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The 2012 PGA Tour season begins this week in Hawaii on at Kapalua on Maui before heading to Oahu for the first full field event of the year, The Sony Open in Hawaii.
Before the Sony, the winners from last year’s events tee it up at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions at Kapalua Resort on the Plantation Course.
28 of the 39 champions from the 2011 PGA Tour season will take on the Plantation Course in the Hyundai TOC including the only American to win a major last year, PGA Tour rookie Keegan Bradley.
Bradley was one of three players to win twice last year. First at the HP Bryon Nelson Championship and then the rookie blew everyone’s mind by winning the PGA Championship in major style.
Mark Wilson won twice at the beginning of last season when he hoisted the trophy at the Sony Open in Hawaii and again at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
Bubba Watson followed his first win at the Farmers Insurance Open with a second at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
All three will be at Kapalua for the Hyundai TOC.
The reason the Kapalua field isn’t larger is the number of international players who won’t be making the trip to Hawaii because of their schedules. The game is now global and there is no “off” season. If they’re not playing on the PGA Tour, they’re playing on the European Tour, Australian or the Asian Tours.
US Open winner Rory McIlroy, Masters champion Charl Schwartzel, and The Open champion Darren Clarke won’t be making the journey. There are a number of reasons they won’t be at Kapalua including the distance from Europe, their playing schedules were exhausting, the long fall campaign in the Race for Dubai on the European Tour plus a number of “play for pay” appearances across Asia.
Fan favorite Phil Mickelson, who won the 2011 Shell Houston Open, won’t be coming either. It’s said Mickelson doesn’t think the Plantation Course suits his game.
Bradley is one of 6 rookies from the 2011 PGA Tour season. Jhonattan Vegas is another. Vegas won his “ticket” to the Hyundai TOC at the Humana Challenge where he closed out one of the many playoffs last year. This one pit Vegas against long hitting Gary Woodland.
Vegas won and put a face on what we’ve been calling the “globalization” of the game. Vegas was not only the first rookie to lead the Fed Ex Cup point standing at any point of the season, he became the first from Venezuela to earn his PGA Tour card and then win in his rookie year.
If you’ve read this column for any length of time, you know I’ve thought it only a matter of time before an young man from a country with an emerging interest in golf would win on the premiere golf tour in the world. I just didn’t expect it to happen this fast.
I hear you. What about Chi Chi Rodriquez, the first Puerto Rican to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Rodriquez came from a poor family. He got into the game when he realized he could earn more as a caddy than his father as a laborer. Rodriquez broke into the game in the 1960’s.
Then came Lee Trevino. Started working in the fields at the age of 5, he took up the game when a relative gave him a golf club to play with and went on to win 6 major championships.
Maybe Vegas is just this generation’s Rodriquez or Trevino. I don’t think so. I think we’re going to see many more young men from South America, China, Thailand, Russia - young men from around the world drawn to the game with a new allure that promises more than a personal occupation. Golf as an Olympic sport legitimizes the game in the eyes of those who don’t consider golf a sport.
For most countries, winning a golf medal in the Olympics means much more than winning a major in golf. But it is going to take more than a gold medal, it’s going to take someone with talent and personality, to propel the game forward in the country the winner comes from.
Whether you like Tiger Woods or not, I believe Woods and his huge persona is the reason why golf has gone global and attracted the young.
Rickie Fowler, Rory McIlroy, Jason Day, Ryo Ishikawa, Camilo Villegas, Martin Kaymer, Tom Lewis and so many more grew up watching or hearing about Woods, who as just a teenager, was beating the seasoned PGA Tour players week in and out. He made the impossible seem possible. There may not be many black players following in his footsteps into golf, yet, but there is an army of “kids”. The young stars, like Rickie Fowler, now have fans of their own. Just check out the galleries following Fowler. They’re wearing everything he markets.
At the height of Woods dominance on the Tour, children were taken to the local golf professionals by their parents in the hopes the little wonder would become the next “Tiger”. If it happened in Hawaii, I’m betting it happened across the planet.
Bring your kids to Kapalua’s Plantation course for the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. Children 18 years old and under get in free every day of the tournament with a paying adult. Military members and their families get in with no charge. Advance sale tickets are $15 per day and $20 per day at the gate. The Hyundai TOC starts with the Pro Am on Thursday, January 6th. That’s when the rich and famous pay to play with the professionals. The money they pay, the last figure I heard was 7 thousand for the day, helps Maui charities.
