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Tournament Stats:
Sony Open in HawaiiWaialae Country Club
Honolulu, Hawaii
Par: 70 / Yardage: 7,068
Purse: $5.5 million with $990,000 going to the winner
Defending Champion: Zach Johnson
Results & Scores 2009 Sony Open in Hawaii
Box Score of 2009 Sony Open in Hawaii
Tournament facts:
Tournament Record:260 (John Huston in 1998, Brad Faxon in 2001)
54-Hole Record:
194 (John Huston in 1998)
36-Hole Record:
128 (Davis Love III in 1994, John Huston in 1998, Paul Azinger in 2000, Brad Faxon in 2001 & John Cook in 2002)
18 hole Tournament Record:
60 (Davis Love III in 1994)
Course information:
Course was designed by Seth Raynor and Charles Banks and was opened in 1925It has gone through a series of changes, first by Bob Baldock in 1966, then Arthur Jack Snyder in 1969, then Robert Nelson and Rodney Wright in 1984, then by Arnold Palmer & Ed Seay in 1991 and finally by Desmond Muirhead in 1992. To make things even tougher Waialae hired Rick Smith in the late '90s to develop some more renovations for the future. Smith came in to return the course to the original design that Seth Raynor came up with 78 years ago. One of the big changes that was made, which didn't affect the course but did affect the tournament, came in 1999. That's when tournament and PGA Tour officials moved up the tees on the 1st and 13th holes and changed them from par 5s to 4s.
The average green size at Waialae is 7,500 square feet and the course has 79 bunkers. Nine of the holes have water on them but for the touring pros only three of those holes are affected. For tournament week the nines are reversed so that the par3s 8th hole, which runs along the Pacific, becomes the 17th and is shown on television.
One other thing about Waialae: it's been the only home of the Sony Open since 1965. The only other courses with a better track record on the PGA Tour is Augusta National, which has been the home of the Masters since 1934, Pebble Beach, which has been the home of the AT&T since 1947, Colonial, which has been the home of the Crowne Plaza Invitational since 1948 and Doral, which has had a PGA Tour event every year since 1962. For a more comprehensive look at the course, look at this Course Overview done by PGA Tour.Com
The Buzz:
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Here are some of the secrets of what it takes to play well at Waialae:
It's the first full-field event of the year. Since 1999 when it was placed behind the SBS Championship, the Sony has always got an added boost in that most of the field of the SBS makes the short flight to Honolulu to play this event. But that trend seems to be changing. In 2007 32 of the 34 Mercedes participants stuck around for the Sony while in 2008, 22 of the 31 Mercedes participants stayed. Last year the trend of leaving after the SBS continued as only 26 of the 33 Mercedes players are at the Sony. But this year it really 20 of the 28 SBS players are making the trip and you have to wonder what is up. Now SBS champion Geoff Ogilvy has an excuse since his wife his 8 months pregnant, still Ogilvy is flying next week to Abu Dhabi so you have to wonder. Abu Dhabi is also the destination for Paul Casey, who is defending champion there. But even Kenny Perry, who has played in the Sony Open 14 times says that he just doesn't play well there (best finish T16th in 1998) so you have to give him a pass. There use to be a time when it made economic sense that if you were going to play in the SBS that you would stay over in Hawaii and play the next week in the Sony. But with purses being the way they are, family commitments and such even players like Nick Watney, Heath Slocum, Michael Bradley, Ryan Moore and Martin Laird took a pass on playing the Sony.
There is some good news for the Sony Open. Marquee names like Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, Davis Love III, Justin Rose, David Toms and Luke Donald, players that didn't make the SBS made the one week venture to Honolulu so I guess things do even out.
