KAPALUA, Hawaii: Collin Morikawa has played Kapalua enough to know that trailing Hideki Matsuyama by seven shots early in the second round was no reason to panic. Sure enough, he nearly caught up to the Japanese star on Friday at The Sentry.

Matsuyama played bogey-free on another gorgeous day on Maui with moderate wind, making seven birdies in a 10-hole stretch in the middle of his round and posting an 8-under 65 for a one-shot lead going into the weekend of the PGA Tour season opener.

Morikawa ran off five straight birdies in the scoring stretch late — only one of them longer than 5 feet — until his streak ended on the par-5 closing hole at the Plantation course with a 12-foot birdie putt that missed on the high side.

He also had a 65 and was expecting more of the same on the weekend. Conditions are prime for scoring, and The Sentry has the best players from the PGA Tour last year.

“When you look at the leaderboard, I’m through six holes and I’m even par and guys are lapping the field already,” Morikawa said. “But like I said, it’s not telling myself I’ve got to be patient. I just know this golf course, and I know at any point you can go on a little stretch of birdies, and I just had to keep playing my game.”

It was the eighth time Morikawa had 65 or better at Kapalua, the most of any player since 2020 when the two-time major champion made his debut.

Matsuyama went about his business, breaking into one big smile when he holed a 35-foot birdie putt across the green on the par-3 11th. He was at 16-under 130 with a pack of players lining up behind him.

“I’m definitely satisfied with where I am,” Matsuyama said.

Ten players were separated by three shots going into the weekend of the tournament that invites only PGA Tour winners from 2024 and the top 50 from the FedEx Cup.

Corey Conners of Canada and Thomas Detry of Belgium were among those at 14-under 132 thanks to big finishes of their own.

Conners holed a 40-foot eagle putt on the par-5 15th, followed with two medium-range birdie putts and two-putted from the front of the green on the 18th for another birdie and a 66. Detry was 6 under on the final six holes. He drove the green on the 306-yard 14th hole to 10 feet for eagle, and had to settle for par on the 18th for a 65.

The field averaged 68.1, which was skewed slightly by Davis Riley posting the first 80 of the season. He made four straight birdies, a tough two-putt par and then took a 9 on the 17th hole with a lost ball to the right on one tee shot and a second tee shot into the left hazard. The margin of those misses was about the length of a football field.

Only four players failed to break par.

For everyone else, it was a case of taking aim at spots on the contoured greens that feed to the hole and cashing in with birdies.

Sepp Straka birdied every hole on the back nine until he hit what he considered his best shot, a 6-iron to 20 feet, only to miss the putt. He shot 65.

Eight players shot 64, a group that included Davis Thompson, who was 14 shots better than his first round of the year. Patrick Cantlay was 10 shots better with his 64.

“Now I need to do it again,” said Cantlay, who still was eight shots behind Matsuyama.

Among the group three shots behind was former US Open champion Wyndham Clark, who birdied eight of his last 10 holes. Clark made the argument the low scoring was a product of the players, not the course.

“I don’t necessarily prefer this low, but at the same time, we make courses like this look easy,” Clark said. “To be honest, it’s not that easy. Typically, there’s a lot of wind here, and we didn’t have much wind today, so you’re going to have a lot of birdie looks and sometimes eagle looks.

“I’ve never really shot 20 under on the PGA Tour, so maybe I can break it this week.”

At this rate, that won’t be enough.

Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley also had a 64, marked by an eagle on the final hole and his two sons racing onto the fairway as he walked to the 18th green. Bradley has not ruled out playing in the Ryder Cup. But that’s a long way off.

“We’re two rounds into 2025,” he said. “So if we get to July and it’s looking like that, then we’ll start to talk, but for now I’m just going to keep playing my best.”

MADRID: Jude Bellingham missed a penalty but scored a late winner and Vinicius Jr. was sent off as 10-man Real Madrid fought back in the most dramatic of fashions to beat Valencia 2-1 and return to the top of La Liga on Friday.

Luka Modric’s 85th minute equalizer and Bellingham’s stoppage time winner ensured that Madrid avoided back-to-back defeats in La Liga for the first time since 2019.

The win took it to 43 points, two above city rivals Atletico, albeit having played a game more.

The match at the Mestalla pitted second from bottom against second from top and it was the struggling home side which took the lead after 27 minutes. Hugo Duro stabbed the ball into the empty net after it came back off the post.

Madrid came into the game more in the second half but it looked like it would be a frustrating night for the capital club.

Kylian Mbappe won a penalty after 55 minutes but Bellingham’s shot hit the post and moments later the Frenchman himself saw a goal disallowed after a video review.

Things got worse for Real with 11 minutes remaining when Vinicius pushed goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski and the referee, after a long video review, showed the Brazilian a red card.

However, Real are never out of it and Carlo Ancelotti’s late changes turned the game around.

Modric came on in the 80th and it took the 39-year-old Croatian just five minutes to make his mark, dancing through a sea of defenders and poking home the equalizer.

Even with a man less there was a sense of inevitability as Real pushed for a winner, and five minutes into added time Bellingham made up for his earlier miss.

Valencia defender Hugo Guillamon seemed to slip and lay the ball into the path of the advancing Englishman, who made no mistake with only the keeper to beat.

Even then the drama was not over. Valencia deserved to take something from the match and Luis Roja almost got an equalizer with the last kick of the game. He watched in agony as his long-range shot came back off the post.

Valencia stayed second from bottom.

Pontevedra slay another giant in Copa

Earlier, fourth-tier club Pontevedra dispatched high-flying La Liga side Mallorca 3-0 to move into the last 16 of the Copa del Rey.

Dalisson de Almeida scored from almost 40 yards to make it 1-0 after 21 minutes, Yelko Pino doubled the lead with a cracking volley four minutes into the second half, and then Rufo rounded off the perfect night with 18 minutes left after a shocking defensive lapse.

The Galician side knocked out Villarreal in the last round.

In the night’s other games, top-tier clubs Rayo Vallecano and Getafe progressed.

Getafe needed extra time to beat second-division Granada in southern Spain. After a goalless match, Borja Mayoral got the only goal in the 93rd minute to put the visitor through.

Rayo Vallecano made swift work of second-tier Racing Ferrol. Alfonso Espino and Jorge de Frutos put the visitors 2-0 up before halftime and Frutos grabbed a third on the hour mark.

Alvaro Gimenez scored a late consolation for the home side.