The competition begins on January 7th and ends with the crowning of the champion on Monday, January 9th; right before the BCS National Championship game begins. All of our freezing friends on the Mainland, who wish they could just get outside to play, will be watching. Questions? Call 808 665 9160.
You can bring your smart phone with you onto the Plantation course during the Hyundai TOC but you cannot make calls except from the designated call sites.
SONY OPEN IN HAWAII
The day after the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, the first full field event of the PGA Tour season gets underway at the Waialae Country Club on January 10th, The Sony Open in Hawaii.
The Sony Open is probably the most interesting international field of all the PGA Tour events.
The fans from Korea, Japan, Thailand and all points east can make the trip to Hawaii to watch their “home town” hero. Ryuji Imada, Ryo Ishikawa, Shigeki Maruyama, Toshinori Muto, Komei Oda will be playing in the field against defending champion Mark Wilson, two-time Sony Open champion Ernie Els, 2010 champion Ryan Palmer, 2009 champion Zach Johnson, 2008 champion K.J. Choi, 2007 champion Paul Goydos, 2006 champion David Toms and 2002 champion Jerry Kelly plus Webb Simpson, Justin Leonard, Jason Dufner, John Senden, just to name a few.
Hideki Matsuyama, an amateur from Japan, who has played his way into the Masters two years in a row, will also be in the field on a sponsor’s exemption. That’s the beauty of Sony being the tournament sponsor.
Hawaii gets an amateur sponsor exemption from Sony too. Congratulations to John Oda, a sophomore at Moanalua High School. He shot a 71 and beat both Lorens Chan and Richard Hattori at the Waialae Country Club where 12 hopefuls played for the right to get that invite.
Tickets for the Sony Open in Hawaii are available at all First Hawaiian Bank branches on Oahu and at the gate. All the money raised through the Sony Open is matched by the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation and distributed to Oahu charities. Let’s raise lot of money for the Foundation to match.
I’ll be doing my show overlooking lovely Mamala Bay and the island off The Kahala hotel. Not a bad location to watch the sunrise.
NO CHAMPIONS SKINS
I wrote it in last year’s column. A source told me there would be no Champions Skins this year but I couldn’t confirm it officially. There was still hope that a sponsor could be found by IMG or ESPN. Last year may indeed have been the last time Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson played as a team. I’ll miss this event. Listening to the Watson and Nicklaus discuss their strategy for the next day of play at Kaanapali will always be one of my favorite memories.
HAWAII GOLF HO’OLAULE’A
The Aloha Section PGA Foundation and Friends of Hawaii Charities will be honoring the 2012 Hall of Fame Inductees at the annual Hawaii Golf Ho’olaule’a Awards at the Honolulu Country Club on Friday, January 13th beginning at 6 pm.
Along with the inductees, the Hawaii State Golf Association, Hawaii State Junior Golf Association, Hawaii State Women’s Golf Assocation, Hawaii Course Superintendents, Hawaii Golf Representative Association and The First Tee of Hawaii, will be recognizing their outstanding amateur golfers and industry leaders.
The celebration is open to the golf community of Hawaii. Family, friends and supporters are encouraged to attend. Contact Kristin Molina at 808-593-2230.
TURTLE BAY HAWAII STATE OPEN
Congratulations to Hawaii’s Sam Cyr. He won the 2011 Turtle Bay Hawaii State Open with Hawaii’s PGA Tour member Dean Wilson breathing down his back. Cyr closed the tournament with a 66 for a tournament total 207. Wilson was three strokes back at 210 for the three days.
It was a great finish for spectators between the two top amateurs in the Open Division. John Oda, sophomore at Moanalua High School, and Oregon State University Nick Sherwood were tied after the third round. They went into continuous play on the Fazio course. Sherwood won the title of Low Amateur for the 2011 Turtle Bay Hawaii State Open. Oda had already secured a spot in the Sony Open.
Hawaii’s David Ishii defended his Senior Division title with 6 birdies in his final round 67 and his final tournament total of 210 was the same as runner up Dean Wilson.
Professional Katie Kempter of Albuquerque, New Mexico, won the Women’s Division with a final round 63 on the Palmer course and a tournament total of 201. Ayaka Kaneko, who just won her LPGA Tour card at Q School, finished 2nd with a 7-under 209.