One thing that won't go away is the fact that the desert swing in Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Dubai is so much stronger along with the Race to Dubai that it's hurting the west coast swing. As Larry Bohannan in the Desert Sun has some examples of how the Bob Hope will have a weaker field because players like Steve Stricker and Kenny Perry are taking the week off so that they can play in Doha for the Qatar Open. It's even hit home as La Quinta native Anthony Kim won't play in the desert of Palm Springs because he will be playing in the desert of Abu Dhabi, 9,500 miles away. So there is a lot more choices than your PGA Tour stop. Still it's another maize of problems for the PGA Tour as they just can't seem to get the right formula for the start of the year.
The new groove regulations went into effect last week and frankly there was no complaining. Maybe it was because Kapalua doesn't really have heavy rough but we should here the complaining this week. Waialae has a lot of rough so why watching the telecast look for frustration from those hitting out of the rough that won't be able to get the kind of spin that they have in the past. Also look for more players having to layup from the rough. Also you have to wonder who the first dodo that finds himself playing with a square groove club by mistake and getting Dqd, you know it's going to happen. In the next couple of weeks we will compare some stats from last year and this year on approach shots from the rough to see the difference on distances from the hole.
Over the years the Sony have been famous for it's local youth, Michelle Wie played in four Sony's and Tadd Fujikawa electrified the world two years ago when he became the youngest player to make the cut, then shot a 3rd round 66 before a final round 72 dropped him down into a T20th. Right after that he turned pro and hasn't turned the golfing world upside down with his game. He did qualify for the Sony last year in Monday qualifying, shot 62 in the third round to be in contention but faltered in the final round shooting 73 to finish T32nd. He played four times on tour last year and made the cut three times but the $63,000 that he made wasn't a blip on the money list. He did go to Q-School. but was 44th in the first stage and never carried on. The good news is that the Sony Open folks did give him a sponsor exemption so he will try again at Waialae, but after that he will be stuck having to play a bunch of mini-tour events.
Another person getting a sponsor exemption is John Daly, who has supposedly last close to a hundred pounds in the last year. It will be interesting to see how he handles less weight and if it means any loss of distance off the tee. It will also be interesting to see how humble Daly is and if he will bear down and really play hard. The media, or shall we say is left of it will also be waiting with baited breath for any sound bites and outrages comments that Daly is famous for. He got close to them in talking with Associated Press saying he was shocked that the Bob Hope folks didn't give him a sponsor exemption like the folks at San Diego and Pebble Beach did. As he told AP, "I felt like I brought a lot of celebrity friends to that tournament. That was kind of a slap in the face. I supported that tournament for all those years. My feelings were hurt there."
In looking at Daly's record at the Hope he hasn't lit the place on fire, what you don't see is in 2007 when he got a sponsor exemption he withdrew right before the event which didn't make tournament officials very happy to waste a spot. Maybe Daly will be happy that he isn't playing in the Hope, we hear that wive number 3 Paulette, who lives in the Palm Springs area, is not happy over not getting any child support checks in 2009 and was going to have papers served on him at the Hope. Guess that she will have to see if they can catch up with John when he plays the next week in San Diego.
This week will be a first for a lot of players from Q-School and the Nationwide Tour. Nothing like starting your PGA Tour career in paradise.
Here are some things to look for this week:
The PGA Tour is still in Hawaii for the Sony Open at Hawaii. Played at Waialae C.C. it's a fun course for the pros that has only one defense, the wind. If it blows scores are reasonable, but without winds scores go low. The long range forecast is for the same weather from the SBS, mostly sunny and in the 80s every day with just a hint of wind. If that is the case Waialae could see record scores this week.
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Here are some of the secrets of what it takes to play well at Waialae:
- Only 20 of the 28 Mercedes participants are in the field. This is an important stat when you figure that in the eleven years that the Mercedes was played in Hawaii, 8 of the eleven Sony winners were those in the Mercedes field. For those looking at who won the Sony but weren't at the Mercedes, Paul Azinger in 2000, Jerry Kelly in 2002 and Paul Goydos in 2007. Only problem with this stat, for the first time in the eleven years the winner of the SBS, Geoff Ogilvy, isn't playing in the Sony.
