Sony Open

Lawrence is pretty special Hank. Would be the no 1 pick if he went now, 2 more years is nuts.

Don't get me wrong - great rd so far, but Putnam seems very low here for a Thursday.

I just hope he doesn't get a bad injury before he can step out on a Sunday rhino.

Favourites group seem to be negatively inspiring each other.  No sign of improvement from Jordan, if anything he's still going backwards.

Yeah, not what he was hoping for here at all. What do we make of Woodland's rd? psychological damage from last tourny or just a bad day at the office?

Just been missing putts from the get go.  Could be a hangover from Sunday, but that's just sometimes what you get from Gary.  Nice finish from Abraham, normally -2 is a poor round here but scoring not that hot so far so looks OK.

Jordan is the guy to worry about.  Last season he was poor by his standards, but at the moment he's poor by anyone's standards.  Long way back to the top 10 with so many top quality players making their way up the rankings.

Been a huge advantage for the late starters, didn't see anything in the forecast to indicate such a big difference.

59 upcoming for kuch - time for a forum curse

dam you hank !you did him in

haha yeah well, I need him to bugger off as I have layed him

the hole must be looking like a dustbin for kooch this week

Yep, hopefully back to normal for the w/e JT seems to be struggling. Leishman prob my best hope right now.

Leishman and Kuchar reds for me, not been a good half hour.

leishman water

Draining them all.

3 hole outs from the fairway for Chez?  Surely not?

chez revie..3 holeouts from fairway this round! madness

I know Kuch is a fan of a top 10 but not even he will mess this one up. Writing this one off - not a great start to the season for me

his average score around here is about -4 a round so if hekeeps playing his normal game he is gonna be hard to beat. really likes this course by all accounts

too early in the tournament to get scared of one player

I know kuchar closed out his last tournament but he has a history of mental fragility.

Wonder how long Greller keeps his job if Jordan can't turn it around. Way it goes these days. Looks a shell of his former self.

T55 - MC - MC to start there year.  Always been many more technically gifted players out there but Jordan beat them with mental strength and a superhuman ability to get the ball in the hole when it mattered (usually just after I'd laid him).  If that's gone I don't know how you get it back, not sure a caddy change would do much.  These aren't the tournaments that'll define his career so probably shouldn't over-react but when your greatest strengths are gone and your weaknesses remain it's pretty worrying.

greller will get another year. if 2019 is like 2018 for Spieth then most likely he's gone. but I don't think the problem is greller. the problem is Spieth.

still one of the players to beat in the majors. was playing gash going into the 2018 masters and still nearly won it. each-way bet to nothing at augusta for me. came in the top five in four of the last five masters, and either won or went very close to winning on each occasion. even the year he finished outside the top five he was very close to the lead going into the sunday. a standing dish at augusta.

as for this week you could put it down to rustiness, played much better in round two.

If that's gone I don't know how you get it back, not sure a caddy change would do much.

slightly over-egging it there bosman, do you really think spiffy is finished?

admittedly his poor form has gone on for longer than most. but part of the problem is what he achieved so young. he set the bar really high for himself.

think his recent woes might come down to having made some of the bigger accomplishments so early, the masters and then the open. winning the two biggest prizes in golf might have lead to a waning of desire, either that or it's the complete opposite and he's trying too hard.

find it hard to believe he won't turn it around in the next few months. a great player can't play badly forever.

A great player can play badly forever. Or not get to a level they were at previously.

There are plenty around who thought he could not sustain his success the way he hit the golf ball,short game wizard with genius on greens for 5 years,while literally hitting it sideways.

Carried fortune many many times. Too many good players now.

I doubt he gets back to where he was,but I've stated that on here plenty,and he kept winning.
Never dominates that's for sure,never....

A great player can play badly forever. Or not get to a level they were at previously.

very rare and in cases where it's happened (baker finch, duval) it's normally happened later in their careers.

there's a saying- form is temporary, class is permanent. very relevant in this case.

and for all the talk of Spieth's poor ball-striking, didn't he lead the tour in strokes gained on approach a couple of seasons ago?

Spieth is only 25 and already has 14 wins including three majors. Many would be happy with that as a career.

At his best he compensates for his less than stellar ball striking with excellent course management a great short game and wonderful putting. He had a spell where his putting was phenomenal (think he was holing 25% of 20 - 30 footers at one time) as many said at the time that was never going to continue.

