KAPALUA — Joaquin Niemann was like a kid in a candy store on the Kapalua Plantation Course in Thursday’s first round of the Sentry Tournament of Champions.

The 21-year-old from Chile who is the 58th-ranked player in the world leads the field after a bogey-free 7-under-par 66.

“It was a very good day. I played great from the tee to the green,” Niemann said. “Yeah, I was back home a couple weeks. I was with my coach. So I have a good chance to practice alone with him, and yeah, I feel ready for the start of the year.”

Justin Thomas, playing in the last pairing of the day, fired 5-under 32 on the back nine to roar into second at 6-under 67.

“I played well. I just was kind of patient and steady the first nine, ten holes,” said Thomas, the 2017 winner here who is No. 4 in the world ranking. “Really felt like I only hit one bad putt. I had the wind kind of pick up on 9 and on the short one felt like I needed to hit it a little harder and kind of jammed it. But other than that I got up-and-down on 1 and 7 when I needed to, and other than that just kept the ball in front of me. It was pretty easy.”

Kapalua veterans Matt Kuchar and Rickie Fowler, who played together, are tied for third, another shot back at 68.

Tyler Duncan and Matthew Wolff — both first-timers in the Tournament of Champions — are tied for fifth with Patrick Cantlay, Jon Rahm and defending champion Xander Schauffele, all at 69.

“Yeah, it was very solid. I played really good golf. There was a little bit of a stumble, obviously, at 11 and 12,” said Rahm, the third-ranked player in the world. “Those two holes, I probably had one of the worst professional shots I’ve hit in my life on 11, followed by a pretty bad drive on 12, but luckily that fairway is pretty wide. It was just a couple of bad — couple of shots. It’s pure rust, a couple of those were. The mind wasn’t in the right place; I didn’t really just focus on one shot.”

Rahm was OK with the rest of his round.

“Besides that, it was a great day. I played really solid all throughout. It’s great to be back here in Maui and to see the greens being as good as they are,” he said. “I feel like this place has been good to me in the past, and right now the greens are firming up beautifully, so it’s a lot of fun.”

Niemann, who hails from Santiago, Chile, played on the International team in the Presidents Cup two weeks ago in Melbourne, Australia, where he compiled an 0-3-1 record as the Tiger Woods-led American team rallied for the win. Niemann was just the fifth player to play in the Presidents Cup before turning 22 years old and the first person from Chile to win on the PGA Tour.

“Yeah, the Presidents Cup was one of my best experiences since I turned pro. It was an unbelievable week,” said Niemann, who earned his spot at Kapalua by winning A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier in September. “I shared a lot of moments with the best players in the world. I got Ernie (Els) as a captain. That is just awesome.”

He learned Down Under that he belongs in places like Kapalua for this winners-only field. Els played a large role in convincing him of that.

“And yeah, I think that week was really special for me. He told me that it’s going to be really helpful for my career, for my future,” Niemann said. “I’m going to feel some type of different pressure in that week, and I felt that one. So it was a good learning experience, so yeah, I just can’t wait to go back in two more years and try to beat them.”

Wolff rebounded from a bogey on the 16th hole with birdies on 17 and 18. He was 1-over par through six holes.

“I got off to a little rocky start, was a little uncomfortable with my swing at first, and with how firm the greens are and stuff, just felt like I wasn’t hitting it as close as I wanted to, then settled down a little bit, had a nice putt on 7 and then a nice up-and-down on 8, and that kind of jump-started my round, and I played a really nice back nine,” Wolff said.

Likewise, Duncan finished his round with four straight birdies. He said he had to be patient after starting his round with 11 straight pars before birdieing 12 and bogeying 13.

“Yeah, a lot of patience. With the greens being this firm, it’s hard to get it close to a lot of those pins,” Duncan said. “Just a lot of lag putts and made a few come-backers.”

After the renovation that took place since last year, the 7,596-yard Plantation Course is now the fourth-longest on the PGA Tour, moving up from fifth last year. The 18th hole is now 677 yards long and remains the longest hole on tour.