- They will find a totally different experience between Kapalua and Waialae as this week the fairways will be tighter and a bomber won't have a big advantage. Just look at some of the PGA Tour stats from last year, Waialae was the 7th hardest course to drive on the PGA Tour with a 52.42% avearge. Putting is also tough as it ranked T12th on the PGA Tour in 2009.
- With the reduction of par from 72 to 70 eleven years ago, more is placed on iron play. Those who are the best are those that hit a lot of greens, in the last twelve years five of the winners were either first or second in hitting green. Taking it a step further, the last eight winners have been in the top-12 in greens hitting. To the right is a chart looking at how Waialae has played over the years.
Sony Open over the years:
(course par 72 in 1998, been par 70 ever since)Year Eagles Birdies 1st rd avg. 2nd rd avg 3rd rd avg 4th rd avg Scoring average 2009 45 1,391 71.33 70.11 69.04 69.08 70.136 (23rd hardest) 2008 30 1,372 69.52 70.17 69.26 72.16 70.123 (28th hardest) 2007 44 1,326 70.36 70.30 70.06 70.25 70.271 (34th hardest) 2006 34 1,361 71.92 71.04 68.67 69.85 70.672 (16th hardest) 2005 36 1,331 71.81 70.85 70.26 69.97 70.903 (15th hardest) 2004 50 1,565 70.27 69.00 69.22 69.33 69.511 (37th hardest) 2003 53 1,487 70.11 70.17 69.35 68.84 69.880 (29th hardest) 2002 36 1,409 71.36 69.19 69.31 69.89 70.053 (25th hardest) 2001 35 1,417 70.26 70.27 69.66 70.16 70.148 (21st hardest) 2000 36 1,224 70.51 70.58 71.57 70.69 70.743 (12th hardest) 1999 28 1,181 71.05 71.87 70.80 70.46 71.188 (14th hardest) 1998 54 2,019 69.88 69.32 68.83 70.34 69.598 (2nd easiest par 72) - Over the years the winners have been marquee names (K.J. Choi in 2007, David Toms in 2006, Vijay Singh in 2005, Ernie Els in 2003 & '04, Brad Faxon in 2001, Paul Azinger in 2000, Jeff Sluman in 1999, John Huston in 1998 and Jim Furyk in 1996). Taking this a step further, experience at Waialae is a must to win. Other than Guy Brewer winning the first Sony Open back in 1965, the event has only seen one other first time win and that was Bruce Lietzke in 1977. All the other winners of the Sony have played previously so experience playing at Waialae is an important factor in winning. Last year's winner Zach Johnson was playing in his fourth Sony.
- So does this mean that a newcomer like a Rickie Fowler or a Billy Horschel aren't good pics? Yes and no, in the past they never seem to win but you never know with a guy like Rickie Fowler what could happen.
- Waialae could be one of the easiest course on the PGA Tour without winds. Without either the trade or Kona winds look for a possible sub-60 round
- Look for Bermuda green specialist:
Greens are very graining with funky breaks so look for those who putt well in Florida doing well here. Every winner from the last decade plays great on Bermuda grass. - Lots of greenside bunkers with pins tucked right behind them. Need to be a good bunker player.
- One thing to look for, those that play well during the year on the par 4s do well at Waialae. Of those in the field that played at the SBS last week and are playing this week, Stewart Cink played the par 4s the best at the SBS at 14 under, with Rory Sabbatini, Matt Kuchar and Sean O'Hair next at 12 under.
- Last but not least got a lot of emails for my pick last week of Geoff Ogilvy being someone not the pick. Guess we all get things wrong and I blew it last week, guess it just goes to show you never can tell when someone is playing well or not, I frankly thought that Ogilvy had too much on his mind with a very pregnant wive back home in Arizona. Oh well, better luck this week.