The PGA TOUR will visit a classic venue, the Waialae Country Club designed by Seth Raynor, for this week’s Sony Open in Hawaii. Several big names made the short trip from Honolulu to Maui after competing in the Sentry Championships last week, while most of the field is making its first start of the season. calendar year.
LOVE: Full tee times
Below are some of the players to keep an eye on this week, including champion Sentry Harris English, the man who made it in a sudden play (Joaquin Niemann) and defending champion Cameron Smith. We’ve put together our team of writers to answer a question about each specific Group, too. Enjoy.
THURSDAY
Collin Morikawa, Webb Simpson, Marc Leishman
– Leishman is 37. Webb is 35. Collin is just 23. What will Collin’s resume look like when he is 36?
SEAN MARTIN: For information, Dustin Johnson is 36 years old. He is also a generational talent. He has 24 awards, including two majors. Morikawa is already ahead of Johnson ‘s pace – DJ didn’t win a major until 2016 – but I think nothing more than 15 wins and two very successful wins for Morikawa. That’s a resume to get in the World Golf Hall of Fame, after all.
CAMERON MORFIT: Impossible to say, but Morikawa is such a unique case because his mind game is as sharp as his iron play. I am confident to say that at least 10 TOURs will be won by then, and we will see him represent the Stars and Stripes on several Ryder Cup and Presidents teams. Also, it’s so good from tee to green, like Garcia, that I’m going to say that Morikawa wins THE PLAYERS Championship somewhere in there as well.
BEN EVERILL: A double digit TOUR is on the horizon and I wouldn’t be surprised if it follows in the footsteps of Dustin Johnson by winning at least once a season. I think he will be very much present in the big tournaments and maybe a little more jag but history shows that you can be one of the best and still the stars will not compete. bias in those.
Sergio Garcia, Joaquin Niemann, Hideki Matsuyama
– Matsuyama tied for last at Kapalua. Niemann tied for first (before losing in playoff). Matsuyama is 21st in the world rankings. Niemann is 31st. Who will finish 2021 considered higher?
MARTIN: Niemann is moving in the right direction, with seven top-25s in his last nine starts, but I’m not selling Matsuyama yet. He and Niemann were both tied for third place at the BMW and Matsuyama was also second in the recent Vivint Houston Open. It was an awful performance he posted last week but I think his ball is enough to keep him among the elite of the game.
MORFIT: Sony has a dangerous Matsuyama, where it went 74-67-67-66 for T12 last year, but I have to join Niemann based on the big difference they have on the greens. Matsuyama has to figure something out with the putter; Niemann is already there.
EVERILL: Man, this is a sad call. I’m all into Niemann being a star and rising through the ranks but Hideki is usually so rocky. I expect a kick back from Matsuyama this week. Kapalua is not green for him. And he has Phoenix coming up. So Hideki – but just.
FRIDAY
Carlos Ortiz, Sungjae Im, Cameron Smith
– The FedExCup numbers are 16, 17 and eight, respectively. Who will finish the season high?
MARTIN: Sungjae Im. The Super Season means more opportunities for the golfer iron. He seems to have turned things around after struggling for a few months. He was T5 at the Sentry as well as second place at the Masters.
MORFIT: I look like he could be lining up for a big season, and I see him being No. 1 in this week ‘s Power Rankings. However, I will go ahead and pick Ortiz here on the theory that he is streaky and dangerous once he is full of self-belief, as he was when he won three times in one season on the Korn Ferry Tour .
EVERILL: Smith. This is definitely a bit of a bias as there is no doubt Im going to play more and get a chance at more points but I think Smith will shake off some of his mid-season lethargy this time and finishing high in some big events. He was second at the Masters (along with Im), after all.
Harris English, Adam Scott, Matt Kuchar
– Who has more wins in the rest of the season? English or Kuchar and Scott together?
MARTIN: English. To be honest, maybe this win should come sooner. His 11 top-10s since the start of last season are the third-largest toUR on TOUR (behind just Justin Thomas and Bryson DeChambeau). I expect another win out of this season, though I’m not sure if we can say the same about Scott and Kuchar. Scott’s win at Genesis last year was his first since 2016, and Kuchar has been unbeaten in five of the last six seasons.
MORFIT: English is going to have a big year, and I will say that it has more advantages than those other two boys combined. In a way, he is riding a hot climb of two wins just after winning with Kuchar in the QBE Shootout (unofficial). And I think it’s very possible that English won Sony, where it had just three top-10 finishes from 2013-15.
EVERILL: I really like English after seeing it near last week but if the measure is from now on – I will join Scott / Kuchar. And by that I mean Adam Scott. I’m seeing Scotty win again this season and while English is capable in every way, it’s hard to come through multiple win seasons.