Posted on: Tuesday, January 13, 2004

Sony Open has become top draw for golfers

Advertiser Staff

Vijay Singh didn't win the Hawaiian Open in 1996, but in many ways he was its most valuable promoter. For sure, he was its marquee one that year.

Of the top 10 money winners from 1995, Singh, who was ninth on the money list, was the only one to play in the tournament that year.

Nor was it a once-in-a-blue moon rarity. In 1995, only two top-10 money winners made it to Waialae Country Club. And, in 1994, none did. For all its history and thrills, star power had come to be seriously lacking.

From those low points a decade ago, the tournament stop's successor, the Sony Open in Hawai'i, has touted the prospect of featuring seven of the top 10 this year. And it might have had eight or nine except for an injury or two.

In this, its sixth year of operation, the Sony Open has brought the big names back to Waialae. Well, most of them not named Eldrick T. Woods, anyway.

Players who gave Hawai'i a pass just a few years ago, such as Ernie Els, are making it a regular stop. And they are winning titles here, as Els did in a dramatic two-hole playoff over Aaron Baddeley last year.

"I don't think you would have seen a field here like this several years ago," said Mark Rolfing, an NBC golf commentator. "This is an excellent one."

From a lot of guys named "Who's That?" this has become more of a Who's Who. From a reunion for recent Qualifying School graduates, the event has become a magnet for those with a resume and the upwardly mobile.

"This is about our best (grouping of money winners)," said Dale Nagata, a Sony representative.

Sony ratcheted up the promotion, brought in its Jumbotron and pumped in some big money to help bring new life to a proud tournament stop that had been on the wane. And, coupled with a re-drawn PGA tournament schedule in 1999, it found the right location in which to prosper.

The PGA's decision to not only kick off its tour here but do it with back-to-back events in tandem with the Mercedes Championships, made Hawai'i a more convenient stop and easier sell to the players.

Instead of the one-shot destination the Hawaiian Open had made for, Hawai'i became more of a must-stop for players who won tournaments the year before and were coming to the Mercedes, anyway.

Sony has followed up the opportunity by significantly raising purses. From less than $2 million in total prize money that was paid before it took over in 1999, Sony has opened the checkbook. It paid $2.6 million in the inaugural year and will pay out $5.5 million by 2006, the last year of the sponsor's current agreement with the PGA.

More and more, this tournament is becoming a place where the stars shine. No longer must Singh hold up the promotional burden by himself.

Tetsuji Hiratsuka, who was No. 2 on the Japan Golf Tour Organization (JGTO) money list last year, will also play the Sony on an exemption, as will Todd Hamilton, who was third. They will be joined by rookie Yusaku Miyazato, Hirofumi Miyase, Kenichi Kuboya and Hideto Tanihara, who won the JGTO's 2004 opener.