ll be a great team. But I want to be on that team, 100 per cent.”

He sits second in the qualification standings behind Hearn, who is coming off his best season on the PGA Tour. The top two Canadian men in the Official World Golf Rankings at a certain point later this year will be Rio-bound, along with the top two women.

Taylor and Hadwin admit they have similar Olympic aspirations. Both sit within shouting distance of Hearn and DeLaet’s current standing.

“(The) Olympics are definitely a huge goal for me this year,” said Taylor. “I put myself in a position to make a run up the world rankings and hopefully have a chance heading into the summer. It would be an amazing experience.”

Hadwin concurs.

“(I want to) go out each week, put myself in contention and see what happens from there. If the Olympics happen for me this year, then I know I’ll be having a great year,” he said.

Hadwin and Taylor state they feel confident this year – their second season as full-time Tour members. Hearn and DeLaet, meanwhile, are both entering their seventh year on Tour.

And with a renewed sense of excitement on and off the course, DeLaet is eager to get things started.

“There’s a lot of pressure no matter what when you’re playing on the PGA Tour, but I know it’s going to be a lot easier if I play a poor round and my wife is there with our two kids and I can pick them up and hold them,” he said. “I think it’ll erase how bad rounds might feel pretty quickly. I want to play well for them.”

CALGARY – Alberta Golf has announced the launch of She Swings She Scores, a program designed to introduce girls aged 6-12 to the sport of golf. She Swings She Scores focuses on girls currently participating in hockey by encouraging them to switch their hockey sticks for golf clubs at local hockey tournaments and community events. The goal of the program is to bring golf directly to girls and provide opportunities for players and teammates to learn the sport together in a fun, safe and developmental environment.

“Our goal over the next four years is to spark an interest in girls to try golf, bringing more of this key demographic into a game for life,” explains Matt Rollins, Executive Director/CEO at Alberta Golf.

Alberta Golf will set up an onsite hitting station and kiosk at hockey tournaments, where girls can try using golf clubs, enter in contests and get free swag. In addition to introducing the girls to golf, the program will educate parents and coaches about the Learn to Golf Field Trip Program.

“This initiative is a model for collaboration and partnership across provincial sport organizations in support of underrepresented and marginalized group’s participation in sport opportunities,” says Aaron Lavorato, Sport Consultant at Alberta Sport Connection. Support for the sport program is provided by Sport Canada and Alberta Sport Connection.

The first She Swings She Scores event will take place at The Olds Sport Complex in Olds on January 15th, 2016. For more information, click here or contact angela@albertagolf.org.

KAPALUA, Hawaii – Robert Allenby returned to paradise with hopes of putting a nightmare behind him.

Allenby has missed the Sony Open only three times in his 17 years on the PGA Tour, and this would have been an acceptable occasion to miss. He went from victim of what he first described as a robbery and kidnapping to the butt of jokes over a bizarre night in Honolulu that left him with a bloodied forehead and no memory of what happened.

So why bother going back?

“I’ve got so many great memories here that I wasn’t going to let one bad one interrupt it,” he said Sunday night after checking into the Kahala Hotel at Waialae Country Club. “I also thought for my own well-being that maybe I could come here and face it and put some closure on what happened last year.”

He had dinner at the hotel with friends and already has his dining plans laid out for the week.

“Room service and (hotel) restaurant,” he said.

The 44-year-old Australian last year missed the cut in the first full-field event of the year, and then went to Amuse Wine Bar with his caddie and a friend. He recalls golf fans recognizing him and wanting a photo. He said police surveillance shows him leaving the restaurant. And that was it.

Whatever happened that night – Allenby says he still doesn’t remember anything during a 2½-hour window – it might have gone unnoticed except that Allenby posted a photo his private Facebook page of a bloody scrape on his head and a swollen eye.

Then came the tale of being tossed from the trunk of a car. Allenby said he was told that by a homeless woman who helped him escape from the park after his story was questioned. A homeless man said he saw Allenby pass out and hit his head on a rock.

He was found unconscious about a block from the restaurant.

Golf Channel cited unidentified sources at a strip club that Allenby ran up a $3,400 tab at Club Femme Nu. However, Honolulu Police Det. John McCarthy said the report was not true and the police investigation showed Allenby was never in the strip club.

