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 1. Jimmy Walker, United States -- Walker will be trying to become
the first player to win three consecutive titles at the Sony Open in
Hawaii after blowing away the field by a tournament-record nine
strokes last year. In 2014, he claimed a one-stroke victory over
Chris Kirk. Walker is making his 10th appearance at Waialae, and he
is 50-under-par in his past 12 rounds there, scoring in the 60s each
time. The 36-year-old veteran, who has claimed all five of his PGA
Tour victories since 2013, started the 2015-16 season by tying for
50th in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. In his past two
events, he tied for eighth in the Hero World Challenge and tied for
10th in the Hyundai Tournament of Champions.
2. Adam Scott, Australia -- Since he did not win last season on the
PGA Tour, Scott did not qualify for the winners-only Hyundai
Tournament of Champions, so he will start 2016 this week at the Sony
Open in Hawaii. He junked his long putter late last year for a
conventional model ahead of the anchoring ban that went into effect
on Jan. 1. After the change, he had some good results, including
solo second in the CIMB Classic in Malaysia, fifth in the Australian
Masters and a tie for second in the Australian Open. In Scott's six
previous appearances in the Sony Open, he missed the cut twice but
finished in the top 20 four times, his best result a tie for second
in 2009, when he closed with a 64 and finished two shots behind Zach
Johnson.
3. Kevin Kisner, United States -- With his solo ninth in the Hyundai
Tournament of Champions, Kisner maintained his lead in the FedEx Cup
standings through the first eight events of the 2015-16 PGA Tour
season. He placed in the top 10 in each of his past three
tournaments, finishing second in the WGC-HSBC Champions and claiming
his first victory on the circuit in the RSM Classic to end the fall
portion of the schedule. Kisner will tee it up for the fifth time in
the Sony Open in Hawaii, and he has not yet figured out how to play
the tight course at Waialae. He missed the cut in his first three
appearances and finished 84th (next-to-last among those who made the
cut) last year, bowing out when the secondary cut was made on
Saturday.
4. Matt Kuchar, United States -- Kuchar usually opens his year in
the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, but since he did not win on the
PGA Tour last year for the first time since 2011, he will play for
the first time this year in the Sony Open in Hawaii. He did come
close early last year when he tied for third in the Sony and tied
for second a week later in the Humana Challenge, but his seven
top-10 finishes actually represented a bit of a down season for him.
Kuchar is making his 13th appearance in the Sony, and after missing
the cut in six of his first eight starts at Waialae, he figured out
how to play it, posting four consecutive results in the top 10 --
with the best last year.
5. Brandt Snedeker, United States -- Seemingly healthy after being
slowed by injuries the last few seasons, Snedeker closed with 65-67
to finish solo third in the Hyundai Tournament of Champions,
although he did wind up nine strokes behind runaway winner Jordan
Spieth. This week, he will be making his third start in the Sony
Open in Hawaii, and he has not played well at Waialae, missing the
cut in 2007 and 2008. Snedeker showed he was on the way back early
last year on the West Coast swing, where he tied for 10th in the
Waste Management Phoenix Open and tied for 19th in the Farmers
Insurance Open before winning the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am
for his seventh PGA Tour victory and first in nearly two years.
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6. Zach Johnson, United States -- Coming off a disappointing tie for
21st in the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, which he opened with a
2-over-par 75, Johnson will try to bounce back at the Sony Open in
Hawaii. He won at Waialae in 2009, closing with 65-66-65 to beat
Adam Scott and David Tomas by two strokes, and his straight and
steady style would seem to be perfect for the narrow fairways and
smallish greens. However, he has finished in the top 10 only once in
his past five appearances in Honolulu, when he tied for eighth two
years ago. Johnson, who won the Open Championship at St. Andrews
last July, is No. 12 in the World Golf Rankings but has some work to
do to make the U.S. Olympic team.
7. Padraig Harrington, Ireland -- Harrington, who won the Honda
Classic last year in a playoff over eventual Rookie of the Year
Daniel Berger for his first PGA Tour victory since the 2008 PGA
Championship, got the new year off to a strong start with a tie for
sixth in the Hyundai Tournament of Champions -- which he was playing
for the first time. He has made the short flight across the Hawaiian
islands to Oahu for the Sony Open in Hawaii, in which he also will
be making his first appearance. Harrington still has plenty of work
to do in the next few months to qualify for the Masters, as he sits
at No. 120 in the World Golf Rankings and needs to climb into the
top 50 to earn a spot at Augusta National in April.
8. Russell Henley, United States -- After winning five times in his
first four seasons as a pro, three victories on the Web.com Tour and
two on the PGA Tour, Henley was winless last season. He will start
2016 at the Sony Open in Hawaii, which he won three years ago for
his first victory on the big tour. He posted three 7-under-par 63s
and a 67 in round three at Waialae to finish three strokes ahead of
Tim Clark. Henley tied for 51st as defending champion but bounced
back to tie for 17th last year. After struggling a bit in 2014-15,
he got the new season off to a good start by finishing 10th in the
Shriners Hospitals for Children Open and tying for sixth in the RSM
Classic.
9. Luke Donald, England -- The former No. 1 player in the World Golf
Rankings said he nearly quit golf last year before meeting with a
psychologist and later telling himself to simply "grow up and not be
a baby." He hasn't won since the 2013 Dunlop Phoenix, and his last
victories on the PGA Tour and the European Tour came in 2012.
Donald, down to No. 78 in the World Golf Rankings, hopes to start a
comeback when he tees it up in the Sony Open in Hawaii for the ninth
time. His only top-10 finish at Waialae was a tie for second in
2007, when he held the lead after opening with 63-67, but he played
the weekend in 69-69 and finished one shot behind Paul Goydos.
10. Robert Allenby, Australia -- Allenby is back at the Sony Open in
Hawaii following a bizarre incident after he shot 71-71--142 to miss
the cut by three strokes last year at Waialae. He woke up in the
middle of the night in a park, bloodied and beaten, and had his
credit cards and cell phone stolen. His account later was disputed
by those who found him, but he said he was only repeating what
others told him because he could not remember what happened. A
Honolulu man was sentenced to five years in prison for putting
thousands of dollars of items on Allenby's credit card. The Aussie
is playing at Waialae for the 15th time, and his best result was
solo second in 2010, one stroke behind Ryan Palmer.
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