His biggest concern must be his biggest strength - his putting has become his biggest weakness. Last season was a disappointing year only 5 top tens in 24 starts and he must have been disappointed with his final round at the open.

He is still young enough to come again but has to sort his putting if that doesn't happen then he will continue to struggle. He is barely clinging on top the world top 20 and once you start falling it can be hard to stop just look at how Luke Donald fell away.

i am adding Leishman to my bets as i think he is the mostrealistic danger to Kuchar, i dont ancy Putnam to keep it going. Tho Kuchars play does seem to be a carbon copy of Mayakoba so i think he must be feeling very good about his game right now and much more relaxed than he would have been if he hadn't won recently. i get a feeling this could be a big year for Kuchar and that he could get into the form of his life the same way Stricker did a little while back. Even in his interviews he seems much more positive and confident.

test

Lewisham - when I said "If that's gone I don't know how you get it back" I didn't mean I was writing the guy off.  What is I mean is that, more than anyone else since Tiger, Spieth's greatest strength was an X-factor rather than technical excellence.  Not only did he make more chips and  long putts than anyone, but he was more likely to make them the more important they were.  Whatever you call that - mental strength, willing it into the hole, being "clutch" or just pure confidence - it's not something you can learn or teach so I'm not sure how you get it back if it goes.

Of course he can come back, and probably will, but nothing in his game seems good at the moment so he might have further to fall first.  The guys in the top 10 look miles ahead of him and they are improving too.

i'd still rather back him for the majors than most of the top ten.

Justin rose, dj, Molinari 1 major each. all mid thirties or older.
jon rahm, Bryson dechambeau, xander, tony finau, no majors.
tony finau only one win on tour which was a play-off against steve marino.

only brooks and rory have equal or more majors. not sure you could say rory is "improving fast"


possibly these are all improving fast or simply that they are in better form?

Didn't say anyone in particular was improving fast, but I'd say the overall standard required to be in the top 10 is improving due to the strength in depth in the game right now.  Standing still is going backwards right now, let alone getting worse as Jordan appears to be.  Doesn't just apply to him, of course.  Guys like Rickie, Day or even Rory can't take their spot at the top of the game for granted either and need to up their game.

Regarding majors, we'll see.  Maybe Jordan will get his X factor back when it matters most, and I wouldn't rule it out.  But he looks a long way off for now.

true that standards are improving all the time.

also motivation plays a factor. two seasons ago we were hearing about how hard matsuyama was working on the game. now it's all dechambeau.

must admit that he seems to have jumped to the top of the list of "most likely person to win a major who hasn't already won a major"


i think when players are working really hard like bryson and getting the results as well a major is not long away. seems to be mentally strong too, and up there pretty much every week. would be surprised if he didn't win a major over the next two years.

the problems seems to be maintaining that motivation over time. with spieth, it seems to have tapered off.

Agreed, and I guess the motivation goes hand in hand with the enormous rewards they get these days.  It's also probably the case that Spieth has always been so good at every level he's played that he's never faced genuine adversity so this is probably the first time he's had to handle not getting the results he wants.

Agree completely re Bryson, now he's winning tournaments regularly it bodes well for a major.  I'd say the same for Schauffele who's quietly gone past far more famous players and seems to show no nerves when it comes to the business end.

Maybe Jordan will get his X factor back when it matters most, and I wouldn't rule it out.  But he looks a long way off for now.

think you are being overly harsh on him though. only a few months ago he nearly won the masters. shot a very low final round, almost a course record, having been god knows how many shots behind and almost written off going into the final round.

at the open he was in the final group. traded as fav during the final round.

ultimately how these players are remembered is how they do in the majors. even last year, his worst year, he still competed well in the majors.

Funnily enough, Bryson this week seems to be doing something Jordan has made a habit of:  playing pretty mediocre for a couple of days but mounting a charge to still find a way into contention.  Problem for Jordan is you can't mount a Saturday charge at home on the sofa.

Spiffy love in from LR.Shock.

Ricky up next.

Putnam's putter gone cold

Bryson 63 with 5 missed putts inside 10 feet.  What might have been.

I'd got over my Keith Mitchell addiction but looks like I'll need to back him every week this year too.