Allenby believes someone slipped a date-rape drug into his drink at the restaurant when he was taking photos, which he said explains the memory loss.

A month after the incident, police arrested a Hawaii man for using Allenby’s credit cards. Owen Harbison was sentenced in August to five years.

Through it all, his reputation didn’t help.

He is renowned for a fierce temper on the golf course. Allenby once claimed Anthony Kim was out all night before the final day of the Presidents Cup – after Kim had beaten him badly in singles. He mixed it up with Geoff Ogilvy over who was to blame for a team loss in the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne two years later. And he has gone through more than a dozen caddies.

Allenby, however, said he felt as though he went from the victim to the culprit and that it marred the rest of his year.

With 21 victories worldwide – four on the PGA Tour – he made only seven cuts in 29 events and didn’t finish in the top 50 on the PGA Tour. He said he has had nightmares of being chased down a street and that he has sought help from a psychologist.

“I needed it to help overcome the stuff I’ve been dealing with,” he said.

He is using his one-time exemption from the PGA Tour career money list to play this year, so he could have just as easily started next week in the California desert. Until last week, he thought about skipping the Sony Open.

“I’ve always enjoyed coming here, and part of me just wanted to face it on the chin,” he said. “I didn’t want people to think that I wouldn’t come back. Not that I care what people think, but I wanted to come back and play well and move forward.”

Allenby remarried in October in Napa, California, the weekend before the Frys.com Open. His wife had work and did not join him on the Honolulu trip.

He has three top-10s in 14 appearances, including a runner-up finish in 2010 when Ryan Palmer beat him with a birdie on the last hole. He has missed the cut four of the last five years, but still considers Waialae a course he plays well.

“I thought long and hard about not coming,” he said. “But I said to (wife) Kym, ‘I need to go. I want to go.’ I love the golf course. The people are always so friendly to me. I know there will be media and all that, but I’m ready to move on with it. I’m not going to let it bother me. The reason I came here was to play and play well.”

CALGARY – Shaw Communications Inc. today announced it has added top-ranked Canadian golfer David Hearn to its roster of brand ambassadors, and agreed to multi-year contract extensions with fellow Canadians and PGA TOUR stars Graham DeLaet and Adam Hadwin.

With this sponsorship, Hearn, DeLaet, and Hadwin will wear the Shaw logo on their golf apparel, as they kick off the season at the PGA TOUR’s Sony Open in Hawaii from January 11-17, 2016. Both Hearn and DeLaet will wear Shaw’s logo on the front of their hats, while Hadwin will sport the logo on the collar of his golf shirt.

“Shaw’s golf sponsorship portfolio has provided us with a powerful branding platform to expand our profile across Canada, generate new business, and give back to the communities we serve in meaningful ways,” said Chethan Lakshman, Vice-President, External Affairs, Shaw Communications. “Adding David to the team strengthens our player roster and gives us more opportunities to connect with our customers and viewers through engaging golf content. We are proud to have such high-level athletes as part of the extended Shaw family, and we are looking forward to watching David, Graham and Adam as they represent Shaw on the PGA TOUR this year.”

“I’m proud to partner with Shaw – an iconic Canadian organization that is deeply rooted in the golf space, and shares my passion for growing the game in Canada,” said Hearn. “I’m excited to join the Shaw Team as an ambassador, representing the company and synonymously our country on the PGA TOUR”.

From Brantford, Ont., David Hearn has had a successful golf career across several professional tours. During the 2014 PGA TOUR season, Hearn recorded six Top-25 finishes, including three Top-10 results. In 2015, Hearn continued his solid play and excited golf fans across Canada with four Top-10 and four Top-25 finishes, which included a third place finish at the RBC Canadian Open.

Shaw’s renewed commitments to DeLaet and Hadwin include significant donations to the players’ charitable causes in Saskatchewan and British Columbia, respectively.

From Weyburn, Sask., DeLaet is one of the most popular players on the PGA TOUR. He had a breakout year in 2013, recording seven Top-10 finishes, placing eight in the FedExCup Playoffs, and being named to the Presidents Cup International Team. DeLaet continued to impress in the 2014 PGA TOUR season, with another seven Top-10 finishes, followed by three Top-10 finishes in the 2015 season.

