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

Coming off his sensational runner-up finish at Kapalua, Woodland was a popular pick at the Sony. Instead he played three indifferent rounds and was a victim of the tour’s Saturday cut rule.

Woodland’s play was an object lesson in the vagaries of the week-to-week tour grind. At the TOC, he gained 1.24 strokes on the field off the tee. At the Sony, he lost nearly a half stroke per round to the field. At the TOC, he gained nearly a full stroke to the field on the greens, but at Waialae he lost 1.20 strokes per round, a swing of more than two strokes per round.

For the season, Woodland has been a solid performer approaching the greens, picking up an average of nearly a stroke per round on the fields.  He Kapalua, he exceeded even that, gaining 1.46 strokes per round. Yet Waialae – different course, different week – minimized the power of that strength, and he gained less than a quarter of a stroke on the field.

Considering all four Strokes Gained skills as a unit, Woodland spotted the field more than 1.5 strokes per round at Waialae. At Kapalua, he had gained 3.42 strokes per round on the field.

Only the vagaries of the game of golf – those changes in course, weather, plus the inevitable week-to-week risings and fallings that go along with being human – can account for such a week-to-week performance fluctuation. But that’s what makes golf such an unpredictable game…as Gary Woodland can attest.