Sony Open in Hawaii Golf Tournament

This tournament's full name is Sony Open in Hawaii. For much of its history - which dates to 1965 - the tournament was known as the Hawaiian Open. Sony became the title sponsor in 1999. The Sony Open is the second tournament of each new calendar year o the PGA Tour's schedule, taking place in early to mid-January and following the Tournament of Champions.

2020 Tournament
A few weeks after playing for Team International in the Presidents Cup, Cameron Smith earned his first PGA Tour win here. Smith birdied the final hole in regulation to tie Brendan Steele at 11-under 269. Then, on the first playoff hole, Smith won with a par to Steele's bogey.

2019 Tournament

Matt Kuchar scored a final-round 66 to win by four strokes. Kuchar finished at 22-under-par 258, four better than runner-up Andrew Putnam. It was Kuchar's ninth career win on the PGA Tour.

2018 Tournament
Patton Kizzire survived a six-hole playoff to claim the trophy. Kizzire and James Hahn finished regulation play tied at 17-under 263, and went into a sudden-death playoff. The end was anything but sudden, though: The two matched pars on the first three extra holes, then matched birdies and another par on the following two. Finally, on the sixth extra hole, Kizzire won it when Hahn made bogey. It was the second win of the 2017-18 PGA Tour season for Kizzire.

Official Web site

PGA Tour tournament site

Tournament Records at the Sony Open

• Overall record: 253 - Justin Thomnas, 2017
• Tournament course record: 59 - Justin Thomas, 2017
• Wins: 2, shared by give golfers - Hubert Green, Corey Pavin, Ernie Els, Lanny Wadkins, Jimmy Walker

The Sony Open Course

The Sony Open has been played on the same golf course every year of its existence: Waialae Country Club, a private club in Honolulu:

• Waialae Country Club profile
• Waialae Country Club pictures

Sony Open Tournament Trivia and Notes

• Gay Brewer won this tournament in its first year, 1965, and was runner-up the following year.
• Four golfers have won the Sony Open in back-to-back years: Hubert Green (1978-79), Corey Pavin (1986-87), Ernie Els (2003-04) and Jimmy Walker (2014-15). One each of Green's and Pavin's consecutive wins were via playoff, while both of Els' back-to-backers were via playoffs.
• There has not yet been a 3-time winner of the Sony Open. Els came close in 2005, losing to Vijay Singh by one stroke. Lanny Wadkins is the only other 2-time champion.
• The only PGA Tour victory by Japanese star (and Hall of Famer) Isao Aoki came in this event at the 1983 Hawaiian Open. It was the first victory by a native of Japan on the PGA Tour, and Aoki clinched the win when he holed out from the fairway on the final hole.
• The Sony Open gave 14-year-old Michelle Wie a exemption into the field in 2004, Wie's first appearance in a PGA Tour tournament. She fell one stroke short of making the cut that year, shooting 72-68 to finish at even-par. That 68 remains the lowest score ever posted by a female in a PGA Tour tournament. Wie also played the Sony Open in 2005-07, but without coming close to matching her 2004 scores.
• Hawaii native son Tadd Fujikawa made a splash at the 2007 tournament just days after turning 16 years old. Fujikawa became the youngest golfer in 50 years to make a cut in a PGA Tour event, rose near the top of the leaderboard in the third round, and wound up finished tied for 20th.

Winners of the PGA Tour's Sony Open

(Changes in the tournament's name are noted; p-playoff; w-weather shortened)

Sony Open in Hawaii
2020 - Cameron Smith, 269
2019 - Matt Kuchar, 258
2018 - Patton Kizzire, 263
2017 - Justin Thomas, 253
2016 - Fabian Gomez-p, 260
2015 - Jimmy Walker, 257
2014 - Jimmy Walker, 263
2013 - Russell Henley, 256
2012 - Johnson Wagner, 267
2011 - Mark Wilson, 264
2010 - Ryan Palmer, 265
2009 - Zach Johnson, 265
2008 - K.J. Choi, 266
2007 - Paul Goydos, 266
2006 - David Toms, 261
2005 - Vijay Singh, 269
2004 - Ernie Els-p, 262
2003 - Ernie Els-p, 264
2002 - Jerry Kelly, 266
2001 - Brad Faxon, 260
2000 - Paul Azinger, 261
1999 - Jeff Sluman, 271

United Airlines Hawaiian Open
1998 - John Huston, 260
1997 - Paul Stankowski-p, 271
1996 - Jim Furyk-p, 277
1995 - John Morse, 269
1994 - Brett Ogle, 269
1993 - Howard Twitty, 269
1992 - John Cook, 265

United Hawaiian Open
1991 - Lanny Wadkins, 270

Hawaiian Open
1990 - David Ishii, 279
1989 - Gene Sauers-w, 197
1988 - Lanny Wadkins, 271
1987 - Corey Pavin-p, 270
1986 - Corey Pavin, 272
1985 - Mark O'Meara, 267
1984 - Jack Renner-p, 271
1983 - Isao Aoki, 268
1982 - Wayne Levi, 277
1981 - Hale Irwin, 265
1980 - Andy Bean, 266
1979 - Hubert Green, 267
1978 - Hubert Green-p, 274
1977 - Bruce Lietzke, 273
1976 - Ben Crenshaw, 270
1975 - Gary Groh, 274
1974 - Jack Nicklaus, 271
1973 - John Schlee, 273
1972 - Grier Jones-p, 274
1971 - Tom Shaw, 273
1970 - Not played
1969 - Bruce Crampton, 274
1968 - Lee Trevino, 272
1967 - Dudley Wysong-p, 284
1966 - Ted Makalena, 271
1965 - Gay Brewer-p, 281