CONGRATULATIONS AYAKA AND STEPHANIE!
It certainly wasn’t what Stephanie Kono expected when she entered the 3rd stage of the LPGA Tour qualifying school. Kono just wanted to secure her Futures Tour card, finish her collegiate golf career at UCLA and work her way onto the LPGA Tour after college.
The “universe” gave her a push. Because of faulty information from the LPGA office, Kono started the 3rd stage and after the first two excellent rounds was told she would have to either continue and declare herself a professional if she finished in the top 20 or quit. She already had Futures Tour status after the 2nd stage of Q School. Not a quitter, Kono went on to get her LPGA Tour card and informed her coach, in tears, that she would not be playing this spring. Her friends and supporters got together at the Pearl Country Club at the end of last month to give her a proper send off to the big time. Playing on the LPGA Tour has been Kono’s dream since childhood.
2011 – THE YEAR OF THE PLAYOFF
Some of the most exciting events were played out in the final tournament rounds throughout 2011. Seemed like week after week, we were watching playoffs as the contenders finished in two-way and even three-way ties. Did I miss Tiger Woods? Not really. 2011 wasn’t the disaster some thought it would be without Tiger in the field. Fact is, 2011 was a huge success for the PGA Tour and golf in general.
Without Woods dominating, and frankly his game was looking “right miserable” when he played, the rest of the PGA Tour players had a chance compete and get a taste of winning. With Woods “back”, his win at Chevron World Challenge pretty inspiring, he’s just one of the boys now.
My wish list for 2012:
Great tip for 2012:
Got a slice or a hook that is driving you crazy and possibly right out of the game, try this from Ken Carpenter, “Left Handed Golf Guru”, Elite staff member – Callaway Golf
Whichever direction the ball is curving, turn your hands on the grip in the direction of the curve and the curve will go away.
Recommended reading for 2012:
One More Wish
The Hyundai TOC and the Sony Open in Hawaii are huge successes and the title sponsors keep the events in Hawaii forever. That’s not going to be easy. Those of us in Hawaii who know how great these events are for Hawaii charities and our economy in general don’t know how to relay that information to the general public without sounding whiny. But here I go.
Please support the golf tournaments in Hawaii.
Buy tickets. The money doesn’t pay the athletes. The gate money goes to Hawaii charities.
Walk the course with the professionals. It looks good on TV.
Tell Hyundai and Sony that you really appreciate their support of the Hawaiian Islands.
Smile at a visitor. You have no idea how much that means to them.
SAN FRANCISCO FLYAWAY WINNER
Congratulations to Heidi who works at Tripler. She won “The Golf Club” 14th anniversary flyaway to San Francisco on Hawaiian Airlines. She’ll stay four nights at the Galleria Park Hotel and play a round of golf at Harding Park.
Where would you like the 15th anniversary flyaway to go?
HOLIDAYS
My cousin has been visiting Hawaii from Derby, outside Birmingham, England, for the past month. After a month with her, I find myself saying things like, “I’ll fetch it from the boot”, which basically means “I’ll get it out of the trunk of the car.”
Carol Tucker, not a golfer, and I have been cruising all across Oahu these past two weeks, to places I haven’t been in years. She wanted the best place to watch the sunset so I took her to Yokohama Bay. She liked it so much, we drove out twice, the second time after a marathon shopping expedition between Kaneohe and Pearl Ridge on Christmas Eve . Her fiancé is a movie nut, so I took them to Kualoa Ranch. We took pictures of him posing in front of all the signposts noting the movie or TV series made at that spot. Nice long walk.
I hope your holidays were peaceful. I wish you all the best in 2012.
“The Golf Club” is on the air on Oahu on KGU FM at 99.5 FM Saturday morning from 7am until 8:30am.
On Maui, you can listen on KONI FM, 104.7, on Kauai, KTOH 99.9 FM and in Hilo, on KPUA AM 670.
Prefer a podcast? Pick us up at iTunes or through our RSS Feed at http://www.radiogolfclub.com/ . On your smart phone? Get the StitcherRadio application and listen in. Streaming with no charge.
Welcome to the winter season. Hope it cools off soon.
Thank you for your Mana, and may you hit the sweet spot every time.
Aloha,
Danielle
