Sony Open 2024

[MattyO1984]

Aloha! Full field action returns to the PGA Tour as an interesting if not electric field heads to Waialae for the 2024 Sony Open. Whilst last week served as the curtain call for the great and the good of the 2023 season, everyone is welcome this week as Si Woo Kim looks to defend the title he one last year. With most of the big names that played last week are taking a pass this week, much of the coverage heading in will likely focus on the return of Gary Woodland and Will Zalatoris. Both have had significant medical issues to deal with and their being back to full health is a positive enough in itself however, as competitors they will both surely be looking to make fast starts. Zalatrois in fairness did play the Hero Work Challenge a little over a month ago and looked rusty at best but he is certain to have benefitted from some additional time to find his feet and he will look to build upon a very solid start to his career on Tour prior to his back issues arriving. 

 

Defending Champion:-

Si Woo Kim

 

Notables in the Field:-

Matt Fitzpatrick

Brian Harman

Hideki Matsuyama

Chis Kirk

Sahith Theegala

Tyrell Hatton

Ludvig Aberg

Billy Horschel

Will Zalatoris

Justin Rose

Gary Woodland

Keegan Bradley

Ben An

Corey Conners

Harris English

 

Course:-
Waiale Country Club

Par 70

7,044 yards

 

 

[Ferguson]

Aloha, Matty. 

 

Looking at Kirk, English and lil Brian Harman to continue their good play. 

Probably a stretch for Woodland, but who knows.  

 

I like Hideki or Tyrell.  

[MattyO1984]

4 minutes ago, Ferguson said:

Aloha, Matty. 

 

Looking at Kirk, English and lil Brian Harman to continue their good play. 

Probably a stretch for Woodland, but who knows.  

 

I like Hideki or Tyrell.  

 

Kirk has to be a good shout. Tough to win back to back but he was 3rd last year so has some good juju heading there. 

[Shakeshook]

Unless another injury props up, I see Hideki start to improve after getting pummeled last week (he didn't stand a chance with that putter/birdie-fest).  Especially on course that he's won in the past, I think/hope he's at least contending by the weekend.🇯🇵

[Boricua Golf]

ALOHA!!! to my WRX family, this tournament has a special place in my heart, I caddied there for 6 years while stationed in Hawaii with the Army, lots of great players come to Hawaii, I hope we see great play and low scores, again, I know the course and any of these guys can go low, wishing everyone good luck and enjoy their time in paradise, I miss Hawaii so much, hopefully I'll go back soon...

[jimecherry]

Some more notable mentions in the field

Camilo Villegas; 

Akshay Bhatia; 

J.T Poston; 

Brendon Todd;

Andrew Putnam;

Adam Svensson;

Nick Taylor; 

Nick Hardy;

Emiliano Grillo;

Tom Hoge;

Lucas Glover; 

Eric Cole; 

Davis Riley;

Cam Davis;

Luke List;

Kurt Kitayama;

Russell Henley

Patrick Rogers;

Denny McCarthy; 

Nico Echavarria; 

Seamus Power; 

Byeong Hun An; 

Eric van Rooyen;

Vincent Norrman;

Matt Wallace;

all playing back to back weeks

Kevin Kisner leaving the booth to play in a tournament

 

Edited January 9 by jimecherry

[Maine Golfer]

Im rooting for Kirk. I hope Villegas restores his fall / round 1 2024 form, he fell off the cliff the last 3 rounds last week. 

[jdl]

So tough to get in via the Monday qualifier, especially with Mother Nature fighting you, too.

 

 

[Maine Golfer]

Robert Macintyre this week also, rooting for him to keep his card and get a W. 

[jimecherry]

1 hour ago, jdl said:

So tough to get in via the Monday qualifier, especially with Mother Nature fighting you, too.

 

 

apparently weather was so bad that they blew the horn but you couldnt hear it 

[bscinstnct]

Anybody see the atomic F bomb THatt detonated at the Sentry?! 🤣

 

Worth a search.

 

He really should release like a gangsta rap song 🤣

[PedronNiall]

Will be interesting to see how the course & greens are come Thursday with all that rain. 

 

Villegas and Glover would both be great comeback kids to do well this week and both seem to have the form for it after how they did last season. Given last week's play, there are going to be a few guys very ready to get what they just missed out on. The rust is hard to just shake off, but I'd love to see Woodland getting some good rounds in. Åberg gets another chance to show off as well. 

 

Great way to start the season and get us primed for the West Coast Swing to follow. I think I need a job following the Tour. Getting a little jealous of the overall playing conditions most of the year. 

[Peak]

To the disappointment of the rest of the field, Sami Välimäki will lead from Thursday onwards and win by 5 strokes.

 

Absolutely pumped to have a Finnish golfer on the PGA Tour this weekend and this season.

