Sony Open: Top 10 power rankings at Waialae Country Club

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HONOLULU, HI – JANUARY 12: Hideki Matsuyama of Japan stands on the second hole 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) /

We’ll start with the bad news first, then get to the good.

The reason Hideki Matsuyama isn’t higher on this week’s rankings is a surprisingly thin resume at the Sony Open. Japan’s golf star has made five trips to Waialae. A T-27 in 2017 (66-67-67-69) was his best result.

The bright side is he’s slowly improved after MC’ing three straight times before finishing T-78 in 2015. He also skipped the last two Sony Opens when he was playing good golf.

Even brighter is his recent form, which leads me to believe he can use that to flip the script at the Sony.

The 27-year-old has finished inside the top 16 in five straight starts and in seven of the last eight. He’s done everything but win, taking solo second at the Zozo Championship, T-3 at the CJ Cup and T-8 in his last start at the Dunlop Phoenix against a good field on the Japan Tour.

Matsuyama’s game fits bigger ballparks better, but the lack of rough at Waialae should still give his strong iron play a chance to thrive. He ranked fifth on Tour in strokes gained approach (.769) and third in tee to green (1.487). Matsuyama also has an underrated short game (.759 strokes gained, 5th) and improved his putting to finish in the top 100 the last two seasons.

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