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Sony Open Recap: How eight of the PGA TOUR’s best fell short

By Bill Felber

HONOLULU, HI - JANUARY 12: Stewart Cink of the United States plays his shot from the 17th tee during the third round of the Sony Open In Hawaii at Waialae Country Club on January 12, 2019 in Honolulu, Hawaii. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
HONOLULU, HI - JANUARY 12: Stewart Cink of the United States plays his shot from the 17th tee during the third round of the Sony Open In Hawaii at Waialae Country Club on January 12, 2019 in Honolulu, Hawaii. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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HONOLULU, HI – JANUARY 12: Justin Thomas of the United States plays his shot from the eighth tee during the third round of the Sony Open In Hawaii at Waialae Country Club on January 12, 2019 in Honolulu, Hawaii. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
HONOLULU, HI – JANUARY 12: Justin Thomas of the United States plays his shot from the eighth tee during the third round of the Sony Open In Hawaii at Waialae Country Club on January 12, 2019 in Honolulu, Hawaii. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images) /

At -12 and 268, Thomas tied for 16th place, one stroke behind Reed with a card of 67-68-67-66. Carrying a 70.05 stroke average into the event, Thomas figured to be among title contenders. But by his standards, he actually had a slightly off week. What saved Thomas was his pure ability.

Week in and week out, the strength of Thomas’ game is his precision iron play. He is averaging 2.07 strokes gained per round on his approaches, the best on tour by more than half a stroke.

But a track record carries with it expectations. In the case of Thomas, he pretty much has to beat up the field approaching greens just to stay even because for the moment none of the other aspects of his game stand out. At Waialae, his iron play was only moderately solid, gaining him an average of 1.43 strokes per round.

As it turned out, Thomas did fairly well in the other aspects of his game. Slightly negative for the season off the tee, he actually picked up a fraction of a stroke per round, making for an improvement which, however negligible, was still an improvement. The same happened on the greens where Thomas, a slightly below average putter for the season, slightly beat the averages last week. He played his average game around the greens.

It all added up to a 1.77 overall gain against the field that sounds decent except when considered against Thomas’ 2.10 season-long advantage.

Bottom line: A very good player performed only decently, failing to capitalize on his strength or markedly turn around any of his weaknesses.

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