Ryan Palmer - (AP / Marco Garcia)SONY OPEN WINNER - RYAN PALMER
Ryan Palmer birdied the 18th hole to win by one stroke over Robert Allenby. Palmer was a cool customer down the stretch and didn't make any mistakes. He picks up his third PGA win, $990,000, 500 Fed Ex Cup points, a trip to the Masters, and earns his card for 2011.
TOURNAMENT RATING SCALE (1-10) - Read details of scale
Each of the following five factors are graded (1-10), the average is taken, and you have the overall rating of the tournament.
*Jack Nicklaus at 86 Masters or Tiger at Torrey Pines in 2008 get perfect 10s*
FACTORS:
1. THE FIELD
(Top ranked players, big draw players, exciting players)
2. TOURNAMENT IMPORTANCE
(Event level, prestige, $, Fed Ex points, exemptions)
3. VENUE
(Golf course, history, course difficulty, conditions)
4. STORY LINES
(records broken, comebacks, Cinderella stories, upsets, surprises, meltdowns)
5. DRAMA
(Overall drama coming down the stretch on Sunday)
SONY OPEN:
The Field:
- The Sony Open field was decent featuring world number three Steve Stricker, defending champion Zack Johnson, as well as the four major winners from 2009 (Cabrera, Glover, Cink, Yang). The return of John Daly and the Rickie Fowler appearance helped the field. The tournament was missing many of the most exciting players such as Phil, Sergio, Rory, AK, Ryo, Harrington, Villegas, and some guy named Tiger.
Tournament importance:
- First full field event of the year. $990,000 and 500 Fed Ex Cup points to winner. Winner goes to Masters and earns card for 2011.
Venue:
- Hawaii provides great scenery and Waialae appeared to be in perfect condition. The playing conditions were not very difficult, although Billy Ray Brown, the on-course announcer, made it seem like the most difficult shot in the world if the ball was in one inch of rough or was below the players feet by a centimeter. A little bit of overexaggeration by the Golf Channel as they always try to add some sort of intrigue.
Story lines:
- The main story lines of the tournament involved Allenby trying to win his first PGA event in nine years and Ryan Palmer trying to win his third overall event. Nothing too overly interesting about this.
Drama:
- Goosen fired a 62 to post the number at 12 under. Stricker was right in it until the end when he tried to make eagle on the par-5 18th before settling for par, finishing two back at 13 under. Allenby and Palmer were tied coming down the stretch and both players barely missed birdie putts at the 17th. On 18, both players hit their balls into the rough. Palmer hit his second shot short of the green in the fairway while Allenby smoked it over the green. Allenby had a tough pitch for his third, leaving his ball about 10 feet below the hole. Palmer hit a miraculous chip that would have gone 7-8 feet past, but hit the pin and stopped dead about 6 inches away. Allenby missed his putt and Palmer tapped in for the win.
OVERALL TOURNAMENT RATING = 4.2
TOURNAMENT NOTES:
- Retief Goosen fired a final round 62 with nine birdies, finishing alone in fourth. Dating back to the end of last year, Goosen has been at the top of the leader board multiple times, just hasn't closed the door on a win. His game appears to be rounding back into top form though.
- Steve Stricker finished alone in third and continues to be one of the best putters in the game. "Mr. Consistency" should be back in the race for the Fed Ex Cup again in 2010.
- United States Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin finished in a tie for 52nd at one under par. Pavin is focused on his own game right now, which is more than can be said for the European captain Colin Montgomerie. Monty has been constantly in the news for his comments regarding the Cup, his prediction that Europe will win, and how Tiger isn't so invincible anymore.
- Heralded rookie Rickie Fowler struggled shooting 75/72, missing the cut to start his 2010 season.
- John Daly missed the cut in his return to the PGA Tour, shooting 73/71. Daly has lost over 100 pounds but still has the same fashion sense. He has stated his goal is to regain full status on Tour for 2011 and have a set schedule. He will have to wait until his next event to get things moving in a positive direction.
John Daly (AP / Marco Garcia)Next on the PGA:
This week the PGA Tour moves on to the Bob Hope Classic in California where Pat Perez is the defending champion.
