The 2012 Sony Open includes Steve Stricker, Webb Simpson and KJ Choi, although the winner could come at a bigger price
Tournament
The Sony Open Hawaii is the first full-field event on the PGA Tour and it was first staged in 1965.
Venue
Waialae Country Club, Honolulu, Hawaii
Course Details
Par 70, 7.068 yards. A very different test to the one encountered last week at Kapalua, with tight fairways and much smaller greens.
TV Coverage
Live on Sky Sports all four days, starting at midnight on Thursday
Last Five Winners
2011 - Mark Wilson -16
2010 - Ryan Palmer -15
2009 - Zach Johnson -15
2008 - KJ Choi -14
2009 - Paul Goydos -14
Typical Winner
With narrow fairways and small Bermuda greens, accuracy is of paramount importance. An ability to handle the typically windy conditions is also a key attribute and experience is also very important; the title usually goes to a player with plenty of years on Tour behind them.
There are a few interesting and perhaps quirky anomalies. Since the Hyundai Tournament of Champions first preceded this one in 1999, eight of the 13 Sony winners had lined-up at Kapalua the week before (the last one being Z Johnson in '09), but only Ernie Els, in 2003, has doubled-up at the two events. And it's worth pointing out that Ernie was at the top of his game in 2003 and he absolutely loved this gaff.
Market Leaders
See above re favourite Steve Stricker. Although he has some form around Waialae he can't possibly be considered a value play at just 8.2 in what is a strong field.
The ultra-consistent Webb Simpson picked up where he'd left off in 2011 last week with an impressive third on his Kapalua debut but he has a regressive record here with form figures of 9-MC-46.
The next two in the list, KJ Choi and Zach Johnson, are both previous winners and both have very obvious chances but they're short enough for me given multiple winners are surprisingly scarce. This is a unique test and logic would suggest multiple winners would be plentiful but that man Ernie, who went back-to-back in 2003 and 2004 and was unlucky not to win again in 2005, was the last player to win the title more than once.
Strongest Fancy
Chris Kirk isn't always the most accurate driver (though he did drive well last week), he's only played Waialae once (though in finishing 30th, he was the best-performing rookie in the field last year) and he's the wrong side of 30 if you're looking for an identikit winner (though he does appear to have an old head on young shoulders). There you are, there are the negatives, not awful are they? Let's look at the positives.
He learns fast. He was making his debut at Kapalua last week and after an opening, learning/rust-removing 75 he climbed the leaderboard to finish tied 7th. Only winner Stricker scored better over the last three days.
He followed last year's pipe-opener with seventh at the Bob Hope Classic in what was just his second PGA Tour event. He then went on to finish second behind Phil Mickelson at the Shell Houston Open before winning on the Bermuda greens of Annandale at the Viking Classic.
I think Chris Kirk could be one to watch in 2012 and he can get the ball rolling quickly here.
Best Value Selection
In 2011 Heath Slocum was ranked second for both Greens In Regulation and Driving Accuracy. Like Kirk, he's also won at the somewhat similar Annandale and he has a great record on Bermuda (the last of his four PGA titles was the 2010 McGladrey Classic).
With just one top-ten finish in nine starts here, it goes without saying that his course form isn't top-notch but I certainly wouldn't want to be the person who's just layed him at a monstrous 170.0!
Other Picks
My remaining (numerous) selections (bar for Matt Bettencourt- he's just a weakness of mine) are all accurate, experienced players that can handle windy conditions and the Bermuda greens.