[grm24]

3 hours ago, jimecherry said:

Kevin Kisner leaving the booth to play in a tournament

Makes sense. He isn't announcing again until Phoenix and is otherwise exempt for 2024 for non major/non signature events.

[TheMoneyShot]

Wish JT would play in this tournament.  I think he would do good on this track. 

[grm24]

1 hour ago, TheMoneyShot said:

Wish JT would play in this tournament.  I think he would do good on this track. 

Considering he already has the course (59) and tournament record (-27, 253) you might be on to something. 😁 (John Huston shot -28, 260 there when it was a par 72 payout)

[TheMoneyShot]

9 minutes ago, grm24 said:

Considering he already has the course (59) and tournament record (-27, 253) you might be on to something. 😁 (John Huston shot -28, 260 there when it was a par 72 payout)

Wow, I didn’t even know that.  

[Creedo77]

5 hours ago, jdl said:

So tough to get in via the Monday qualifier, especially with Mother Nature fighting you, too.

 

 

My guy and I lost in a 7/2 playoff this morning. Mondays weather was insane

[Creedo77]

Walked some holes Sunday evening 

 

 

[grm24]

18 minutes ago, TheMoneyShot said:

Wow, I didn’t even know that.  

JT hasn't played there for a few years now. Outside of his win there his record there is mixed. One other top 10. Couple of top 20's. Couple of MC. When he won there in 2017 he also won the Sentry. Great way to start off a new year.

 

[Mitchell]

10 hours ago, Boricua Golf said:

ALOHA!!! to my WRX family, this tournament has a special place in my heart, I caddied there for 6 years while stationed in Hawaii with the Army, lots of great players come to Hawaii, I hope we see great play and low scores, again, I know the course and any of these guys can go low, wishing everyone good luck and enjoy their time in paradise, I miss Hawaii so much, hopefully I'll go back soon...

Howzit, Louis!

Definitely enjoyed my time on rock in the Pacific as well- worked contract security for this tournament 3 years and met lots of great people, saw some great play. Heading back for a couple weeks in June for first time since left in 2016. 

[BombinJim]

Hideki due for a good week

[st1800e]

3 hours ago, grm24 said:

JT hasn't played there for a few years now. Outside of his win there his record there is mixed.

Yah, not very good.   

[JungleJimbo]

5 hours ago, Creedo77 said:

My guy and I lost in a 7/2 playoff this morning. Mondays weather was insane

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 10 by JungleJimbo

[inditube]

I’ll be working as a caddy for the pro am tomorrow hoping for blue skies and a glimpse at Ludvig 

[iBanesto]

Let's go the real J.T.

 

[JungleJimbo]

 

https://www.mondayq.com/posts/aloha-and-good-luck-on-monday 

Quote

 

Extract/Quote:

"The Tour scheduled a mandatory two-day orientation for rookies the weekend before the start of the Sony at Waialae, and covered players’ weekend travel costs. What the Tour didn’t count on was that many of those members were going to have to Monday qualify because they weren’t in the field. 

 

...This weekend, players sat through meetings and presentations about the rules and regulations of the PGA Tour. Many of those players were thinking about how to shoot 8-under on Monday at Kapolei Golf Course without a practice round. One player in orientation said the Tour wasn’t able to secure a practice round for him, so he called Kapolei Golf Course directly, and was able to get out before the first group teed off this weekend. 

 

...The last player in the Sony field is Jimmy Stanger, who finished 16th on the KFT season-long points race. That leaves 14 top-30 KFT players behind him, as well as the top-5 from Q-school, on the alternate list. Harrison Endycott, who won PGA Tour Q-school in decisive fashion by four strokes just three weeks ago, is 15th alternate. Of those players, 11 of the 14 KFT grads are entered into the Monday Qualifier (Roger Sloan and Rafael Campos are not entered, and Josh Teater received a sponsor exemption). Four of the five Q-school grads are entered in the Monday Q. Endycott, who played his rookie season on the PGA Tour last year, chose not to make the long trip for a qualifier. 

 

The final two categories of players that fill PGA Tour fields are top-10 from DP World Tour and top-30 KFT graduates, with the top-5 from Q-school at the bottom of that category. The biggest change in priority ranking this season is the DP World Tour category. The DPWT’s strategic alliance with the PGA Tour gave the top-10 players from 2023 who don’t already hold PGA Tour status, priority over the top-30 KFT players into 2024 PGA Tour fields. Five players from that list – Alexander Björk, Ryo Hisatsune, Robert MacIntyre, Matthieu Pavon, Sami Valimaki – committed to the Sony field. Multiple players from the KFT graduating class expressed frustration about this. 

