PGA Tour Brunch | SONY Open Preview
First Full-Field PGA Tour event of 2023 Starts Thursday in Honolulu
By TERRY LYONS
HONOLULU - It’s showtime at the Waialae Country Club as the PGA Tour plays its first full-field event of 2023. Last week, Jon Rahm came “closing like a freight train” as Collin Morakawa gave up an eight-shot lead after Rahm bogeyed No. 1. Rahm took-in a cool $2.7m for his efforts on the Island of Maui.
This week, we’ll remember that defending champion Hideki Matsuyama defeated Russell Henley in a playoff to win last season’s 2022 Sony Open in Hawaii, earning his eighth victory of his Tour career and tying K.J. Choi for most Tour wins by an Asian player (8). With a total of 23-under (257), Matsuyama became the 11th player in PGA Tour history with a 72-hole score of (257) or better. Not bad.
With the two courses (Kapalua Plantation and Waialae CC in Honolulu) being quite different, only six players have won both Hawaii events during their careers: Jim Furyk (1996 Sony, 2001 Sentry), Ernie Els (2003 Sentry, 2003 and 2004 Sony), Vijay Singh (2005 Sony, 2007 Sentry), Zach Johnson (2009 Sony, 2014 Sentry), Justin Thomas (2017 Sentry, 2017 and 2020 Sony) and Cameron Smith (2020 Sony, 2022 Sentry).
Coming off Monday’s CFP Playoffs and the Georgia Dawgs’ slaughter of those TCU Frogs, eight of 10 full-time Tour members from the University of Georgia are in the field this week: Harris English, Brian Harman, Russell Henley, Chris Kirk, Keith Mitchell, Greyson Sigg, Davis Thompson and Brendon Todd. Those eight have combined to make 57 starts in the event and have recorded eight total top-fives, highlighted by Henley's victory in 2013 and second-place finishes by Kirk (2021) and Henley (2022) in the last two years. Kirk (3), Henley (2) and English (2) all have multiple top-fives at the event.
Texas Christian University alumnus Tom Hoge slouches in shame but is coming off a T3 at last week's Sentry Tournament of Champions. Hoge, who held the 54-hole lead at the 2018 Sony Open in Hawaii and missed the playoff by one stroke, is making his sixth consecutive start and eighth overall at the event.
SONY Open in Hawaii | Tournament Facts
COURSE: Waialae CC in Honolulu
YARDS/PAR: 7,044 yards/Par 70
ARCHITECT: Seth Raynor
PRIZE Money - Purse: $7,900,000/$1,422,000
DEFENDING CHAMPION: Hideki Matsuyama
PAST RESULTS: (link)
PAST CHAMPIONS: (link)
FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 500
SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @SonyOpenHawaii
TV COVERAGE: The first two rounds (Jan 12 and 13) of the SONY Open are scheduled for TV coverage from 7:00pm to 10:30pm (ET) on Golf Channel. On Saturday and Sunday, coverage is set for 6:00pm to 8:00pm (ET) on Golf Channel preceded by 4:00 to 6:00pm (ET) on NBC
PGA TOUR LIVE STREAMING: ESPN+ will be streaming live coverage from 12:00 noon to 10:30pm (ET) on Thursday and Friday. Weekend streaming on ESPN+ from 12:45pm to 8:00pm (ET)
PGA TOUR RADIO COVERAGE: SiriusXM Radio will have live coverage of the SONY beginning at 5:00pm to 10:30pm (ET) on Thursday and Friday. On Saturday and Sunday, coverage will air 3:00pm to 8:00pm (ET) (or completion of event). PGA Tour Radio is available on Sirius 208/XM 92 or online via PGATourCom
How to Watch: In case of changes, visit: (PGATourCom)
SONY Open | The Basics
The Tee Times at the SONY Open start Thursday and run from 12:10pm (ET) to 6:40pm (ET).
Weather: Thursday and Friday will be near duplicates with mostly sunny/sunny skies and 72-73-degrees with winds expected at 7-11mph. There’s a 0% chance of rain for the first three days of the tournament. The weekend forecast (Saturday/Sunday) should be fine, with only a 20% chance of rain Sunday but slightly windier at 15 mph.
