The historic Waialae Country Club in Honolulu will host the second round of the Sony Open on Friday.
You can watch this second tournament of the new PGA season live on ESPN+, Fubo TV (FREE trial), DirecTV Stream (FREE trial and discount), or Sling TV (discount) or watch on the Golf Channel from 7 to 10:30 p.m. ET.
At 6:10 p.m. local time on Thursday, play was halted due to darkness, and six players finished tied at 6-under. The packed leaderboard was topped by Harry Hall, Adam Schenk, Eric Cole, Denny McCarthy, Paul Peterson, and Tom Hoge, all of whom shot 64.
Hideki Matsuyama opened with a 3-under 68 to lie three behind the leader, who is aiming to win back-to-back events and sweep the Hawaii double after winning his 11th Tour title in record-breaking fashion at The Sentry, the season’s opening event.
On Friday, the first round resumed at 7:45 a.m. local time.
37 players from the 59-man field that participated in The Sentry last week on Maui are on the field. Five players in the top 20 are competing, but Matsuyama is the only one from the top 10.
Last year, Grayson Murray won a playoff game here. Following the Colonial, he committed suicide in May of last year.
Luke Clanton, a junior at Florida State, was granted a sponsor exemption. Since last June, he has made eight starts on the PGA Tour and finished in the top ten four times. This included finishing second in the RSM Classic to end the 2024 campaign.
The winner will take $1.566 million out of Hawaii with the $8.7 million prize money.
On Wednesday, January 8, 2025, at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu, Keegan Bradley chips onto the first green during the pro-am round of the Sony Open golf tournament. (Photo by Matt York/AP)AP
On Saturday and Sunday, NBC will broadcast from 4 to 6 p.m. and Golf Channel from 6 to 8 p.m.
With just 100 players from the FedEx Cup this year, down from 125, the Sony Open essentially kicks off the race for a PGA Tour card. This is the biggest shift in eligibility in around 40 years.
Even though it’s only January, Camilo Villegas, a 42-year-old professional golfer from Colombia, called this year significant.
Villegas stated on Wednesday that there is a feeling of urgency. You must perform when you enter [tournaments] and you must play. It will be really small. It’s nice that there will be a dogfight outside.
Players warming up in the morning darkness on the driving range, but not on the putting green, was another reminder of some of the changes, according to the Associated Press. In addition to fewer cards, starting in 2026, field sizes will be reduced to ensure that all cardholders have an equal opportunity to participate in tournaments and rounds, and that rounds have a better chance of ending on time when there are fewer players on the course.
Matsuyama, the world’s fifth-ranked player, has no such problems after winning last week at Kapalua with a record-breaking scoring display. The Japanese player is now attempting to join Ernie Els (2003) and Justin Thomas (2017) as the third player to sweep the Hawaii swing.
It’s just the beginning for everyone else, whether new and seasoned. Chattanooga, Tennessee native Keith Mitchell, 33, is beginning his eighth season as a professional.
On Wednesday, January 8, 2025, during the pro-am round of the Sony Open golf tournament at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu, Webb Simpson hits from the sixth fairway sand trap. (Photo by Matt York/AP)
Mitchell has been around long enough to understand that a strong start can reduce the actual pressure that comes later, even though he only has a seven-month season to keep the card.
The AP was informed by Mitchell that everyone is at zero. Every week doesn’t seem as significant as the previous three or four weeks. People play a little more freely or leisurely in the start of the season because it doesn’t feel as urgent.
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