Preview And TV Times: 2014 Sony Open

Jan 13, 2013; Honolulu, HI, USA; Russell Henley holds the Sony Open trophy in the air after winning with a final round 63 to go 24 under for the tournament at Waialae Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

2013 Sony Open Champion, Russell Henley leads a full field of PGA Tour players to the  Waialae Country Club in Honolulu for the official start of the 2014 golf season. Many of the players who finished up on Monday at Kapalua, including Hyundai Tournament of Champion, Zach Johnson will make the short flight to Oahu for this weeks tournament.

The Sony Open will be the first full field tournament of the new year with Monday qualifying, 36 hole qualifying and the dreaded cut after the second round is complete.

After the mountainous Kapalua Plantation Course, The Waialae Country Club could be a welcomed site for the players who made the trip to Oahu for the Sony Open.

Waialae Country Club was designed by Seth Raynor and Charles Banks, and was opened for play in 1927. It is 7044 yards in length, and plays to a par of 70 for the tour players.

Seth Raynor and Charles Banks borrowed liberally from signature ideas from other courses. The 7th green is bisected by a deep “biarritz” gully; No.17 has a “redan” green that slopes sharply back-to-front and right-to-left. Also, No.1 introduces features found at the famed “Road Hole” of St. Andrews’ Old Course, making it one of the toughest opening holes on the schedule. The Hawaiian Open has known no other home since debuting on the PGA TOUR schedule in 1965.

The Sony Open has not typically drawn the strongest of fields in the past, but with the new “Wrap Around” schedule, is attracting some of the worlds best players who are looking for a piece of the $5.6 Million dollar purse, and more importantly, FedEx Cup points.

World No.2 Adam Scott and No.7 Matt Kuchar join defending champion Russell Henley in a field that features six of the top 25 players in this week’s world rankings. … Scott and PGA Championship winner Jason Dufner are among participants … Guan Tianlang, who made history with last year’s Masters debut at age 14, is in the field on a sponsor exemption along with fellow Chinese amateur Liu Yanwei.

The Field:

TELEVISION: Thursday-Saturday, 7-10:30 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Sunday, 7-10 p.m. (GC).

Source: PGATour.com

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