The PGA Tour continues on this week as it visits Waialae Country Club for the 2025 Sony Open in Hawaii. Originally designed in 1927 by Seth Raynor, Waialae Country Club will play as a Par 70, 7.044 yard layout this week. Waialae Country Club is one of the longest running stops on the PGA Tour schedule, as it hosts the Sony Open in Hawaii for the 60th time this season, not to mention Sony staying on as the title sponsor for the 27th year.
Waialae Country Club is a ball striker’s golf course that plays to the old school golfer in a modern day setting. Tight fairways, small greens and strategically-placed bunkers will test the best in today’s game, forcing them to be methodical with their shotmaking and precise with their irons if they want to make a run at the victory. Despite the tight setup, scoring can still be had, with each of the last 25 winners finishing double digits under par for the week, and with seven of the last 12 winners finishing at -20 or better for the week. Bermuda grass greens are notoriously difficult to read and navigate, so players with a lot of background and past success on that style of green will hold a distinct edge over their competition. To find success this week though, the player with the best chance of succeeding is a player who is crisp with their irons and who can balance that with hitting putts that are true on the greens.
The Sony Open in Hawaii will serve as the first full-field event of the 2025 PGA Tour season and features 10 of the top 30 players in the Offcial World Gold Ranking, including last week’s winner Hideki Matsuyama, incoming Ryder Cup Captain Keegan Bradley, Tom Kim, Russell Henley, Sahith Theegala and Billy Horschel, as well as other perennial contenders such as Corey Conners, Brian Harman, Ben An, Taylor Pendrith, Austin Eckroat and Sepp Straka, just to name a few.
The Sony Open in Hawaii was first held in 1965 and has produced some great winners and great moments throughout the years, including Isao Aoki’s walk-off eagle to become the first Japanese winner in tour history in 1983, Justin Thomas’ first round 59 on the way to victory in 2017 and Hideki Matsuyama’s final round comeback and playoff dagger to take the win in 2022. Five players hold the record for most wins in this tournament, with Hubert Green, Corey Pavin, Lanny Wadkins, Ernie Els and Jimmy Walker each owning a pair of victories.
Last year’s edition was won by the late Grayson Murray, who drained a 40 foot putt on the first playoff hole to beat Ben An and Keegan Bradley to pick up his first victory since the 2017 Barbasol Championship and the final victory of his career. Russell Henley and Carl Yuan finished T-4, one stroke out of the playoff.
Doug Ghim had a consistent, but quiet, season in 2024, with a pair of top 10’s and nine top 25’s in 29 starts, highlighted by a runner-up showing in the final edition of the Shriners Children’s Open in October. Ghim may not pop up on too many leaderboards, but he is a low-key elite ball striker on tour, ranking inside the top 20 in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green, Off-the-Tee and Approach the Green, as well as 4th in Greens in Regulation Percentage and 14th in Driving Accuracy Percentage last season. With stats like that, what holds him back? A clunky short game has weighed Ghim down, ranking outside the top 100 on tour last season in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green and Putting. To make matters worse, Ghim absolutely blows in this event. Three career trips to Waialae Country Club and three career missed cuts for Ghim. A sneaky dark horse many weeks, this will not be one of them for Ghim, as I predict another missed cut for him in this event.
Finishing 50th in the FedEx Cup Standings last season to snag that last guaranteed spot into all of the Signature Events this season, Eric Cole logged five top 10’s and 13 top 25’s in 34 starts. Cole closed out 2024 strong, with three top 16 finishes during the FedEx Cup Fall portion of the schedule and looks to continue that success in 2025. Cole checks the boxes for success in this event, having a great approach game and a deft touch on the greens, as he ranked 66th in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green and 47th in Strokes Gained: Putting last season. Cole is a bit wild with the driver, ranking 149th in Driving Accuracy Percentage and 159th in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee last season, which makes him a risk at a course like Waialae that has tight fairways. My biggest reason for backing Cole this week is his success in recent events held on Bermuda grass greens, finishing T-13 here last season, not to mention T-7 in the Wyndham Championship and T-15 in The RSM Classic late last year, all events played on this type of green. Cole may not have had his sharpest last week, finishing in 52nd place as he navigated a lengthy and girthy Plantation Course at Kapalua, but with a shorter and tighter layout this week, this event falls right into Cole’s wheelhouse, which is why I expect him to pick up his first top 20 finish of the campaign.
He may only have eight starts under his belt on tour, but Luke Clanton has quickly proven he is a rising star, with a pair of runner-up performances, three top 5’s, four top 10’s and just one missed cut to date. Clanton didn’t qualify for Strokes Gained statistics last season due to not playing enough rounds, but would’ve ranked inside the top 15 in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green, Off-the-Tee and Approach the Green based on his finishes. Clanton is a long hitter, but he is an accurate hitter, hitting 70% of his fairways and 75% of his greens last season, which should translate well to a tight layout like Waialae Country Club. Clanton has never teed it up in this event, but I expect him to find success due to his past showings on Bermuda grass greens. Clanton finished in 5th place at the Wyndham Championship and T-2 at The RSM Classic, both of which prominently feature Bermuda grass greens. What sort of greens does Waialae Country Club have? You guess it, Bermuda grass greens. It’s only a matter of time until Clanton breaks through on tour. Hell, it may even be this week if everything goes perfectly. Nevertheless, I expect Clanton to build up his confidence and put himself in the mix this weekend on his way to his first top 10 of 2025.
Lost in the mix of the Hideki Matsuyama and Collin Morikawa duel last week was Corey Conners, who also put on a clinic of his own, hitting 75% of his fairways, 87.5% of his greens and gaining 1.852 strokes on the greens, which was good enough to lead the field on the way to a T-5 finish. Conners has always been lethal with his irons, and 2024 may have been his best year yet in that regard, ranking 3rd in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green in 2024. On the flip side, Conners has unfortunately struggled on the greens in his career, ranking 112th or worse in Strokes Gained: Putting in each of the last seven seasons, which is arguably the main reason why he has only two career wins on tour. Last week’s dominance on the greens bodes well for Conners as he returns to an event where he has had solid success in his career. In six starts at Waialae, Conners has one top 10, four top 15’s and has never missed the cut here. Conners best finish came back in 2019, where he finished T-3, five strokes behind Matt Kuchar. If Corey Conners can carry over his putting prowess from last week, then he will undoubtedly pick up his third career PGA Tour win at the Sony Open in Hawaii!
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