Catch Me ifyoucan • January 9, 2019 12:16 AM GMT
Kissire defends, Sneds, Kuchar, Woodland, Frittelli & Poulter on debut & Thomas may come into the equation after RD 1.

Expecting some one to come from the clouds (like last week) and do him

THREE 63's and FIVE 64's yesterday, so WIDE OPEN final round

Chez Reavie is the first player on record (since 1983) on the PGA TOUR with three eagles on par-4s in the same round - it's just the fifth time in the last five PGA Tour seasons that a player recorded three eagles in a single round.


Matt Kuchar needs one more T10 finish for 100 in his PGA Tour career. Only 4 players have 100 or more top-10s since Kuchar earned his 1st at the 2001 Air Canada Championship: Furyk, Woods, Mickelson and Singh.
Kuchar is the fifth player in the last ten PGA Tour seasons to open with consecutive 63s or better. Each of the previous four went on to win that week.
Matt has the two lowest 54-hole total scores on the PGA Tour this season: 192 this week and 193 at Mayakoba (won).


MAYBE Marc Leishman or Bryson DeChambeau (nibble both 66's ew 1-2) might give it a go for second place

MDF...
Dugas, Eric *
Champ, Cameron *
Dufner, Jason *
Stricker, Steve *
Trainer, Martin *
Hughes, Mackenzie *
O'Hair, Sean *
Schnell, Brady *
Woodland, Gary *
Garber, Joey *

as it stands right now my best result is 1st Leishman ,2nd Kuchar, then failing that Kuchar winning is second best followed by Putnam winning and Kuchar top 5. worst resultpossible for me now is Kuchar to finish outside top 5 which leaves an overall profit of 10/1 return on stake. So a good week but all made possible by Kuchar being at the top end from the get go.

good luck with your bets!

Hopefully when Kuch is holding the trophy someone has the nerve to ask him how much he paid the local caddie at Mayakoba.

was he not very generous ?

Rumour is he paid him a flat $3000 and no win bonus.  Regular caddie would have got over $100,000.

i would have thought it would have been 10% or whatever they pay a caddy as a win bomus, if thats true and it was just $3k thats disgracful

I can see why the percentage might be less for a local than a touring caddie, but you've got to give the guy something. 5% would've been serious money for the guy.

i would even say lifchanging amount for him

I hope the rumour isn't true, but there is a reason rich people stay rich

Seen a few tweets suggesting it wouldn't be out of character, so maybe the Mr Nice Guy thing is an act.

kuch slapped that quite a way by - Putnam must have got scared off and is well short

wow a proper pull there from kuch

kuch giving me some hope here, but will no doubt pull it around and win

Kuch looks shaky.  Where's El Toucan when you need him?

Could have been a 2 shot swing there, but I'll take the one. 3 bogeys thru 5 is hard to shake off - I just hope Putnam stays solid.

TB you still around? either the par 5 kick starts kuch or he stays in a struggling rd - the latter I hope!

Yeah, these two have let a lot of guys into it, but could pull away again at 9.  Got nice positions on Leish, Swaff, T-Pot or Bryson so hoping they stay in neutral for an exciting finish.

where was this from Leishman yday?

can't believe this new rule about leaving the flag in on putts... ruins the game for me.

didn't kuchar blank that sky sports commentator when he tried to interview him during us open prep last year? thought that revealed his true colours. others were happy to talk.

huge putt from kooch there

Couple of birdies at the 10th here and my good ones are a long way back.  Least the Saints won.

yeah meng, even though he played a poor shot to the bunker that birdie will shake him up I think. All 4 home teams won TB - at least the nfl will soften the kuch blow for me - also Aus open just started

i was beginning to think kooch wasnt even going to finish top5, that makes a big dent in my winnings, so that putt at 9 was massive for my happiness at any rate

and I'd say that's ballgame for me. Putnam gave me some hope for the front 9. Off to watch the tennis instead. I'll check in later to see kuch hose up by 3 I should think.

Guy can putt.

Good work with the early concession, Hank, did the job.

hank has a knack for it, uncanny

potter having a mare

Jordan Spieth was in the Sony field but withdrew Saturday. Manager says he's battling a cold and didn't want to make it worse on the long flights. He'll start his year at Torrey.

