KAPALUA, Maui >> Brandt Snedeker has been in Hawaii for so long, he might qualify as a local boy by the weekend.

Playing in the Hyundai Tournament of Champions for the third consecutive year, the 35-year-old Tennessee native has been on Maui since last week in an attempt to become closer friends with the Plantation Course, particularly the Bermuda greens that can perplex even the best putters.

And Snedeker is considered one of the better blade runners anytime he’s standing on the carpet. He demonstrated that fact a few times in Thursday’s opening round of this elite, winners-only PGA Tour event.

He carded a 6-under 67 to sit in a tie for third with J.B Holmes and Danny Lee, just two strokes off the pace of defending champion Patrick Reed and one shot in back of world No. 1 Jordan Spieth.

This is the fourth time Snedeker has toured the 7,452-yard course designed by Ben Crenshaw. In his first appearance in 2008, he tied for 10th. He finished third in 2014 and tied for 11th last year. He’s looking to improve on those numbers this time around.

“Today’s round is a continuation of how I’ve been playing the last week since I’ve been over here,” Snedeker said. “It’s great to be out here. I drove the ball pretty well and gave myself a lot of good positions off the tee and made a few putts. I made a couple of long putts on the back nine and that got some momentum going.”

With little wind and no rain, Snedeker figured you’d have to go low if you wanted to be in contention by day’s end. He already has played the course four times since touching down at Kapalua. He has a pretty good feel for the place.

“Conditions like we had today, you had to be aggressive and try to make birdies,” Snedeker said. “Because of the way it’s set up out there, you have to go at the pins and be aggressive.”

Snedeker has been battling a head cold the past few days, but believes he will be fine by today’s second round, in which he will be paired with Holmes. An early arrival provides a comfort zone for Snedeker as he tries to play a course that provides wide fairways, big greens, elevated shots and tricky downhill and uphill lies from the first hole to the last.

“I know the golf course pretty well and I think getting over here early, the greens always pose a big problem,” Snedeker said. “You get comfortable on the greens and be aggressive on putts that you know are fast or slow.”

Snedeker has been on tour since 2004 and has seven victories to show for it. The Vanderbilt product has yet to win a major, but does have two thirds to his credit at the 2008 Masters and the 2012 British Open Championship.

He considers this tournament one of the better ones on tour because the only way you get in is by winning the year before.

“It’s up there, because if you’re here, you won,” Snedeker said. “It’s a great goal to have at the beginning of the year is to make sure you make it back here. That means you accomplished something throughout the year. It’s a great reward. The golf course is a lot fun to play. It’s a great time of year to be here in Maui and the family always has a great time. So it’s hard to beat.”