Sony Open preview: Hoylake hero Harman set for more success

After Chris Kirk kicked off the year with a one-shot victory at the Sentry, the PGA Tour stays in Hawaii for the second leg of the newly coined Opening Drive, the Sony Open, which takes place as it has since 1965 at Waialae Country Club.

While last week's Hawaii venue, the Plantation Course at Kapalua, was a wide-open layout encouraging huge booming drives and featuring enormous greens, Honolulu's Waialae is a much tighter par-72 assignment which measures just 7,044 yards.

Accuracy is the order of the day at Waialae, which contrasts sharply to the Plantation Course. However, those who have played at Kapalua the previous week often tend to go well in the Sony with eight of the last ten winners having had a warm-up in the Sentry.

Justin Thomas did the double in 2017, helped by an opening-round 59 at Waialae, and Kirk will attempt to do likewise this week while Sentry runner-up Sahith Theegala also joins him as one of several players to make the short hop from Maui to Oahu.

Big names Scottie Scheffler and Viktor Hovland have opted not to tee it up this week so the betting is headed by three stars of Europe's Ryder Cup team - Ludvig Aberg, Matt Fitzpatrick and Tyrrell Hatton.

We've analysed the event and picked three to follow in the Aloha State this week.

Tip 1: Brian Harman to win the Sony Open

Brian Harman enjoyed the best year of his career in 2023, winning the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool in July and cracking the world's top ten for the first time, and he looks to have every chance of securing further silverware when he lines up in the Sony.

The pint-sized left-hander is one of the most precise operators on the PGA circuit, ranking 16th in driving accuracy last season, so it's somewhat puzzling that 12 previous visits to this island venue have resulted in just one top-ten finish when he was fourth in the 2018 Sony.

However, the Georgia man is playing better than ever, chalking up PGA Tour form figures of 2-9-12-1-31-5-23-44-8-5 from June's Travelers Championship onwards, and he should relish a return to the tight confines of Waialae.

That run of results includes his most recent effort, when he was fifth at the Sentry last week, and a 2024 spin affords Harman an advantage over many in this field who were not eligible for the 59-runner Kapalua curtain-raiser.

The 36-year-old is brimming with confidence and his wand-like putter should allow him to reach the sort of ultra-low total which is usually required to win this tournament with ten of the last 11 Waialae champions claiming the title at 17 under par or better.

Tip 2: Justin Rose to win the Sony Open

Justin Rose has not been a regular visitor to the Sony Open but the Englishman has shown himself to be well suited to Waialae having finished 12th, 13th and second to runaway 2017 winner Thomas in his last three spins at the track.

Rose was never able to lay a glove on JT seven years ago but he did reach 20 under par for four rounds - a total which would have been good enough to either win or force a playoff in four of the last eight editions of this event.

As Rose has reached veteran status, he has increasingly prioritised accuracy from the tee box rather than distance, which should serve him well at Waialae, while his most recent PGA Tour victory came in coastal conditions at Pebble Beach in February last year.

Like Harman, Rose has already had a 2024 outing, finishing down the field at the Sentry, but he's never been a great lover of Kapalua having only twice chosen to begin his season at the Plantation Course despite qualifying on numerous occasions. This is much more suitable.

Tip 3: Byeong Hun An to win the Sony Open

The third and final Sony selection comes in the form of Byeong Hun An, the underachieving South Korean who could finally be on the verge of a long-awaited PGA Tour breakthrough.

A six-shot victor at Wentworth's BMW PGA Championship in 2015, An has struggled to get over the winning line in PGA Tour company but his recent outings have been encouraging with a runner-up finish at the Wyndham Championship the highlight of his 2023 campaign.

The Seoul man was suspended for three months after violating an anti-doping policy due to a mix-up with over-the-counter cough medicine but he returned to action in superb form when fourth at the Sentry last week.

One previous trip to Waialae resulted in a 12th-place finish for An which, given that only one debutant has been successful in this event since the inaugural edition, was a promising effort with the 2024 tournament in mind.