SONY OPEN IN HAWAII

January 10, 2025

Kensei Hirata

Waialae Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Can you just talk about the start to your round? Four birdies on your first four holes.

KENSEI HIRATA: Yeah, started out this morning with my first round and was able to connect that to my first four birdies in the second round, so definitely got off to a great start and was able to connect that to the round today.

So definitely happy with my play so far.

Q. First made cut here. What was the difference in preparation this year versus last?

KENSEI HIRATA: Yeah, definitely last year missed the cut. Was very frustrating and hard to deal with, but took that experience, especially the Q-School experience as well this year, took that and applied that to my play this week and happy to be where I am now.

Q. Speaking of Q-School, missed out on just a stroke. What did you use to kind of play better going into this season? Anything you've done specifically?

KENSEI HIRATA: Yeah, definitely tough missing out by one stroke, but again, was able to learn from that experience. Just playing all different places around the world, learning different grasses, different conditions, have really helped me today, so was able to take that and put it into play this week and have a good result.

Q. Speaking of a good result, how excited are you heading into the next two days?

KENSEI HIRATA: Yeah, definitely my first time obviously making the cut so just looking forward to the weekend and having fun.