“I’m thrilled to continue my partnership with Shaw on and off the golf course,” said DeLaet. “The support the team at Shaw has shown me, my wife Ruby, and our foundation has taken our relationship to the next level. I am excited to continue playing on TOUR while representing Shaw in Canada and in the golf space.”

Adam Hadwin has been a standout on the professional golf scene since 2010, highlighted by a Top-4 finish at the 2010 RBC Canadian Open to earn the first of his two career Rivermead Trophies, which honours the low Canadian at Canada’s national Open. In 2014, the Abbotsford, B.C. native emerged as a top player when he won twice on the Web.com Tour, securing his PGA TOUR playing
privileges. In his PGA TOUR rookie campaign in 2015, Hadwin retained his TOUR card for 2016 with three Top-10 and seven Top-25 finishes.

“I have been proud to partner with Shaw for the past couple years, and represent them on the PGA TOUR,” Hadwin said. “I have been lucky to get to know the company and I’m proud to say that we care about the same things and want to work together to showcase golf in Canada.”

Shaw continues to be a champion for golf in Canada. In addition to being the broadcast destination for PGA TOUR golf through Global TV, Shaw is also a premier sponsor of the RBC Canadian Open, and the title sponsor of the Shaw Charity Classic, a Champions Tour event held at Canyon Meadows Golf and Country Club in Calgary, Alberta.

VILLAGE OF PINEHURST, N.C. – The famed Pinehurst Resort and Country Club is extending a special offer to Canadian residents this spring – the Canadian March Escape golf or spa package.

The specially prices packages will be available March 6-31, 2016 and regularly retails for $399 per person, double occupancy, per night. But, Canadian residents will receive 25 percent off the regular price.

The package includes:

• Choice of one round of golf (a surcharge applies to No. 2) or two 50-minute spa treatments per night of stay (save 35 percent when booking additional treatments)
• Resort accommodations at either The Carolina, The Holly Inn or The Manor
• Breakfast buffet and dinner each night
• Cart fee, club storage, and unlimited access to practice areas

Children 12-and-under stay and eat free with a paying adult, and children 17-and-under play golf for free with a paying adult.

With Pinehurst’s collection of nine courses, designed by some of the game’s best-known architects, golfers can enjoy a unique and varied experience. Both Pinehurst No. 4 and No. 8 have been selected by the United States Golf Association as companion courses for upcoming championship events, and for a $195 surcharge, golfers can include a round on famed Pinehurst No. 2, site of more single golf championships than any course in America and host to the historic back-to-back U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open in 2014.

Awarded Four Stars by Forbes Travel Guide, The Spa at Pinehurst is a 31,000-square-foot sanctuary that features 28 private treatment rooms and an array of treatments designed to use the healing power of nature to renew, rejuvenate and refresh. The Canadian March Escape Spa package includes a select list of spa treatments, including the essential Pinehurst Massage and the Sweet Tea Sugar Scrub.

For more information about Pinehurst or to make a reservation, visit pinehurst.com or call 855-235-8507. All pricing is in U.S. dollars.

GAUTENG, South Africa – Branden Grace’s charge up the leaderboard at the SA Open was halted by stormy weather Friday, with play abandoned midway through the second round.

The South African was tied for the lead with countryman Keith Horne at 8 under, after going through 11 holes in 5 under, when play was called off for the day at Glendower Golf Club because of the threat of lightning.

Horne held the clubhouse lead after shooting a 3-under 69 to follow up his first-round 67.

Eleven of the leading 13 players are from South Africa, which has delivered 12 winners in 19 editions of the event since it joined the European Tour in 1997.

Jbe Kruger is a shot behind after a 70. Justin Walters (70), Brandon Stone (67) and Ross McGowan (70) were at 6-under 138 after two rounds.

Play also ended early on Thursday because of similar bad weather, meaning 33 people had to return early Friday to complete their first round. Seventy-eight of the remaining 154 players are yet to finish their second rounds.

Grace is the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 14 and has won three of his six European Tour titles in his native country. He sank birdie putts from Nos. 2-5 and also picked up shots at Nos. 10 and 11.

