The First Look: Sony Open in Hawaii

The Opening Drive continues this week with the first Full-Field Event of the 2025 PGA TOUR season at the Sony Open in Hawaii – with 144 players set to take on Waialae Country Club.

This also marks the first tournament where players can earn points towards the Aon Swing 5 to qualify for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational.

The Sony Open will once again see some highly anticipated season debuts, plenty of the game’s best making the quick jump from Kapalua searching for the Hawaiian double, and a long-time TOUR venue playing host.

Here’s everything else you need to know as the PGA TOUR returns to Waialae.

FIELD NOTES: Hideki Matsuyama will make the island hop with hopes that all the birdies from The Sentry will follow. Matsuyama, who won the 2022 Sony Open in a playoff, is set to tee it up after carding an astonishing 35-under 257 at Kapalua to open 2025. … Matsuyama is one of six past champions in the field. … Including Matsuyama, roughly half the field from The Sentry is also playing the second Hawaiian event of the year including Thomas Detry (tournament debut) and Corey Conners (four top-15s at Waialae in six starts), who finished T5 at Kapalua. … Upcoming American Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley and recent Presidents Cup International Team member Byeong Hun An are back in action at the Sony Open after losing in a playoff last year. … Michael Thorbjornsen is set to make his season debut. Thorbjornsen finished No. 1 on the 2024 PGA TOUR University Ranking and had three top-10 finishes in 11 starts on TOUR – including two in the FedExCup Fall. He finished T8 at both the Sanderson Farms Championship and The RSM Classic. … Tom Kim, world No. 23, is set to make his 2025 debut. Kim had a wonderful end to his 2024 and is looking to keep the momentum going into 2025. He finished second at the Hero World Challenge and T2 at the Grant Thornton Invitational alongside LPGA star Jeeno Thitikul.

SPONSOR EXEMPTIONS: Luke Clanton begins his 2025 campaign on the PGA TOUR with hopes of trying to match his 2024 success. Clanton played eight TOUR events last year and notched four top 10s. He finished T2 at the John Deere Classic and also T2 at The RSM Classic in the final TOUR event of the year. Clanton has 17 PGA TOUR University Accelerated points and if he gets to 20, he will earn PGA TOUR membership. ... Mao Matsuyama is set to make his PGA TOUR debut. Matsuyama won last year’s Japan Amateur at just 15 – the youngest winner in the event’s history. … An incoming freshman at UCLA, Tyler Loree earned a spot at Waialae via a qualifier in Hawaii last month. Loree, of Kula, made six birdies and won the qualifier by four. … Japanese players set to start their 2025 in Hawaii include Kensei Hirata (finished T8 at PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry and is ranked No. 112 in the world), Takumi Kanaya (finished third at Q-School and was formerly the world’s No. 1-ranked amateur), and Yuta Sugiura (finished T6 at the Baycurrent Classic in November). … Four-time TOUR winner Aaron Baddeley will make his season debut. Baddeley has played the Sony Open 10 times in his career with two top-10s including a runner-up in his debut in 2003 and a T7 in 2023. … Noah Goodwin – who nabbed the final PGA TOUR card via his finish of No. 30 on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List last year on the back of six top-10s – along with Aldrich Potgieter, who at just 19 won The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club last year on the Korn Ferry Tour en route to finishing No. 29 on the Points List – are also in the field. … 2009 Sony Open winner Zach Johnson and James Hahn, who lost in a playoff to Patton Kizzire in 2008, round out the sponsor invites.

SIGNATURE EVENT STORYLINES: The Sony Open marks the first event of the Aon Swing 5 for 2025 … The top five FedExCup points earners across the Sony Open, The American Express and Farmers Insurance Open (not otherwise exempt) will qualify for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am via the Aon Swing 5. … The top five FedExCup points earners across the Sony Open, The American Express, Farmers Insurance Open and WM Phoenix Open (not otherwise exempt) will qualify for The Genesis Invitational via the Aon Swing 5.

COMCAST BUSINESS TOUR TOP 10 UPDATES: With his win at The Sentry, Matsuyama tops the Comcast Business TOUR TOP 10 after the first week of the year. Matsuyama finished eighth in the standings in 2024. … Others who finished 2024 in the TOUR TOP 10 and have started 2025 the same way include Collin Morikawa (finished fourth last year, begins 2025 at second), Ludvig Åberg (finished sixth last year, begins 2025 T5) and Sungjae Im (finished ninth last year, begins 2025 in third).

FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points.

COURSE: Waialae Country Club, par 70, 7,044 yards. Tom Doak recently put his touch on his Seth Raynor design featuring tree-lined fairways, small greens and 83 bunkers. The Honolulu course is one of the TOUR’s longest-running host venues.

72-HOLE RECORD: 253, Justin Thomas (2017)

18-HOLE RECORD: 59, Justin Thomas (Round 1, 2017)

LAST TIME: Grayson Murray topped Keegan Bradley and Byeong Hun An in a playoff after the trio finished at 17-under 263. Murray knocked a wedge to 3 feet on the final hole Sunday to join the three-man playoff. He buried an epic 40-footer for birdie on the first playoff hole before Bradley missed from 18 feet and An missed from 4 feet. It was Murray’s first win on TOUR in more than six years. Murray passed away last May after taking his own life at age 30.

How to follow (all times ET)

Television:

• Thursday-Friday: 7-10:30 p.m. (Golf Channel)
• Saturday-Sunday: 4-6 p.m. (NBC/Peacock), 6-8 p.m. (Golf Channel)

PGA TOUR LIVE:

PGA TOUR LIVE is available exclusively on ESPN+

• Main feed: Primary tournament-coverage featuring the best action from across the course.
• Marquee group: New “marquee group” showcasing every shot from each player in the group.
• Featured groups: Traditional PGA TOUR LIVE coverage of two concurrent featured groups.
• Featured holes: Combination of par 3s and iconic or pivotal holes.

PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and free at PGATOUR.COM/liveaudio:

• Thursday-Friday: 5-10:30 p.m.
• Saturday-Sunday: 3-8 p.m.