Spieth opens up a 4-shot lead at Kapalua

Reed stormed home with birdies on the 13th, 14th, 15th and 17th before closing with an eagle on the 18th to register an impressive eight-under 65, one shot clear of second-placed compatriot Jordan Spieth.

The Kiwi golfer shot a second-round five-under par to move to 11-under at the season-opening Tournament of Champions today, sitting in fifth in the $US5.9 million tournament restricted to players who won PGA Tour events during 2015.

Reed is the defending champion at Kapalua and has top 10s in his last six tournaments around the world.

The first PGA Tour event of the year feels a lot like last year.

Spieth, who would match Tiger Woods with a seventh PGA win before the age of 23 should he finish top of the leaderboard on Sunday, putted brilliantly on greens he said were the slowest he had ever encountered on the PGA Tour. Spieth got him back previous year at Innisbrook with a 30-foot birdie putt on the third playoff hole.

He has reached 16-under-par for the tournament and holds a handy advantage over a three-strong group at 12-under which includes Reed, his fellow American Kevin Kisner, and Fabian Gomez of Argentina. As much as the three birdies built a cushion, the last three holes also played a big role. 13-15 and a closing birdie on 18. There’s a chance that was three strokes.

Meanwhile, Australian Steven Bowditch continues to challenge, sitting six shots off the lead at Kapalua. But the 22-year-old phenom had to “settle” for a birdie on the final hole and finish with a 7-under 66.

“First tournament of the year, kind of rusty, haven’t played in a while”, Kisner said.

“I want it to be a continuation…because any time it’s not, any time it’s mentioned that it’s a new year, it’s nearly, the questions that are asked are, how in the world are you going to do what you did last season”. A birdie at the fifth was followed by a second birdie at the sixth after Spieth landed his 108-yard approach at the par-four inside of six feet. “I was a little anxious to get started considering I’ve been here for a week”.

Jason Day, perhaps still trying to shake off some rust from his game given his lack of recent tournament play, is in 21st position in the 32 man field and 13 shots from Spieth’s lead.