Tournament Web Site: (link)
FedEx Cup Info: (link)
PGA Tour Brunch will post at Noon (ET) Thursday
SONY Open Field and Tee Times:
The Field: (link)
Tee Times: (link)
SONY Open | Tournament Odds
Source: CBS Sports
Tom Kim +1100
Sungjae Im +1400
Hideki Matsuyama +1500
Jordan Spieth +1500
Russell Henley +2100
Tom Hoge +2200
Corey Conners +2200
Brian Harman +2600
Adam Scott +3100
Taylor Montgomery +3100
Billy Horschel +3200
Cameron Davis +3300
Kyoung-Hoon Lee +3400
Keegan Bradley +3400
Keith Mitchell +3700
Si Woo Kim +3700
Maverick Mcnealy +3700
J.J. Spaun +4000
Alex Smalley +4500
Christiaan Bezuidenhout +4500
MacKenzie Hughes +5000
Emiliano Grillo +5000
Harris English +5000
J.T. Poston +5000
Denny McCarthy +5000
Matt Kuchar +5000
Webb Simpson +5000
Gary Woodland +5000
Kurt Kitayama +5500
Adam Svensson +5500
Will Gordon +5500
Andrew Putnam +5500
Chris Kirk +6000
Brendan Steele +6500
Hayden Buckley +6500
Brendon Todd +7500
Nick Hardy +8000
Aaron Rai +8500
Davis Thompson +9000
Chun-an Yu +9000
Russell Knox +9500
Greyson Sigg +9500
Patton Kizzire +9500
Ryan Palmer +10000
Robby Shelton +10000
Stephan Jaeger +10000
Justin Suh +11000
Ryan Armour +11000
Troy Merritt +11000
Brandon Wu +11000
Ben Griffin +11000
David Lipsky +12000
Chez Reavie +12000
David Lingmerth +13000
Kevin Streelman +13000
Sam Ryder +13000
Kazuki Higa +14000
Michael Thompson +14000
Lucas Glover +14000
James Hahn +14000
Mark Hubbard +14000
Stewart Cink +14000
Taiga Semikawa +14000
Seonghyeon Kim +14000
Joseph Bramlett +15000
Carl Yuan +15000
Nick Taylor +16000
Brian Stuard +16000
Harry Higgs +16000
Adam Long +16000
Keita Nakajima +16000
Tyson Alexander +16000
MJ Daffue +16000
John Huh +16000
Adam Schenk +17000
Scott Piercy +17000
Cole Hammer +17000
Zac Blair +19000
Ben Taylor +19000
Austin Eckroat +21000
Danny Lee +21000
Peter Malnati +21000
Byeong Hun An +21000
Yuto Katsuragawa +21000
TL’s Wedge for an Edge: As noted last week, when I had Jon Rahm in a reserve role, ready to be activated on Sunday for the big come-from-behind win, the Hawaiian Islands bring challenges like no other. Keep in mind, those who excel at the Sentry and Kapalua are not guaranteed success at Waialae CC in Honolulu. Let’s see what this week brings: The picks to start: Cameron Davis, Tom Kim, Tom Home and Keegan Bradley. Reserves: Taylor Montgomery and Jungjai Im. For the Tour One and Done? Cameron Davis.
What They’re Saying
Spieth, Tom Kim, Matsuyama Head SONY Open in Hawaii field (Yahoo/USA Today)
Power Rankings for the SONY (PGATourCom)
Five Things to Know about Waialae (PGATourCom)
Sports Gambling and Daily Fantasy
Best Bets for the SONY Open - (Action Net)
Expert Picks for the SONY - (PGATourCom)
Horses for the Course at Waialae- (PGATourCom)
On This Day in Golf History
January 11, 1976 - Johnnie Miller won the Tucson Open in Arizona for the third consecutive year, shooting a final round (68) to defeat runner-up Howard Twitty.
Parting Putt
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