Adam Svensson’s 61 sees him take the early lead in Hawaii

Canadian rookie Adam Svensson has taken the early lead at the Sony Open in Hawaii after carding a first-round nine-under 61.

American Andrew Putnam initially made himself the man to beat after making nine birdies in his opening round 62, with a bogey on the 15th the only blemish on his day.

But a run of four birdies through holes 11 to 14 from 25-year-old Svensson put him joint top before he grabbed the sole lead with a 10-foot birdie putt on the par-five 18th.

Jordan Spieth, meanwhile, had a disappointing start to the year after a winless 2018 as he was forced to settle for a three-over 73, putting him at joint 127th.

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Starting on the back nine, the world number 17’s only birdie came on the par-three seventh hole and was immediately followed by a bogey, his fourth of the round.

Matt Kuchar carded a flawless seven-under 63 to put him two shots adrift of Svensson, while last year's winner Patton Kizzire makes up a 12-strong pack on three under.

Masters champion Patrick Reed sits tied in 29th place on two-under 68 along with Scotland's Russell Knox, while England's Ian Poulter mixed seven birdies with six bogeys to finish one under and joined in 52nd place by compatriot Luke Donald.

Ireland's Seamus Power shot a double bogey on the second hole on his way to an opening round 72.

First round scores in the USPGA Tour Sony Open in Hawaii (USA unless stated, par 70):

61 Adam Svensson (Can)

62 Andrew Putnam

63 Matt Kuchar

65 Shugo Imahira (Jpn), Hudson Swafford, Chez Reavie

66 Brian Stuard, Jason Dufner, John Chin, Rikuya Hoshino (Jpn), Jose de Jesus Rodriguez (Mex), Jim Knous, Cameron Smith (Aus), Michael Thompson, Ted Potter, Jr., Brandt Snedeker

67 Wes Roach, Eric Dugas, Sam Ryder, Matt Jones (Aus), Davis Love III, Brian Gay, Julian Etulain (Arg), Joel Dahmen, Justin Thomas, Marc Leishman (Aus), Patton Kizzire, Dylan Frittelli (Rsa)

68 Scott Brown, Carlos Ortiz (Mex), Kelly Kraft, Si Woo Kim (Kor), Russell Henley, Kevin Tway, Sebastian Munoz (Col), Corey Conners (Can), Anirban Lahiri (Ind), Y.E. Yang (Kor), Patrick Reed, JT Poston, Rory Sabbatini (Svk), Stewart Cink, Sam Saunders, Harris English, Keegan Bradley, Trey Mullinax, Abraham Ancer (Mex), Ryan Blaum, Keith Mitchell, Johnson Wagner, Russell Knox (Sco)

69 Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn), Sepp Straka (Aut), Vaughn Taylor, Roger Sloan (Can), Colt Knost, Yuki Inamori (Jpn), Cameron Champ, Charles Howell III, Jamie Lovemark, Stephan Jaeger (Ger), Sean O'Hair, Bryson DeChambeau, Jimmy Walker, Martin Trainer, Kevin Kisner, Jerry Kelly, Pat Perez, Chris Kirk, Chase Wright, James Hahn, Ian Poulter (Eng), Luke Donald (Eng), Jim Herman, Josh Teater

70 Sung Kang (Kor), David Hearn (Can), Tom Hoge, Fabian Gomez (Arg), Emiliano Grillo (Arg), Danny Lee (Nzl), Scott Langley, Hank Lebioda, Ollie Schniederjans, Mackenzie Hughes (Can), John Huh, Nick Taylor (Can), Brice Garnett

71 Satoshi Kodaira (Jpn), Gary Woodland, Brady Schnell, (a) Takumi Kanaya (Jpn), Robert Streb, Wyndham Clark, Talor Gooch, Joey Garber, Dominic Bozzelli, Steve Stricker, Zach Johnson, Roberto Diaz (Mex), Scott Piercy, Kyoung-hoon Lee (Kor), Bubba Watson, Jonas Blixt (Swe), Whee Kim (Kor), Adam Long, Sam Burns, Michael Kim, Troy Merritt, Sungjae Im (Kor), Brandon Harkins

72 Peter Malnati, Shawn Stefani, Benjamin Silverman (Can), Adam Scott (Aus), Brian Harman, Seamus Power (Irl), Kenny Perry, Max Homa, Yuta Ikeda (Jpn), Jared Sawada, (a) Brent Grant, Paul Casey (Eng), Ryan Armour, Chris Thompson, Tyler Duncan

73 Ben Martin, Kyle Stanley, Adam Hadwin (Can), Kyle Jones, Cameron Davis (Aus), Alex Prugh, Jordan Spieth

74 Adam Schenk, Steve Marino, Andrew Landry, Patrick Rodgers, Seth Reeves, Nicholas Lindheim

75 Vijay Singh (Fij), Kramer Hickok, Sang-moon Bae (Kor)

76 J.J. Henry

84 (a) Peter Jung

*(a) denotes amateurs