Sony Open in Hawaii Preview & Groups to Watch
The 2012 PGA Tour season opened last week but the Sony Open offers the first full field event of 2012. It was just one year ago that Mark Wilson stole show by winning his first tournament of 2011 but seven previous winners of this event will be looking to reclaim victory. The Sony Open in Hawaii marks the final event before the PGA Tour moves to the mainland next week.
When the players tee off on Thursday all eyes will be on Steve Stricker. The highest ranked player in the event (5th) is coming off a victory just days ago at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. The win last week marks the fourth consecutive season with a victory for Stricker as he continues to be one of the top Americans on Tour each year.
Chasing down Stricker will be a few familiar faces from last week including Webb Simpson. Simpson finished 2011 as the hottest player on Tour and carried it over to the first event of 2012 where he finished in a tie for 3rd. He enters this week as the only other player ranked in the top 10 (7th) in the Official World Golf Rankings. His top 10 finish last week was the 8th time he cracked the top ten in nine PGA Tour events dating back to August of 2011 when he won the Wyndham Championship.
Groups To Watch at the Sony Open in Hawaii
3. David Toms, Mark Wilson & Zach Johnson: Three previous Sony Open in Hawaii Champions play together for rounds one and two. Mark Wilson won here in 2011 and it lead to a two win season for him. Toms, the 2006 winner, struggled last week but had a great 2011. It will be interesting to see how he recovers in week number two. Zach Johnson is my pick to win this week. The 2009 Sony Open champion made 19 of 23 cuts last season with four top 10 finishes.
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