Sony kicks off regular PGA Tour season
BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2010 Sony Open in Hawaii | Preview | 13 Jan 2010
The PGA Tour gets underway in earnest this week when the now traditional first full field event of the season, the Sony Open, tees off at the Waialae Country Club in Honolulu.
The event has been played at the Seth Raynor designed, Desmond Muirhead redesigned, layout every year since 1965 when Gay Brewer defeated Bob Goalby in a playoff. Originally built in the late 1920’s, the changes Muirhead made to the golf course came in 1992.
The defending champion is Zach Johnson who, after a slow start to the 2009 season in Kapalua the week before, put together a string of low rounds and eventually won by two over Adam Scott and David Toms. Johnson finished 18th last week in Kapalua so whether he is yet ready to successfully defend remains to be seen but he will benefit from the greater need for accuracy this week.
Steve Stricker will probably start favourite given that he is the highest ranked player in the field and because he does enjoy a good record at Waialae. He has not won the event but has been close up on a number of occasions and made a solid enough start to the season last week when 10th at the SBS event.
Rory Sabbatini regularly plays well at this venue and his great week last week when runner up to Ogilvy suggests he is right on track to capitalize on that comfort zone with Waialae. He has been twice runner up in his last four visits the golf course.
Robert Allenby is the hottest golfer on the planet at present having won the Nedbank Challenge and the Australian PGA Championship at his last two starts. He has not played a tournament for nearly five weeks but he is not alone in that regard. His form on the golf course over the years has been somewhat of a roller coaster but his first PGA Tour victory in nearly nine years might be close at hand.
Allenby heads a list of ten Australasians in the field, the only rookie amongst those in this traditional first event for many in that category being Cameron Percy who two months ago played with Tiger Woods during the third round of the JBWere Masters in Melbourne.
Percy is here courtesy of his 8th place finish on the Nationwide Tour money list in 2009 and will be joined by not only Allenby but Jason Day, Stuart Appleby, Marc Leishman, David Lutterus, Matt Jones, Nathan Green and Nick O’Hern. This group looks to join Bruce Crampton and Brett Ogle as the only Australian winners of the event.
Tim Wilkinson makes up the list of Australasians the New Zealand leftie playing his first PGA Tour event since thumb injury in the middle of last season prevented him from completing his season. He is playing this event and others on a medical exemption.
Day is back after taking time away from the game following his honeymoon, Jones and Lutterus both regained their PGA Tour cards at the Tour School and Leishman takes up where he left off in his brilliant rookie season last year.
Green has played this golf course well previously, Appleby seemed to rediscover his form at the recent Australian Open and Nick O’Hern, who is playing this event for the first time, has finished inside the top five in his last three starts in Florida, Sydney and Coolum.
