As the rime traces its stencil across my window, I imagine that the warmth and trade winds of the Hawaiian islands must feel nice this time of year. Knowing that the island of Maui is poised to welcome the previous campaign’s title holders, is enough for me to reduce any falling snow to a mild case of dandruff. 38 golfers began play at Kapalua, known to be both brilliantly routed and scorable. With an interesting par of 73, due to a supply-chain shortage on par-3 holes, Kapalua offers excitement from tee one to green the last. Welcome to the PGA Tour 2022, and welcome back to Tour Rundown on GolfWRX.

*One last thing. I saw Hamilton for the first time during the holidays, so forgive my constant references to appropriate verses from the show.

Thursday: History has its eyes on you

Yes, you, Patrick Cantlay. And you, Jon Rahm. And you, Brooks Koepka. And especially you, Mullet Man. Everyone’s favorite lettuce shot to the top of the leader board on day one, with an eight-under par effort of 65. Australia’s Cameron Smith took our attention away from his home country’s immigration saga with Novax Djokovic for all of Thursday. His work on the outward half was strong, despite standing at +1 after two holes. A birdie 3 at the third chewed the carbon off the spark plug, and an eagle 3 at the fifth fully ignited the valves. One more birdie at the par-5 ninth turned the Aussie in minus three.

On the inward half, Smith was blah-brilliant-blah. Pars at 10 through 12 and 17-18 would have you estimate his back-nine tally at two or three under. Try five deep on for size. Birdies at 13, 14, and 16 were joined by his second eagle of the day, also at a par five. Quixotically, Smith made par on arguably the easiest long hole of them all, the 18th. Alas, nine-under was not to be, but the effort gave him a one-shot advantage headed toward Friday.

Chasing Smith are the aforementioned Cantlay, Rahm, and Daniel Berger. Each posted 66 on the day. One shot farther distant is the under-heralded trio of Erik van Rooyen, Kevin Na, and Sungjae Im. Day two promises baskets of birdies, and at least 10 eagles (my prediction.) Let’s go!

-5 in his last 4 holes. ?

Eagle from 37 feet for Cameron Smith. He leads by 1. pic.twitter.com/WTxS6LCRWy

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 7, 2022

Friday: Wait for it

When he was young, our son Anthony played fullback in soccer. He would purposely allow the attacker to get past him, just for the thrill of chasing the poor guy down with superior speed. I had a sense of deja vu on Friday when Cameron Smith, he of the one-shot lead through 18, began with bogey-bogey in round two. From that point on, the Aussie chased down those who had eclipsed him, regaining the lead at nightfall. Smith played 11-under golf through the final 16 holes of his round, posting one eagle (hole #5 for the second consecutive day) and nine birdies, including the last four holes. His round of 64 was a shot improvement over day one, and secured a three-shot advantage, heading into the weekend.

Imagine how Daniel Berger felt. He posted 7 under while paired with Smith and lost two shots worth of ground. Imagine how Jon Rahm felt. He outdueled his partner, Patrick Cantlay, by one shot, and signed a scorecard for a second consecutive 66 and also lost ground. Smith was too good for a second consecutive day. On Saturday, Rahm will dance with Smith, while Cantlay will partner Berger. Nothing suggests that any of the four will go away, so it might take a 63 from someone to establish control headed into Sunday’s final round.

-3 after 9 for Cameron Smith. ?

He leads at -20. pic.twitter.com/VRG97ByvDf

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 9, 2022

Saturday: Not throwing away my shot

For the first time in 48 hours, Cameron Smith does not hold the solo lead at Kapalua. In an event where shooting five-under par loses you six positions, one expects a mid-60s round from the leader. Smith did not disappoint, posting a second-consecutive round of 64, to reach 26-under par through 54 holes. The only trouble for Smith came from things out of his control. Blame Matt Jones, who got things started with a 10-under 62, jumping him up to a tie for 4th position. Blame Justin Thomas, who bested Jones by one and set a course record with his 61. Thomas won’t win (74 on Thursday took care of that ) but he won’t go away.

Most importantly, blame Jon Rahm. The only US Open champion from Spain matched Thomas’ course record with a 61 of his own. He made up three shots on Smith on day three, and joined the Aussie on the top rung of the ladder (it’s a wide ladder.) The Iberian actually made a bogey in his record-setting round, on the 4th hole. His four-birdie, one-eagle finish over the closing five holes made up for that stumble, and cast him as the favorite heading into Sunday.

As for Smith, he’ll have to climb to another echelon to dispatch the great Basque on day four. Smith has the game, but he’ll need that intangible, inexplicable something that elevates only a select few to the rank of closer. Smith didn’t throw away his shot, nor did Rahm, and that’s why this is now a two-man tournament.

Clutch shots from all over. ?

Cam Smith and @JonRahmPGA keep stepping up. pic.twitter.com/waCxd1nbQH

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 9, 2022

Sunday: One last time

65-64-64-65. Simply symmetrical. As symmetrical as the mullet and the 70s ‘stache are unkempt. You know where I’m going with this line of thinking. so hats off to Cameron Smith, the first qualifier for the 2023 Tournament of Champions. Smith and Jon Rahm went head to head and toe to toe for one last time this week. Rahm didn’t need a reprise of his Saturday 61; a 64 would have won the tournament for the burly Basque. There was a 61 lurking at Kapalua on Sunday, and it almost stole the show. I’m getting ahead of myself, so whoa, Nelly (not Korda.)

Cameron Smith birdied four holes on each side of the Coore and Crenshaw 18 at Kapalua. For the second consecutive day, he made zero bogeys. That’s hard to beat, but it can be done. Matt Jones nearly did it on Sunday, but he ran out of holes. Jones had 62 on Saturday AND IMPROVED on Sunday to 61. He had two eagles in the space of three holes on the inward half, tied the course record, and moved all the way from 4th to … 3rd. OK, that last bit doesn’t sound so impressive, but when you consider that he made up four shots on the leader and came from the B flight to challenge for the club championship, it does.

Rahm? Hard to follow up a course record with another low round. The defending US Open champion had his chances, but a meh outward nine of minus-two put him in a must-challenge situation. Rahm had five birdies on the back nine, but needed six or seven to have a chance. Still, last pairing for both weekend rounds and a just-miss is a solid opener for Rahm. And Smith? Well, he did what he hadn’t previously done: hold a lead for a long, long time, and hold off a major champion. Don’t be surprised if you see the Mullet King hoist a few more trophies this season.

Starting 2022 with a win. ? pic.twitter.com/ssEUTzHjI5

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 10, 2022

• Featured image via PGATour.com on Twitter.