The Sony Open
January 9 – 15, 2012
Waialae Country Club, Hawaii
What a great way to start the season for Steve Stricker! He walked away with a huge win at last week’s Hyundai Tournament of Champions. It is always impressive to win the first tournament of the year, considering that several golfers get a bit rusty over the long break. This was not the case for Stricker, as he won by three strokes. Winning by three was great, but even better – Stricker shot all four rounds in the sixties.
Out of this year’s star packed field only two players were able to finish at twenty or more under par, Stricker and Martin Laird. They were the only two players that managed to shoot all rounds in the sixties. The two that managed to go low everyday at the Plantation Course were Stricker and Webb Simpson.
Both Stricker and Simpson are ready to tee it up at the Sony Open this week. If they continue their strong play there won`t be much for the others to do but sit back and watch one of them win the event. One player that also played well last week was K.J. Choi. He will be present there this week and he is one of those players that when he gets close to the lead, he can smell the win and just seems to power past everyone.
This year’s Sony Open will be played at the Waialae Country Club in Hawaii. The Waialae Country Club is a par 70 course. The defending champion, Mark Wilson, won the event last year with a score of sixteen under par. The record at this event was set by Brad Faxon and John Houston who both shot an aggregate score of 260. The lowest par record was set by Houston when he managed to shoot twenty-eight under par for the four day event.
Most of the players from last week`s event will be playing at the Sony Open. There are three groups that you should definitely keep an eye on. The first group is that of Keegan Bradley, Stewart Cink and Vijay Singh. These three are all past major champions. The next group to watch is Webb Simpson, K.j. Choi and Ryo Ishikawa. This group has so much talent – no doubt plenty of birdies and great shots are sure to be seen with these players. The last group that really catches my eye are tour veterans Stricker, Davis Love III and Sean O`Hair. Stricker will attempt to become the second player ever to win the Tournament of Champions and follow it up with a win at the Sony.
