Sony Open in Hawaii

"Sony Open" redirects here. For the tennis tournament once known as the Sony Ericsson Open, see Miami Open (tennis).

The Sony Open in Hawaii is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, and is part of the tour's FedEx Cup Series. It has been contested at the Waialae Country Club in Honolulu, Hawaii, since the event's modern-day inception as the Hawaiian Open in November 1965.^[2]

Sony Open in Hawaii

Tournament information
Location	Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
Established	1965
Course(s)	Waialae Country Club
Par	70
Length	7,044 yards (6,441 m)
Organized by	Friends of Hawaii Charities
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Format	Stroke play
Prize fund	US$8,300,000
Month played	January
Tournament record score
Aggregate	253^[a] Justin Thomas (2017)
To par	−28 John Huston (1998)
Current champion
Grayson Murray
Location map
Waialae Country Club Location in Hawaii

In addition to the usual PGA Tour eligibility criteria, the Sony Open may invite up to three professional golfers from emerging markets.^[3]

History

 

Setting for the Sony Open: the Waialae Country Club on Oahu

Originally a mid-autumn event for its first five editions, it was skipped in 1970 as it moved to its winter slot in early February 1971.^[4] Currently, it is held in mid-January and is the first full-field event of the calendar year, following the Tournament of Champions on Maui. The front and back nines of Waialae are switched for the PGA Tour event, finishing at the dogleg ninth hole.^[5]

The first lead sponsor was United Airlines in 1991, succeeded by current sponsor Sony in 1999. There have been five multiple winners of the tournament, all two-time champions: Hubert Green, Corey Pavin, Lanny Wadkins, Ernie Els, and Jimmy Walker. All have won major championships. The tournament is currently organized by Friends of Hawaii Charities.^[6]

In 1983, forty-year-old Isao Aoki became Japan's first winner on the PGA Tour. He holed out a wedge shot for an eagle-3 on the 72nd hole to beat Jack Renner by a stroke.^[7][8]

In 1998, John Huston broke the then PGA Tour scoring record to par. He shot 28 under par, beating Ben Hogan's record originally set in 1945.^[9]

The Sony Open gained attention for granting four consecutive sponsor invitations (PGA Tour Exemption #11) to Michelle Wie, the first in 2004 when she was age 14.^[10] She missed the cut in all four appearances,^[11] and did not receive one of the four available sponsor exemptions in 2008. One of the invitations went to Alex Ching, a 17-year-old former high school classmate of Wie.

In 2007, amateur Tadd Fujikawa become the second youngest player ever (16 years, 4 days) to make a 36-hole cut in an official PGA Tour event.^[11][12] His achievement was highlighted by a 15-foot (4.6 m) eagle putt on his 36th hole, Waialae's 551-yard par-5 18th. Incidentally, the PGA Tour's 2006 media guide shows that the youngest player ever to make a 36-hole cut in an official Tour event was Bob Panasik (15 years, 8 months, and 20 days) in 1957 at the Canadian Open,^[13] 3½ months younger than Fujikawa.

 

PGA Tour golfer Ben Martin (left) at a Birdies for the Brave event following his round at the 2014 Sony Open

Preparations for the 2018 Sony Open were briefly disrupted by a false emergency alert stating that a ballistic missile had been launched toward Hawaii. Staff members reportedly attempted to take shelter in the players' locker room, the media center was ordered to evacuate, and several players posted messages on social media about the erroneous alert, which was sent to all smartphones in the state.^[14] The alert was ultimately determined to have been sent in error.^[15] Before the final round, Golf Channel cameramen also staged a walkout.^[16]

