Golf Glance: Sony Open first full-field event of '24

Field Level Media's Golf Glance provides weekly news and storylines from each of the major North American golf tours.

PGA TOUR

LAST TOURNAMENT: The Sentry (Chris Kirk)

THIS WEEK: Sony Open in Hawaii, Honolulu, Jan. 11-14

Course: Waialae Country Club (Par 70, 7,044 yards)

Purse: $8.3M (Winner: $1.494M)

Defending Champion: Si Woo Kim

FedEx Cup Leader: Kirk

HOW TO FOLLOW

TV: Thursday-Saturday, 7-10:30 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Sunday, 4-6 p.m. (NBC), 6-8 p.m. (GC)

Streaming (ESPN+): Thursday-Friday, 12-10:30 p.m. ET; Saturday, 3:30-10:30 p.m.; Sunday, 1-8 p.m.

X: @SonyOpen

NOTES: With the tour's return to a calendar season following the FedEx Fall series, the Sony Open is the first full-field event of 2024. It has drawn five top-20 players this year in No. 8 Matt Fitzpatrick, No. 9 Brian Harman, No. 14 Tyrrell Hatton, No. 16 Keegan Bradley and No. 20 Sahith Theegala. They are five of the 38 players who also competed in The Sentry. ... Former U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland will make his first start since undergoing surgery to remove a brain tumor in September. ... Will Zalatoris will make his first official PGA Tour start since withdrawing from the WGC-Match Play last March and undergoing surgery the following month. He finished 20th in last month's unofficial Hero World Challenge. ... Fifteen of the 36 rookies on tour this season are in the field, including brothers Parker and Pierceson Coody. ... Tyler McCumber will make his first tour start since the 2022 Cognizant Classic as he plays out of the major medical extension category following a shoulder injury.

BEST BETS: Ludvig Aberg (+1600 at BetMGM) is coming off a T47 last week in his first start since winning the RSM Classic in November. ... Fitzpatrick (+1600) is the highest ranked player in the field at No. 8 and is coming off a T14 last week. ... Hatton (+1600) enters in good form, with a T2, T11 and T14 in his past four starts. ... Harman (+2200) is coming off a T5 last week while making his 13th consecutive start at Waialae, a course he said "suits me." ... Kirk (+2800) is trying to become the first player to win the first two events of the season since Ernie Els in 2003. He has five top-10 finishes at the Sony, including a T2 in 2021. ... Sahith Theegala (+2800) finished a shot behind Kirk at The Sentry to move up to a career-best 20th in the world rankings. ... Hideki Matsuyama is coming off a missed cut and has fallen to 50th in the world rankings, but knows Waialae well and was the 2022 champion. ... Akshay Bhatia (+6000) was in contention last week before closing with a 71 to finish T14 for his fourth top-21 finish in his past five starts.

NEXT TOURNAMENT: The American Express, La Quinta, Calif., Jan. 18-21

LPGA Tour

LAST TOURNAMENT: CME Group Tour Championship (Amy Yang)

THIS WEEK: OFF.

Race to the CME Globe winner: Lilia Vu

NEXT TOURNAMENT: Tournament of Champions, Orlando, Fla., Jan. 18-21

PGA Tour Champions

LAST TOURNAMENT: Charles Schwab Cup Championship (Steven Alker)

THIS WEEK: OFF.

Charles Schwab Cup champion: Steve Stricker

NEXT TOURNAMENT: Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai, Maui, Hawaii, Jan. 18-20

LIV Golf League

THIS WEEK: OFF.

Series Winners: Talor Gooch (Individual), Crushers GC (Team)

NEXT TOURNAMENT: Mayakoba, Mexico, Feb. 2-4