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Vijay Singh will look to defend his 2005 Sony Open Championship
a week after losing to Stuart Appleby in a playoff at the
Mercedes Championships. This is the first tournament of the
season with a full field but there are plenty of big names
missing as only three players from the Official World Golf
Rankings top-ten are here - Singh, Adam Scott and Jim Furyk. One
big name that is here will be the biggest draw of the tournament
and no, I'm not referring to Tiger Woods.
Michelle Wie will be making her 3rd appearance at the Sony Open,
her first since turning professional last October. When she
turned pro, she agreed to multi-year professional relationships
with both Nike and Sony and likely is going to be a permanent
fixture here. She played this event last season as an amateur
exception but failed to make the cut by seven strokes after
rounds of 75 and 74. Making the cut this season is a definite
possibility as she will once again have the backing of her
native Hawaii fans.
The one big name missing is Ernie Els, who is recovering from
knee surgery and is resting after playing three tournaments
overseas already. Els was a fixture at the top of the Sony Open
leaderboard, winning in 2003 and 2004, finishing 2nd last year,
3rd in 2001 and 5th in 2000. He and Tom Lehman are the only
players in the last 10 years to have five top-five finishes. He
won't return until the Qatar Masters in the last week of
January, where he'll be defending his 2005 title.
Singh is no doubt the favorite being the defending champion
backed up by his strong start to 2006. Last year was his third
top-ten finish at the Sony and he has a trend going of playing
better in each of the last six years, starting with a +1 in 1999
and topping it off with a -11 last year. His 269 last year was
the highest winning score since Jeff Sluman posted a 271 back in
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1999. Dating back to last season, Singh has placed in the
top-ten in 17 of his last 25 events.
Charles Howell III finished third last season, his second
top-five finish in this event. He finished 4th in 2002 thanks to
a second round 62 that pushed him from 78th to 5th. It was the
11th time in tournament history that a 62 was carded but still
is behind the all-time low tournament round of 60 by Davis Love
III in 1994. Howell's average score of 67.9 is second best
all-time, trailing Els' 66.7. After having two top-five finishes
in his first two events last year, he achieved that only three
times in his other 27 tournaments.
Appleby rides the momentum from the Mercedes Championships
victory into the Sony and hopes to better his last performance
here. He missed the cut in 2004, coincidentally which was also
right after winning the Mercedes, but finished in the top-ten in
three of his previous six starts. He had a runner up finish in
2000 behind Paul Azinger who ran away with a seven-stroke win.
Appleby finished strong last year with five top-twenty finishes
in his final nine events including a 7th place finish at The
Tour Championship.
John Huston won this event in 1998 with a record score of -28
and he will be out to make the cut after missing the final two
days last year with a 145. He has placed in the top 14 in five
of his last eight starts here. He hasn't won a tour event since
the 2003 Southern Farm Bureau Classic against a field of mostly
no name players. His best finish a season ago was a fifth-place
finish at the 84 Lumber Classic, won by the new fan favorite
Jason Gore, who happened to finish last at the Mercedes at +28.
Davis Toms is back for a second straight year after finishing
13th in last year's event. He has played here only one other
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time in the last 11 years and that was in 2002 when he finished
fourth behind Jerry Kelly, John Cook and Jay Don Blake. Toms is
coming of a 13th place finished in the Mercedes and he really is
the feel good story this year after suffering some scary heart
problems last season. He fought back to play in the President's
Cup the following week and finished 6th in his very next
tournament.
David Duval, whose five-year exemption for winning the 2001
British Open expires this year, returns to the Sony Open in
Hawaii for the first time since 1995, his only appearance. He
finished 14th that year and don't be surprised to see Duval make
a move this year. It might not happen at the Sony but stranger
things have happened. He only made the cut in one event in 2005,
but did finish in the top ten at the Dunlop Phoenix tournament
in Japan.
53 rookies will be making the trip including Bill Haas and Ryan
Moore, two players who could make an early impact. Els, Corey
Pavin, Lanny Wadkins and Hubert Green are the only two-time
winners in the 35-year history of this event but Els and Pavin
won theirs in back-to-back years so Singh is in good shape to
become the third to do so. This being the first full tournament
of the season is an exciting time and with all of the storylines
surrounding this event, it should be another memorable one.
About the author:
Matt Fargo is a documented member of the Professional
Handicappers League. Read all of his articles at
href="http://www.procappers.com/Matt_Fargo.htm">http://www.procappers.co
m/Matt_Fargo.htm
Matt FargoSony Open in Hawaii Preview
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