The two-tournament stretch of the PGA Tour in Hawaii continues this week from last week’s The Sentry at Kapalua on the island of Maui to the Sony Open in Hawaii at the Waialae Country Club in the capital city of Honolulu.
Last week, Chris Kirk, who entered The Sentry outside the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking, rose to the top against some of the world’s best players to be the first winner of the 2024 PGA Tour season. With the victory, Kirk rose from No. 52 to No. 25 going into this week as he is in the field in Honolulu.
In the first of eight Signature events this season, it was also a record-breaking tournament at The Sentry. Max Homa, who tied for 14th, recorded a 477-yard drive during the third round, setting a new PGA Tour record for the longest drive. In addition, Sungjae Im recorded 34 birdies, also setting a new record in a 72-hole PGA Tour event, dating back to 1983.
Furthermore, the final round scoring average on Sunday at The Sentry was the lowest in the history of a PGA Tour round of 66.67, meaning players had to shoot 7-under par on the par-73 course just to keep pace.
The excitement continues this week with the first full-field event of the season. 144 golfers are on hand at Waialae to complete the two-tournament swing in Paradise, including last year’s champion, Si Woo Kim.
At Waialae Country Club this week, the course is a par-70, measuring 7,044 yards as players will have to overcome firm greens, unpredictable Bermuda rough and difficult dogleg holes.
As a result, shot making is going to be key this week as the scores will not reach what a lot of last week’s players reached, shooting well into the 20s. Last year, Kim won with a score of 18-under par, including a clutch chip-in birdie on the 71st hole to get the win.
What channel is the Sony Open in Hawaii on?
The Sony Open in Hawaii will primarily be televised between the Golf Channel and NBC.
Television schedule for the Sony Open in Hawaii
| Round | Date | Time (ET) | TV |
| 1 | Thursday, Jan. 11 | 7:00 – 10:30 p.m. | Golf Channel |
| 2 | Friday, Jan. 12 | 7:00 – 10:30 p.m. | Golf Channel |
| 3 | Saturday, Jan. 13 | 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. | NBC Golf Channel |
| 4 | Sunday, Jan. 14 | 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. | NBC Golf Channel |
Other coverage for the Sony Open in Hawaii
In addition to NBC and the Golf Channel, the Sony Open in Hawaii will also be broadcasted on ESPN+ and Peacock. PGA Tour Live for the feature groups can be exclusively found on ESPN+ for all four days of the tournament, in addition to the featured holes around the course.
The tournament will also be on the airwaves of Sirius XM for all four rounds.
Thursday, Jan. 11 (Round 1)
ESPN+: 12:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. ET
Peacock: 7:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. ET
Sirius XM: 5:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. ET
Friday, Jan. 12 (Round 2)
ESPN+: 12:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. ET
Peacock: 7:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. ET
Sirius XM: 5:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. ET
Saturday, Jan. 13 (Round 3)
ESPN+: 12:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. ET
Peacock: 7:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. ET
Sirius XM: 5:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. ET
Sunday, Jan. 14 (Round 4)
ESPN+: 3:30 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. ET
Peacock: 4:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. ET
Sirius XM: 3:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. ET
How much are tickets for the Sony Open in Hawaii?
Tickets to walk the grounds for the Sony Open in Hawaii begin at $40 per day and prices increased for elevated access, such as the Season Badge for $100.
To grow the game, children 15 and under are admitted free into the Sony Open in Hawaii when accompanied by a ticketed adult. In addition, those who are affiliated with the U.S. military or are veterans are provided free admission.
Payout for the Sony Open in Hawaii 2024
The total purse is $8.3 million, and the winner will receive $1.5 million. In addition, the winner will receive 500 points towards the FedEx Cup standings.
Who are some of the top golfers in the Sony Open in Hawaii field?
This week’s Sony Open in Hawaii field features one of its best yet with 15 of the top 40 and 33 of the top 65 players in the world golf ranking on site, including No. 8 and 9, respectively, Matt Fitzpatrick and Brian Harman, a couple of major winners from the previous two seasons.
There are a couple of star players making their return this week in Gary Woodland and Will Zalatrois. Woodland, who won the U.S. Open in 2019, underwent surgery in September to remove a brain lesion after being diagnosed a few months earlier. Zalatoris, returns to a regular season event this week after having back surgery last March.
Zalatoris competed at the Hero World Challenge last month to shake off the rust and see where he was at both physically and mentally heading into the new season as a “final tune-up” in a competitive format. Despite shooting a first-round 81 and a third-round 79, Zalatoris was able to register a second-round 68 and a final-round 71 in the Bahamas to shake off the rust.
Besides Harman, Fitzpatrick and Woodland, other past major winners competing include Hideki Matsuyama and Justin Rose.
