The Front 9 - Tournament Preview - Sony Open

The Front 9 - Tournament Preview - Sony Open

We move on to the island of Oahu for the Sony Open! This is the first full event of the year with 144 players vying for the top prize of $1.422m.  Total purse is $7.9m. Hideki is back to defend his title with other big names chasing him, like Jordan Spieth and Tom Kim.  This tournament should have drastically different scoring than the Sentry Tournament of Champions, as the courses are very different.  Waialae Country Club is much tighter than The Plantation Course.  Let's tee off!

Weather

Weather shouldn't be a factor - Honolulu should be very nice with temps between 65-80 throughout the tournament. Wind will pick up in the afternoon, as it always does. Link here to confirm any updates in the forecast.

The full field was announced this weekend and can be found here. 144 players with the big names of Jordan Spieth, Hideki Matsuyama (defending champ), Tom Kim, Matt Kuchar, Adam Scott, and some others.  One notable for me is Adam Schenk.  I grew up playing against Adam in high school golf in Indiana.  Dude is a stud.

Tee times start at 7:10am local time / 12:10pm EST.

• Previous Winners in this week's field:

  • Hideki Matsuyama - 2022

  • Matt Kuchar - 2019

  • Patton Kizzire - 2018

  • Jimmy Walker - 2014, 2015

• Notable previous winners absent:

  • Kevin Na - 2021 (LIV)

  • Cam Smith - 2020 (LIV)

  • Justin Thomas - 2017

The tournament socials can be found here for Twitter, Instagram, and their own website. 

Thursday Schedule: ESPN Plus starting at 12pm through 10:30pm ESTGolf Channel starting at 7pm through 10pm EST

• Waialae Country Club is a private club located in Honolulu. It's located close to Diamond Head State Monument and is located directly on the water.

• Course is designed by Seth Raynor. The championship layout is a Par 70 and 7044 yards.

• Since it's a private club, cost details a relatively sparse. From the interwebs, I see the initiation is around $52k-67k and monthly dues are around ~$500. Of course, verify with the club if you are in the market to join this club.

Betting Odds provided by Bovada.lv at this link (not sponsored)Some notable players to consider:

• Hideki Matsuyama +2000 - last year's winner

• Tom Kim is the favorite at +1000

• Adam Schenk at +20000

Notes and News- Netflix posted a trailer for the upcoming golf reality show named Full Swing.  What a year to follow these players with all the LIV drama! Some notable players they are following - Rory, JT, Collin, Brooksy, DJ, Tony Finau, and more.  Watch the trailer here. 

Enjoy the golf!

May your rounds be filled with #oneputts.