Winners

Year	Winner	Score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up	Purse ($)	Winner's share ($)	Ref.
Sony Open in Hawaii
2024	Grayson Murray	263	−17	Playoff	An Byeong-hun   Keegan Bradley	8,300,000	1,494,000
2023	Kim Si-woo	262	−18	1 stroke	Hayden Buckley	7,900,000	1,422,000
2022	Hideki Matsuyama	257	−23	Playoff	Russell Henley	7,500,000	1,350,000
2021	Kevin Na	259	−21	1 stroke	Chris Kirk   Joaquín Niemann	6,600,000	1,188,000
2020	Cameron Smith	269	−11	Playoff	Brendan Steele	6,600,000	1,188,000
2019	Matt Kuchar	258	−22	4 strokes	Andrew Putnam	6,400,000	1,152,000
2018	Patton Kizzire	263	−17	Playoff	James Hahn	6,200,000	1,116,000
2017	Justin Thomas	253	−27	7 strokes	Justin Rose	6,000,000	1,080,000
2016	Fabián Gómez	260	−20	Playoff	Brandt Snedeker	5,800,000	1,044,000
2015	Jimmy Walker (2)	257	−23	9 strokes	Scott Piercy	5,600,000	1,008,000
2014	Jimmy Walker	263	−17	1 stroke	Chris Kirk	5,600,000	1,008,000
2013	Russell Henley	256	−24	3 strokes	Tim Clark	5,600,000	1,008,000
2012	Johnson Wagner	267	−13	2 strokes	Harrison Frazar   Charles Howell III   Sean O'Hair   Carl Pettersson	5,500,000	990,000
2011	Mark Wilson	264	−16	2 strokes	Tim Clark   Steve Marino	5,500,000	990,000
2010	Ryan Palmer	265	−15	1 stroke	Robert Allenby	5,500,000	990,000
2009	Zach Johnson	265	−15	2 strokes	Adam Scott   David Toms	5,400,000	972,000
2008	K. J. Choi	266	−14	3 strokes	Rory Sabbatini	5,300,000	954,000
2007	Paul Goydos	266	−14	1 stroke	Luke Donald   Charles Howell III	5,200,000	936,000
2006	David Toms	261	−19	5 strokes	Chad Campbell   Rory Sabbatini	5,100,000	918,000
2005	Vijay Singh	269	−11	1 stroke	Ernie Els	4,800,000	864,000
2004	Ernie Els (2)	262	−18	Playoff	Harrison Frazar	4,800,000	864,000
2003	Ernie Els	264	−16	Playoff	Aaron Baddeley	4,500,000	810,000
2002	Jerry Kelly	266	−14	1 stroke	John Cook	4,000,000	720,000
2001	Brad Faxon	260	−20	4 strokes	Tom Lehman	4,000,000	720,000
2000	Paul Azinger	261	−19	7 strokes	Stuart Appleby	2,900,000	522,000
1999	Jeff Sluman	271	−9	2 strokes	Davis Love III   Jeff Maggert   Len Mattiace   Chris Perry   Tommy Tolles	2,600,000	468,000
United Airlines Hawaiian Open
1998	John Huston	260	−28	7 strokes	Tom Watson	1,800,000	324,000
1997	Paul Stankowski	271	−17	Playoff	Jim Furyk   Mike Reid	1,200,000	216,000
1996	Jim Furyk	277	−11	Playoff	Brad Faxon	1,200,000	216,000
1995	John Morse	269	−19	3 strokes	Tom Lehman   Duffy Waldorf	1,200,000	216,000
1994	Brett Ogle	269	−19	1 stroke	Davis Love III	1,200,000	216,000
1993	Howard Twitty	269	−19	4 strokes	Joey Sindelar	1,200,000	216,000
1992	John Cook	265	−23	2 strokes	Paul Azinger	1,200,000	216,000
United Hawaiian Open
1991	Lanny Wadkins (2)	270	−18	4 strokes	John Cook	1,100,000	198,000
Hawaiian Open
1990	David Ishii	279	−9	1 stroke	Paul Azinger	1,000,000	180,000
1989	Gene Sauers	197^[b]	−19	1 stroke	David Ogrin	750,000	135,000
1988	Lanny Wadkins	271	−17	1 stroke	Richard Zokol	600,000	108,000
1987	Corey Pavin (2)	270	−18	Playoff	Craig Stadler	600,000	108,000
1986	Corey Pavin	272	−16	2 strokes	Paul Azinger	500,000	90,000
1985	Mark O'Meara	267	−21	1 stroke	Craig Stadler	500,000	90,000
1984	Jack Renner	271	−17	Playoff	Wayne Levi	500,000	90,000
1983	Isao Aoki	268	−20	1 stroke	Jack Renner	325,000	58,500
1982	Wayne Levi	277	−11	1 stroke	Scott Simpson	325,000	58,500
1981	Hale Irwin	265	−23	6 strokes	Don January	325,000	58,500
1980	Andy Bean	266	−22	3 strokes	Lee Trevino	325,000	58,500
1979	Hubert Green (2)	267	−21	3 strokes	Fuzzy Zoeller	300,000	54,000
1978	Hubert Green	274	−14	Playoff	Billy Kratzert	250,000	50,000
1977	Bruce Lietzke	273	−15	3 strokes	Don January   Takashi Murakami	240,000	48,000
1976	Ben Crenshaw	270	−18	4 strokes	Hale Irwin   Larry Nelson	230,000	46,000
1975	Gary Groh	274	−14	1 stroke	Al Geiberger	220,000	44,000
1974	Jack Nicklaus	271	−17	3 strokes	Eddie Pearce	220,000	44,000
1973	John Schlee	273	−15	2 strokes	Orville Moody	200,000	40,000
1972	Grier Jones	274	−14	Playoff	Bob Murphy	200,000	40,000
1971	Tom Shaw	273	−15	1 stroke	Miller Barber	200,000	40,000
1970: No tournament
1969	Bruce Crampton	274	−14	4 strokes	Jack Nicklaus	125,000	25,000
1968	Lee Trevino	272	−16	2 strokes	George Archer	125,000	25,000
1967	Dudley Wysong	284	−4	Playoff	Billy Casper	100,000	20,000
1966	Ted Makalena	271	−17	3 strokes	Billy Casper   Gay Brewer	42,500	8,500
1965	Gay Brewer	281	−7	Playoff	Bob Goalby	45,000	9,000