There are also players doubling up and playing for a second week, such as Akshay Bhatia, Nico Echavarria and Ludvig Aberg.
Also competing this week is Eric Cole, who was named the 2022-23 Arnold Palmer Rookie of the Year Award last week. Cole recorded seven top-10s last season and was the runner-up at both The Classic in the Palm Beaches and the ZOZO Championship a couple months ago in Japan. He is the second oldest player to win this honor at 35 years old as he finished 43rd in the FedEx Cup last season.
Of the 10 DP World Tour players who received PGA Tour membership in November, five are competing this week in Alexander Bjork, Sami Valimaki, Robert MacIntyre, Matthieu Pavon and Ryo Hisatsune.
5 players with the best chance to win the Sony Open in Hawaii trophy on Sunday
Matt Fitzpatrick
Matt Fitzpatrick rolls into Waialae after a T14 finish last week at Kapalua, shooting 22-under par. Fitzpatrick was fourth in strokes gained around the green and 13th in strokes gained putting. That is also coming off a 2022-23 campaign where he was inside the top 15 in strokes gained putting.
Although Waialae will be unfamiliar territory for Fitzpatrick, who is playing the Sony Open in Hawaii for the first time, his meticulous preparation before shots have him as a leg up this week.
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Akshay Bhatia
Through 54 holes, Akshay Bhatia was in second place behind Kirk last week. Despite only shooting a 2-under 71 in the final round, there were a lot of positive things to take away for the 21-year-old in his first appearance at Kapalua.
For players like Bhatia and others who are seeing PGA Tour courses for the first time, there is some experience needed going into tournaments. Having said that, Bhatia has shown he compete with the best as he won the Barracuda Championship last year, while also recording a second-place finish at the Puerto Rico Open.
Corey Conners
This is where the experience favors a player, especially for one of the Canadians in the field in Corey Conners, who is playing this tournament for the sixth time since 2018 (missed the tournament in 2021). In each of his last four starts at the Sony Open in Hawaii, Conners has finished no worse than 12th, including a T3 finish in 2019.
Last season, Conners’ highlight was winning the Valero Texas Open as he finished 11th on the PGA Tour in strokes gained off the tee, which is going to be a vital factor with the dogleg holes throughout the course.
Sahith Theegala
In addition to Bhatia having momentum from last week, so does Sahith Theegala, who was last week’s runner-up at The Sentry, shooting 28-under par. Theegala began the tournament having the first-round lead with a 9-under 64 and bookended the tournament with a final round, bogey-free 10-under 63.
In a week where everything was solid, the two that stood out was that he ranked sixth in greens in regulation and ninth in strokes gained putting. He also has a history of not following up a good performance with a bad one. Last season, Theegala recorded 12 top-10s and only missed one cut in his next start.
Russell Henley
Of these five players, Russell Henley has the most experience, playing this week at Waialae for the 12th time. In the previous 11 tournaments, he won in his first start in 2013 and lost in a playoff two years ago, where he started his 2022 run shooting 62-63.
Henley is coming off a 2022-23 campaign where he finished 14th in the FedEx Cup. Prior to the Tour Championship, Henley recorded three consecutive top-10 finishes, including a runner-up at the Wyndham Championship.
Sony Open in Hawaii pairings
All times ET; FG: Featured Group, (a) refers to amateur