Playing alongside Grace, Jaco van Zyl was the first-round leader after a 65 but he bogeyed three of the first nine holes in his second round before a double-bogey at No. 10, after finding the water, dropped him to 3 under. He still had seven holes to play.

It was even worse for Shaun Norris, who was a shot behind Van Zyl after the first round. Norris dropped 11 shots in 12 holes Friday, leaving him on 5 over and likely to miss the cut.

KAPALUA, Hawaii – The first round of the new year on the PGA Tour was not an encore for Jordan Spieth – or defending champion Patrick Reed.

Spieth had said earlier in the week that an encore means the show is over, and it sure didn’t look that way at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. He opened with seven birdies and no bogeys for a 7-under 66 that left him one shot behind when Reed finished strong and made a 15-foot eagle putt on the 18th hole for a 65.

Reed hasn’t won since he rallied to win at Kapalua a year ago, though he hasn’t been far off. He ended last year with six top 10s in five countries, and he showed his comfort level on a Plantation Course in gorgeous sunshine and only a stiff breeze that picked up in the middle of the round.

Reed and Spieth both had eagle putts on three of the par 5s.

The difference was Reed converting on the final hole. They were in the last group and part of a five-way tie for the lead when Reed smashed a 3-wood from 309 yards that trickled onto the front of the green and let the grain take it 15 feet below the hole.

“I didn’t think I could get it all the way to the green,” Reed said. “I thought if I smoked it, I’d get to the front edge and it just happened to ride the wind a little bit and kind of just kept on going. And once it gets on that green, I know it’s going to just keep feeding.”

That capped off a finish that took Reed from the middle of the pack to the lead. He was 6 under over the last six holes with that eagle.

Spieth came up some 60 yards short and hit a great shot of his own, a flip wedge that rolled to 4 feet for birdie.

Brandt Snedeker, still battling a head cold, J.B. Holmes and Danny Lee were all at 67, while Fabian Gomez of Argentina was another shot behind.

Jason Day, who has a chance to replace Spieth at No. 1 in the world this week, has not played in three months since the Presidents Cup. And it showed. In ideal scoring conditions, Day didn’t make a birdie until the ninth hole and made only two on the back nine for a 70.

Only seven players from the 32-man field of PGA Tour winners last year failed to break par. One of them was Dustin Johnson, a past winner at Kapalua, who had to birdie the 18th for a 73. Johnson had the longest drive on six of the holes, including three of them just short of 400 yards. It didn’t help him score.

Smylie Kaufman, one of 14 players making their debut at Kapalua, hit the opening tee shot of 2016 so far left that he played his next shot from the ninth hole. He still made birdie, and wound up with a 70.

Spieth won the Masters and U.S. Open last year, along with three other titles that led to the FedEx Cup and a sweep of all the awards. He wanted this to me a continuation of last year and brought that attitude to the opening tee shot.

“It’s another event in the course of my career,” he said. “The calendar changed.”

It only took two holes from a familiar look – Spieth walking across the green as a long putt dropped for birdie. He had long two-putt birdies on the par 5s on the front and missed a 15-foot eagle on the 15th that was such a weak attempt that he said even Reed said to him, “Nice effort.”

They typically do well together, which includes a 2-0-1 record as partners in the Ryder Cup two years ago. Reed picked up his first PGA Tour victory in a playoff over Spieth in 2013 with a shot out of the trees to 3 feet. Spieth got him back last year at Innisbrook with a 30-foot birdie putt on the third playoff hole.

“Whether we want to feed off each other or we want to beat the crap out of each other, we somehow play well together,” Spieth said.

Reed wasn’t converting many chances, with two-putt birdies on the par 5s on the front. His round turned with a 15-foot birdie putt on the 13th. He followed with a pitch to tap-in range on the 14th and 15th holes, and a shot over the gorge to 2 feet on the 17th.

Snedeker has been at Kapalua for a week, playing four times before the official start of tournament week. He was ready to go, and when it counted, he looked sharp.

“I know the golf course pretty well and I think getting over here early, the greens always pose a big problem,” Snedeker said. “You get comfortable on greens and be aggressive on putts that you know are fast or slow. You just have to know putts. They’re hard to read. So that’s kind of the reason I came over to do that.