Catch Me ifyoucan • January 15, 2017 11:11 PM GMT
Darth_Monty - The only thing that can stop Justin Thomas winning in Hawaii is if he went on the piss with Allenby !

Webb Simpson & Justin Thomas top the table...

https://pgagolfbets.com/pga-tour-golf-stats-analysis/

Jan 5, 2020 -- 10:28PM, Catch Me ifyoucan wrote:

Jordan Spieth was in the Sony field but withdrew Saturday. Manager says he's battling a cold and didn't want to make it worse on the long flights. He'll start his year at Torrey.

Sounds like code for "still hitting it sideways" imo.

Eight players won at least 10 times in the 2010's: DJ & Rory (18), JUSTIN THOMAS, Day & Bubba (12), Spieth (11), Tiger (11) and Rose (10).
12+ wins on the PGA TOUR [i]before age 27 (in last 85 years): Sam Snead, Jack, Tiger & Justin Thomas.[/i]

Thomas’s 12th victory last week (ages just 26) puts him level with Day, Zach Johnson and Bubba on the all-time list, and one victory ahead of Jordan Spieth.

...that must Pi55 him off too

Aloha from Hawaii..... (ELVIS would've been be 85 today)..... and was broadcast live via satellite on January 14, 1973

I WISH I WAS in a land of Cotton......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FT3SmZ_zx0

22:00    Sung-Jae Im Doc Redman Scott Brown    1/1    3/1    3/1
22:10    Cameron Smith Matt Jones Charley Hoffman    11/8    2/1    3/1
22:10    Brian Harman Kyle Stanley Sepp Straka    5/4    7/4    16/5
22:20    Pat Perez Scott Piercy Brendan Steele    7/5    28/15    11/4
22:20    Tyler Duncan Brice Garnett Ted Potter Jr    7/5    6/4    3/1
22:30    Webb Simpson Hideki Matsuyama Kevin Kisner    7/5    2/1    3/1
22:30    Corey Conners Nate Lashley Jason Dufner    6/5    2/1    7/2
22:40    Justin Thomas Matt Kuchar Brendon Todd    1/1    5/2    7/2....the star 3Ball later !
22:40    Aaron Wise Graeme McDowell Sung Kang    17/10    15/8    9/4
22:50    Andrew Putnam Russell Knox Keegan Bradley    8/5    28/15    12/5
22:50    Ryan Palmer Keith Mitchell Satoshi Kodaira    11/8    9/5    11/4

Chucky-three-sticks was off earlier

Zach's last ten years here read - mc, 14, 6, 9, 64, 8, mc, 54, mc & 12th in 2010.

23 players have make the island-hop from MAUI to OAHU this week (to Waialae Country Club in Honolulu).....the second leg of the "Hawaii-50-Swing" ('50' being the 50th State of the Union).

ALOHA, agus céad míle fáilte go Hawaii Five-0.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AepyGm9Me6w


Since the Tournament of Champions moved to Hawaii in 1999, 15 SONY winners have done it after playing Kapalua on Maui the previous week…. historically an advantage but not necessarily a pre-requisite. Ernie Els in 2003 AND JUSTIN THOMAS in 2017 are unique as the only ones to sweep both events. Thomas’ win on Maui last week also put him alongside Ernie Els, and along with Stuart Appleby, are the only three players in PGA Tour history to win three or more times in Hawaii. Thomas has a career scoring average of 66.6 at host course Waialae CC, best of any player over the last decade (minimum ten rounds played)....just saying.

Course experience seems to be pay real dividends at Waialae as 13 of the past 14 champions had played the Sony Open prior to lifting the trophy. The only exception to this rule was Henley in 2013 when he beat the rest of the field by a huge margin in his first PGA Tour start in his rookie season, having arrived in Honolulu fresh from 2 late season wins on the web.com Tour.

therhino • January 8, 2019 11:08 AM GMT
Having bagged a trophy at Sea Island who would begrudge Chucky winning this one once and for all.

Highest Ownership in one of those fantasy games:

JT 26.7%
Im 22.8
Morikawa 19.8
Palmer 18.9
Webb 18.5
Munoz 18.5
Poston 18.2
Reed 16.7
Griffin 16
Niemann 14.2
Sabbatini 14.1
Putnam 13.9
Long 13.6
CH3 13.2
Deki 13
Stuard 12.8
C Ortiz 12.8
Conners 12.2
Kuch 11.7
C Smith 11.3

James Hahn leads (in the clubhouse) 69 (-1)

Now joined in the clubhouse by Abraham Ancer with another 69.

