The 2022-23 PGA TOUR is staying in Hawaii for one more week, with the 2023 Sony Open in Hawaii kicking off on Thursday. With that said, let’s now take a look at some of the top favorites, sleepers, and long shots in this upcoming tournament at Waialae Country Club down in Honolulu.
There’s still plenty of space on the Tom Kim bandwagon, so feel free to hop in there and enjoy the ride. Kim is coming off a T5 finish in the 2023 Sentry of Tournament of Champions, which was already his second top-5 finish in just four starts, so far this season. Of course, the other top-5 finish he had was a win at the Shriners Children’s Open back in September. Overall, Kim is 4/4 with four top 25s this season.
Im was also a strong performer in the aforementioned Shriners Children’s Open tournament last year in which he finished solo in the seventh spot. After that, he had lukewarm showings in the ZOZO Championship and in THE CJ CUP in South Carolina, but he’s getting hot again. He just finished with a T13 in last week’s Sentry Tournament of Champions. So far in his career as a pro, Im has made the cut at Waialae Country Club three times out of four starts.
Spieth has played in only two events so far this season. He only had a T52 at THE CJ CUP in South Carolina last October but resurfaced last week to come up with a T13 at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. The 20-year-old Spieth is 2/4 at Waialae Country Club, with his best finish there being a solo third in the 2017 edition of the Sony Open in Hawaii.
Here’s what we said about Kuchar in our 2023 Sony Open in Hawaii sleepers piece:
At his price, Kuchar deserves a look, especially since he is 3/4 this season to date. He had a T12 at the Fortinet Championship last September and a T29 in THE CJ CUP in South Carolina a month after. Then he finished with a T27 in November’s World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba. The Sony Open in Hawaii will be Kuchar’s first start in an official PGA TOUR event this year, and he will be making that appearance in a very familiar territory. Kuchar has a total of 17 PGA TOUR starts at Waialae Country Club, dating back to 2001. Since then, he’s got seven top 10s and eight top 25s while making the cut nine times. He won the tournament as well in 2019 and finished seventh in 2022.
Here’s what we said about English in our 2023 Sony Open in Hawaii sleepers piece:
The 33-year-old pro has yet to make a start this year, just like Kuchar. However, he has made the cut six times out of seven this season, which is something notable. That includes his T9 in the 2022 Fortinet Championship. English is also very used to playing at Waialae Country Club, where he’s already made 10 starts before. During a stretch from 2013 to 2015, English made three straight top 5s on that course, including a solo third in the 2015 Sony Open in Hawaii.
Ranked 260th in the world, Piercy has made the cut in four of seven starts this season, including two in which he finished inside the top 25. He’s 9/13 at Waialae Country Club with a runner-up finish there during the 2015 Sony Open in Hawaii.