| Round 1: 1 tee | Round 2: 10 tee | Players |
| 12:10 p.m. | 4:50 p.m. | Denny McCarthy, Alex Noren, Taylor Montgomery |
| 12:20 p.m. | 5:00 p.m. | Aaron Rai, Callum Tarren, Austin Eckroat |
| 12:30 p.m. | 5:10 p.m. | Tyler Duncan, Patrick Rodgers, Tyler McCumber |
| 12:40 p.m. | 5:20 p.m. | Vincent Norrman, Cameron Champ, Zach Johnson |
| 12:50 p.m. | 5:30 p.m. | Luke List, Kurt Kitayama, Patton Kizzire |
| 1:00 p.m. | 5:40 p.m. | K.H. Lee, J.J. Spaun, Chad Ramey |
| 1:10 p.m. | 5:50 p.m. | Matt Wallace, Adam Svensson, Andrew Puntam |
| 1:20 p.m. | 6:00 p.m. | Russell Henley, Billy Horschel, Ryan Brehm |
| 1:30 p.m. | 6:10 p.m. | Lanto Griffin, Grayson Murray, Matti Schmid |
| 1:40 a.m. | 6:20 p.m. | Joel Dahmen, Robert Streb, Peter Malnati |
| 1:50 p.m. | 6:30 p.m. | Robert MacIntyre, Rico Hoey, Adrien Dumont de Chassart |
| 2:00 p.m. | 6:40 p.m. | Alejandro Tosti, Sami Valimaki, Taiga Semikawa |
| Round 1: 10 tee | Round 2: 1 tee | Players |
| 12:10 p.m. | 4:50 p.m. | Aaron Baddeley, Charley Hoffman, Tyson Alexander |
| 12:20 p.m. | 5:00 p.m. | Kevin Streelman, Maverick McNealy, Davis Thompson |
| 12:30 p.m. | 5:10 p.m. | Byeong Hun An, Zac Blair, Andrew Novak |
| 12:40 p.m. | 5:20 p.m. | Kevin Kisner, Tyrrell Hatton, Gary Woodland |
| 12:50 p.m. (FG) | 5:30 p.m. (FG) | Brian Harman, Matt Fitzpatrick, Justin Rose |
| 1:00 p.m. (FG) | 5:40 p.m. | Chris Kirk, Si Woo Kim, Hideki Matusyama |
| 1:10 p.m. | 5:50 p.m. | Nick Taylor, Nico Echavarria, Brendon Todd |
| 1:20 p.m. | 6:00 p.m. | Ryan Palmer, Carson Young, Kevin Yu |
| 1:30 p.m. | 6:10 p.m. | Jhonattan Vegas, Ryan Moore, Matt NeSmith |
| 1:40 a.m. | 6:20 p.m. | Stephan Jaeger, Alex Smalley, Doug Ghim |
| 1:50 p.m. | 6:30 p.m. | Ben Silverman, Matthieu Pavon, Yuto Katsuragawa |
| 2:00 p.m. | 6:40 p.m. | Paul Barjon, David Skinns, Kensei Hirata |
| Round 1: 1 tee | Round 2: 10 tee | Players |
| 4:50 p.m. | 12:10 p.m. | Troy Merritt, Robby Shelton, Ben Taylor |
| 5:00 p.m. | 12:20 p.m. | Ben Martin, Brandon Wu, Joseph Bramlett |
| 5:10 p.m. | 12:30 p.m. | Garrick Higgo, Mark Hubbard, Will Gordon |
| 5:20 p.m. | 12:40 p.m. | Emiliano Grillo, Stewart Cink, Brandt Snedeker |
| 5:30 p.m. | 12:50 p.m. (FG) | Keegan Bradley, Will Zalatoris, Eric Cole |
| 5:40 p.m. (FG) | 1:00 p.m. (FG) | Ludvig Aberg, Sahith Theegala, Akshay Bhatia |
| 5:50 p.m. | 1:10 p.m. | Erik van Rooyen, David Riley, Matt Kuchar |
| 6:00 p.m. | 1:20 p.m. | Cam Davis, David Lingmerth, Justin Suh |
| 6:10 p.m. | 1:30 p.m. | Keith Mitchell, Michael Kim, Harry Hall |
| 6:20 p.m. | 1:40 a.m. | Vince Whaley, Chandler Phillips, Hunter Larson |
| 6:30 p.m. | 1:50 p.m. | Ben Kohles, Alexander Bjork, Aguri Iwasaki |
| 6:40 p.m. | 2:00 p.m. | Norman Xiong, Jimmy Stanger, Blaze Akana (a) |
| Round 1: 10 tee | Round 2: 1 tee | Players |
| 4:50 p.m. | 12:10 p.m. | Daivd Lipsky, Ben Griffin, Justin Lower |
| 5:00 p.m. | 12:20 p.m. | Hayden Buckley, Greyson Sigg, S.H. Kim |
| 5:10 p.m. | 12:30 p.m. | Martin Laird, Nate Lashley, C.T. Pan |
| 5:20 p.m. | 12:40 p.m. | J.T. Poston, Tom Hoge, Adam Hadwin |
| 5:30 p.m. | 12:50 p.m. | Nick Hardy, Webb Simpson, Scott Stallings |
| 5:40 p.m. | 1:00 p.m. | Seamus Power, Che Reavie, Harris English |
| 5:50 p.m. | 1:10 p.m. | Camilo Villegas, Lucas Glover, Corey Conners |
| 6:00 p.m. | 1:20 p.m. | Taylor Pendrith, Sam Stevens, Dylan Wu |
| 6:10 p.m. | 1:30 p.m. | Martin Trainer, Josh Teater, Carl Yuan |
| 6:20 p.m. | 1:40 a.m. | Chan Kim. Ryo Hisatsune, Pierceson Coody |
| 6:30 p.m. | 1:50 p.m. | Jake Knapp, Max Greyserman, Takumi Kanaya |
| 6:40 p.m. | 2:00 p.m. | Jacob Bridgeman, Parker Coody, Rintaro Nakano (a) |