Note: Green highlight indicates scoring records.

Previous incarnations recognized by PGA Tour

Year	Player	Score	To par	Winner's share ($)
1948	Cary Middlecoff	274	−10	2,000
1947	Dutch Harrison	275	−13	2,000
1929	Craig Wood	289	+1	1,600
1928	Bill Mehlhorn	291

Multiple winners

Five men have won this tournament more than once through 2023.

• 2 wins
  • Hubert Green: 1978, 1979
  • Corey Pavin: 1986, 1987
  • Lanny Wadkins: 1988, 1991
  • Ernie Els: 2003, 2004
  • Jimmy Walker: 2014, 2015

Records

• Tournament record: 253 (Justin Thomas, 2017)
• 54-hole record: 188 (Justin Thomas, 2017)
• 36-hole record: 123 (Justin Thomas, 2017)
• 18-hole record: 59 (Justin Thomas, 2017)

References

1. Porter, Kyle. "Justin Thomas sets PGA Tour scoring record in stunning showing at Sony Open". CBS Sports. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
2. "Gay Brewer birdies 73d, nips Goalby". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. November 8, 1965. p. 13.
3. (PDF). October 5, 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 12, 2016.
4. "Shaw charges, bags Hawaiian Open victory". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire services. February 8, 1971. p. 3B.
5. . Archived from the original on December 13, 2013. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
6. . Archived from the original on 2014-12-05. Retrieved 2013-06-23.
7. "Aoki's wedge shot steals golf tourney". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). UPI. February 14, 1983. p. 3B.
8. "Aoki's eagle feathers PGA win". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. February 14, 1983. p. 16.
9. "Huston breaks Hogan's 53-year-old record". The Irish Times. February 16, 1998. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
10. "Wie shoots 72 at PGA tourney". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. January 16, 2004. p. C5.
11. "Hawaii teen makes history". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. January 13, 2007. p. B2.
12. "Finally The Teenager Makes a Cut". Golf Channel. Associated Press. January 12, 2007. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
13. Sullivan, Jack (July 12, 1957). "Norman could be brightest Canadian on big-time golf tournament trail". Ottawa Citizen. (Canada). Canadian Press. p. 11.
14. Kohli, Sonali; Ottey and, Michael A.W.; Chang, Heidi (January 13, 2018). "False alert of missile attack sparks panic in Hawaii". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 13, 2018.
15. "'Terrifying': False ballistic missile threat alarm sends Hawaii into panic". Hawaii News Now. January 13, 2018. Retrieved January 13, 2018.
16. "Golf Channel Cameramen Walk Amid Coverage of Sony Open". ESPN. Associated Press. January 14, 2018. Retrieved January 14, 2018.

Notes

1. PGA Tour aggregate scoring record.^[1]
2. Shortened to 54 holes due to rain.

External links

• Official website
• Coverage on the PGA Tour's official site

21°16′19″N 157°46′30″W / 21.272°N 157.775°W / 21.272; -157.775