“I think the biggest difference right now, one, just being this wind direction today is one we don’t normally see,” said Fowler, whose round included a bogey and six birdies, the last on 18. “Seeing it hurt on 18 is kind of rare. The other thing is the fairways are a lot slower and softer than what we’re used to. Used to getting a bit more roll. And then there’s some new tees, so it’s playing longer. But yeah, I think one of the biggest things is the ball not really chasing on the fairways.

“Greens are firmer. There’s a few differences, but for the most part, lines are all the same. It’s still fairly similar around the golf course, but you’ve just got to pay attention to a couple little changes.”

Forecasts of winds picking up significantly for the final three rounds has Fowler intrigued. Several players said the scoring conditions were ripe for the taking on Thursday, even with the changes to the course.

“I knew with the conditions today that if I wore out or tried to wear out fairways and greens, I’d get plenty of looks. With the par-5s as well as some shorter par-4s, especially in that back there, you can get a lot going,” Fowler said. “So it was more just — I wouldn’t say necessarily trying to go get after it. It was settling in and kind of let things come to us, which I think we did a good job of.

“It was definitely out there. Looking forward to the wind, though.”

* Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com

PGA Sentry Tournament of Champions

Thursday’s First Round

At Kapalua Plantation Course

Joaquin Niemann 32-34–66 -7

Justin Thomas 35-32–67 -6

Matt Kuchar 33-35–68 -5

Rickie Fowler 33-35–68 -5

Tyler Duncan 36-33–69 -4

Matthew Wolff 35-34–69 -4

Patrick Cantlay 34-35–69 -4

Jon Rahm 34-35–69 -4

Xander Schauffele 34-35–69 -4

J.T. Poston 36-34–70 -3

Brendon Todd 37-34–71 -2

Lanto Griffin 33-38–71 -2

Nate Lashley 34-37–71 -2

Collin Morikawa 38-33–71 -2

Ryan Palmer 36-35–71 -2

Sebastian Munoz 35-37–72 -1

Dylan Frittelli 37-35–72 -1

Sung Kang 35-37–72 -1

Dustin Johnson 35-37–72 -1

Kevin Kisner 36-36–72 -1

Patrick Reed 38-34–72 -1

Jim Herman 35-38–73 E

Cameron Champ 37-36–73 E

Corey Conners 36-37–73 E

Gary Woodland 36-37–73 E

Martin Trainer 37-37–74 +1

Adam Long 36-38–74 +1

Graeme McDowell 39-35–74 +1

Paul Casey 38-36–74 +1

Chez Reavie 36-38–74 +1

Max Homa 38-37–75 +2

Kevin Na 38-38–76 +3

Keith Mitchell 36-40–76 +3

J.B. Holmes 37-41–78 +5

Today’s Second-Round Tee Times

9:50 a.m.–Keith Mitchell, J.B. Holmes.

10 a.m.–Max Homa, Kevin Na.

10:10 a.m.–Paul Casey, Chez Reavie.

10:20 a.m.–Adam Long, Graeme McDowell.

10:30 a.m.–Gary Woodland, Martin Trainer.

10:40 a.m.–Cameron Champ, Corey Conners.

10:50 a.m.–Patrick Reed, Jim Herman.

11 a.m.–Dustin Johnson, Kevin Kisner.

11:10 a.m.–Dylan Frittelli, Sung Kang.

11:20 a.m.–Ryan Palmer, Sebastian Munoz.

11:30 a.m.–Nate Lashley, Collin Morikawa.

11:40 a.m.–Brendon Todd, Lanto Griffin.

11:50 a.m.–Xander Schauffele, J.T. Poston.

Noon–Patrick Cantlay, Jon Rahm.

12:10 p.m.–Tyler Duncan, Matthew Wolff.

12:20 p.m.–Matt Kuchar, Rickie Fowler.

12:30 p.m.–Joaquin Niemann, Justin Thomas.