• COURSE: Waialae Country Club, 7,044 yards, par 70.
Celebrating its 50th anniversary as a PGA TOUR host, Waialae's longevity
is exceeded by just four other venues. Built on land leased from the
Bernice Bishop estate, Waialae opened in 1927 in partnership with the
Royal Hawaiian hotel to help entice travel to the islands. Designers
Seth Raynor and Charles Banks borrowed liberally from signature ideas at
other courses - the seventh green is bisected by a deep "biarritz"
gully; No. 17 has a "redan" green that slopes sharply back-to-front and
right-to-left. Also, No.1 introduces features found at the famed "Road
Hole" of St. Andrews' Old Course.
• FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 points.
• FIELD WATCH: World No. 8 Jason Day and No. 11 Matt
Kuchar join defending champion Jimmy Walker to head a lineup that
features six of the top 25 players in the current world rankings. …
Those three are among two dozen participants slated to hop a flight from
this week's Hyundai Tournament of Champions on Maui to play both ends
of the Hawaiian double. … Sponsor exemptions include a pair of Japan
Tour players currently ranked among the world's top 100 - No. 66 Hiroshi
Iwata and No. 87 Hideto Tanihara.
• 72-HOLE RECORD: 256, Russell Henley (2013).
• 18-HOLE RECORD: 61, David Toms (third round, 2006). Note: Davis Love III carded a 60 in 1994, before course renovations in 1999.
• LAST YEAR: Walker won for the second time in a
six-start span, rising from a four-man crowd with three consecutive
back-nine birdies on the way to a 7-under-par 63. Walker grabbed a share
of the lead with a 15-foot birdie at No.15, then held it alone when
Harris English failed to save par from a bunker one hole behind. Two
more birdies at Nos. 16 and 17 provided some cushion, though victory
wasn't sealed until Chris Kirk's 30-foot eagle chip at No. 18 stayed
right of the hole. Kirk finished one shot back after a 66. Walker also
was the first winner of the new wraparound season, taking the Frys.com
Open the previous October.
• STORYLINES: Since the Tournament of Champions moved to
Hawaii 15 years ago, 10 Sony Open winners have done it after playing
Kapalua the previous week. Ernie Els is the only one to sweep both
events, doing so in 2003. … Charles Howell III returns again to Waialae
with more top-five finishes (seven) than not (six), yet remains in
pursuit of his first Sony Open victory. He tied for eighth last year,
and has never posted worse than a 70 in 22 weekend rounds. … A quintet
of 50-and-older pros is led by 2005 champion Vijay Singh, making his
17th appearance at Waialae. He's joined by Fred Funk, Paul Goydos, Davis
Love III and Kenny Perry.
• SHORT CHIPS: Once the traditional coming-out party for
the new class of PGA TOUR rookies, the Sony Open still welcomes all 18
rookies high enough on the priority list to get into the field. Two more
are among the top four alternates. … Both men who played all six weeks
of the fall schedule pick it right up again for 2015's first full-field
stop - Heath Slocum and Nicholas Thompson. … Until Russell Henley's romp
two years ago, the last player to win in his first visit to Waialae had
been Bruce Lietzke in 1977.
• TELEVISION: Thursday-Saturday, 7-10:30 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Sunday, 4-6 p.m. (NBC), 6-8 p.m. (GC).
Good Luck!
Last Week's Winners Liz and DL. Congrats!
Week one Standings
1. DL - 788 points
1. NoleLiz - 788 points
3. 67810 - 588 points
4. Bobcat - 472 points
5. DFS - 363 points
6. NoleATL - 348 points
7. Ed - 329 points
8. Ocala - 326 points
9. SeaPa - 307 points
10. 2952 - 290 points
11. NMT - 218 points
12. Bald - 210 points
This post was edited on 1/13 7:23 PM by DFSNOLE
This post was edited on 1/19 12:08 PM by DFSNOLE
Field
