Posted on: Sunday, January 11, 2004
Sony Open solid, but could use Tiger boost
By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist
The buzz generated by having Tiger Woods and Michelle Wie on the same course made for remarkable energy at the Mercedes Championships on Maui, even if it was just for the midweek pro-am competition.
Kind of makes you wonder what it would be like to have both of them, a current and perhaps future of the sport, playing in a real, full-field event, doesn't it?
And, right now that's about all we can do is wonder.
For while the Sony Open in Hawai'i will have Wie teeing it up in competition this week, an appearance by Tiger Woods so far remains another story.
Of course, it isn't like the Sony Open will lack for stars with seven of the top 10 money winners, including No. 1 Vijay Singh and defending champion Ernie Els, on hand at Waialae Country Club for the first full-field tournament of the year when it begins Thursday.
Some tournaments would give their fleet of courtesy cars for this field. Indeed, by all measures, the Sony Open has become an expanding success — artistic and financial — as it enters its sixth year here.
Last year brought a dramatic two-hole playoff. Crowds are good, TV ratings up in several categories and contributions to charity well into seven figures. The winner's purse, which will have doubled under Sony, will reach nearly $1 million by 2006.
As Sony looks toward 2006, the final year of its current agreement with the PGA Tour, there aren't many more things needed to grow this tournament. Primarily just bagging Tiger and some additional parking.
The Sony people have worked diligently at both and say they are committed to continuing. One bright spot is the much-needed return of parking at nearby Hunakai Park in Kahala after a one-year absence.
As for Tiger, "He's a responsible member of the PGA Tour and will always consider something that will, in the long run, be the best thing for the Tour," said Mark Rolfing, an NBC commentator. "And, he's interested in going to new places and giving people a chance to see him; so, it wouldn't surprise me if in the next year he takes a closer look at coming."
Add Tiger — and more parking for those to see he and Wie play — and the Sony Open would have quite an exclamation point on a growing event.
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.
Call it a storyline unfulfilled. This is Woods' eighth year of playing a regular PGA schedule and the eighth year that he will miss the Tour's Honolulu stop. OK, maybe he won't miss it, he just won't be here. But we will definitely miss him.