 

“The Korn Ferry Tour is the PGA Tour’s feeder tour,” says a KFT graduate. “But we are behind the Euro guys, and can’t move past them? It doesn’t make sense to me.” 

 

 

Edited January 10 by JungleJimbo

[iBanesto]

 

 

 

[Boricua Golf]

11 hours ago, Mitchell said:

Howzit, Louis!

Definitely enjoyed my time on rock in the Pacific as well- worked contract security for this tournament 3 years and met lots of great people, saw some great play. Heading back for a couple weeks in June for first time since left in 2016. 

@MitchellI am so Jelly!!!, I truly enjoyed the weather, i am from Puerto Rico so it really felt like home, I'll make it back there one day, people were so awesome, golf all year round!!!

[JungleJimbo]

 

 

 

Quote

 

https://mailchi.mp/b3fed9e036b1/no-room-at-the-island 

 

BRENDAN PORATH

SEAT’S TAKEN

 

Given the PGA Tour’s impressive history manufacturing nomenclature and figuring out how to brand things that don’t need branding, there is little doubt they will eventually have a name for whatever we’re supposed to call “regular” events. Those are the ones that are not Signature (formerly Designated formerly Elevated), like this week’s Sony Open. 

 

For a massive organization usually beholden to byzantine bylaws and obsolete traditions, the PGA TOUR has undergone rapid and impactful change over the last few years, a stark contrast to their formerly glacial pace of progress. The impacts of those changes were often necessary in response to the LIV threat, but there were always going to be unpredictable consequences. 

 

We have some of those consequences this week at the Sony. The first “regular” event, it’s supposedly going back to its roots as the big rookie debut week at beautiful Waialae. But only about half of the graduates from the Korn Ferry Tour, and none of the Q-school graduates from last month, were able to get into the field. This comes after all KFT grads were apparently told at their “graduation” ceremony that they would have a spot in the Sony field to start the new year, according to a report from Ryan French at Monday Q. Players with a PGA Tour card or some varying degree of status being left out of a field is nothing new. If anything it’s business as usual; completing a field from the different priority rankings has been a puzzle for decades, and it’s never been intuitive or meritocratic. 

 

But there are two big problems with how the Tour handled this week:

Someone communicated to the players that they would make their season (and likely PGA Tour) debuts at the Sony when they got their card back in the fall. If true — and multiple people have reported this now — that cannot happen without an actual guaranteed place, no matter how sure your models might be that. It exacerbates the sting for a card-carrying member being left out, and also makes your organization appear to be bumbling and incompetent, which isn’t a new look for this org. 

 

The “new” PGA Tour must immediately determine how it’s going to prioritize things. It IS now more of a closed-off shop and players need to understand that up front. The lack of rookies getting access is in part due to the DP World Tour exemptions allotted for strategic alliance purposes. The Tour apparently did not foresee all these exemptions being used. But the DP World Tour slots higher on the priority rankings, helping to eliminate half of the eligible KFT grads. Players being left out of any one event is fine, but a player being routed through the feeder tour, succeeding on that tour, and then getting skipped over thanks to this international alliance seems to be an unintended effect of all the scrambling we’ve seen from Ponte Vedra. It does not sound like the issue has been communicated effectively, and with fewer and fewer chances to earn starts and points under this new schedule, that will only continue unless the Tour fully untangles their messaging on which kind of status really matters most. Players might hate the new rules then, too. But at least they’d know what’s what and why. Lock it up.

 

KFT grads on the outside looking in was already not a great look for the Tour, but it was made worse by a weather-plagued mess of a Monday qualifier. This all led to a lot of shouting about the Tour being mismanaged, anti-meritocratic, and worst of all dumb and crooked. There are a couple of real problems with the situation, as I noted, but the rest of it is just shouting. It’s an unfortunate situation but some pushback against that shouting is in order. We can’t complain about the product or the structure of this membership organization and then freak out about changes to that structure, however unfortunate it is. The Michigan football team is full of world-class athletes, but how many are going pro? The Tour needs to trim bloat and become more of an elite showcase.

 

There needs to be a new tour. It needs to be leaner and meaner. This year’s scheme is likely not going to be the final answer, but it’s putting the Tour on that path. There are going to be fewer opportunities for the masses of players down the priority rankings. It may be harder to move up or keep your card. But access still exists. Every time a mule or dreamer shouts about a closed shop, the Tour should be throwing Eric Cole, mini-tour player turned Signature event prince, back in their face. There are some very specific issues the Tour needs to address with the Sony Open miscues, chiefly related to priority transparency and communication. But fewer starts and opportunities for players down the priority rankings over the course of this season is going to be the new reality. Determining access might not be “fair” or even calculated properly in every instance, but these are necessary growing pains on the path to overhauling and modernizing a pro golf tour that absolutely needed it.