Reminder, the Golf Channel is not showing the first 7hrs of Rd 1.

IF/WHEN he wins this week, Thomas will have three wins in his first five PGA Tour starts of the 2019-20 season, something he did in 2016-17.
Johnny Miller (1974, 1975) and Tiger Woods (2003, 2008, 2013) are the only other players to win three times through five starts in a PGA Tour season since 1970.

therhino • January 11, 2017 8:47 AM GMT.....Happy new year golf forum.

Not a happy start this year down-under... with FIRES RAGING

2014/2015 back-to-back TWO TIME WINNER Jimmy Walker - birdie on hole 18 for (Even par 70): T9th

LATE START in Honolulu, like last week 10 hrs behind us.....BUT 'prime time' tonight in the USA.

24 hrs round the clock golf in Europe with Day2 in Hong Kong just underway, Hawaii Day1 in progress and daylight not too far away in South Africa for Day2.

Best score to par in Hawaii PGA Tour events since beginning of 2017 -
Justin -101
Leishman -64
Spieth -59
DJ  -55

Marc Leishman last ten years here - 3,7,20,28,37,5,9,dnp,27 & 20 in 2010.....Noted wind player

Looks a STEELE at 11/8 with Cam Smith 4/1, KISNER 8/1 and Simpson 9/1 also ran

In the hunt, but in the wrong time zone...
Brendan Steele 5/4
Cameron Smith 11/4.....hope to wake up to good news of yet another Aussie winner.
Webb Simpson 10
Kevin Kisner 12
Sungjae Im 14
Collin Morikawa 14
Ryan Palmer 25
Graeme McDowell 25 ew 3pls

“BIG WIN For The Young Aussie” .....’good morning campers’

WADE wins in HK, Super CAM in Hawaii ..... could this spark another ‘shark attack’ era..... should lift their fiery spirits atm

Sony Cam Smith locks up his TOUR card for two more years (after his first win in the 2017 Zurich Classic of New Orleans), a spot at The Masters and puts himself in a better position for Olympic qualification (think Fraser, Hend, Leishman, Scott, Day).

Adam Scott is currently Australia's top ranked men's player, with the former world number one currently 17th in the overall rankings. Scott turned down an invitation to compete for the Australian team at Rio 2016 and has been quoted as saying the Olympic Games is "not the priority" for him.
His compatriot Jason Day, who missed Rio 2016 over fears surrounding the Zika virus, has indicated he would accept an invitation for Tokyo 2020.
Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy have both expressed their desire to make their Olympic debuts at Tokyo 2020.

1 Cameron Smith -11 F -2 70 65 66 68 269
2 Brendan Steele -11 F +1 68 66 64 71 269
3 Webb Simpson -10 F -3 71 66 66 67 270

T4 Graeme McDowell -9 F -6 71 69 67 64 271
T4 Ryan Palmer -9 F -2 67 68 68 68 271
T4 Kevin Kisner -9 F -1 69 69 64 69 271

T7 Lanto Griffin -8 F* -6 71 69 68 64 272
T7 Ted Potter, Jr. -8 F -4 67 69 70 66 272
T9 Cameron Davis -7 F -2 68 66 71 68 273...another Aussie to watch.
T9 Henrik Norlander -7 F -2 71 66 68 68 273
T9 Bo Hoag -7 F -1 70 65 69 69 273

SONY CAMERon SMITH also offered to donate $500 for every birdie (and $1000 for every eagle) towards the raging bushfire crisis - so his putts meant more !
He made 21 birdies for the wk, none more important than the eight-footer on 18 Sunday (to set up a playoff with Brendan Steele). “Every birdie putt I had, just meant that little bit more, rather than kind of wanting to make it, I almost felt like I had to make it”.
He moves from #54 to OWGR #31, just 3 spots behind #28 Leishman. (Day out to #40 & Matt Jones #97, while Scott stays at #13). The win on Oahu triggers exemptions into his fourth Masters as well as his fifth PGA Championship. He was already exempt into THE PLAYERS and the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. Obviously he's defending champion next year, but he’s also secured an exemption into the Sentry Tournament of Champions.