PGA Tour Hawaii Season Opener The Sentry Participation
Strength: 2023 Sony Open Victory Experience
Im Sungjae 5 Consecutive Appearances, An Byeonghun Strong 4th Place Last Year
Kim Si-woo is set to conquer Hawaii.
The battleground is The Sentry, the opening event of the 2025 PGA Tour season, held over four days starting from the 2nd (local time) at the Plantation Course (Par 73, 7,596 yards) of the Kapalua Resort in Hawaii, USA. It is held every year as the first tournament of the new year. Originally, only the previous year's tour winners could participate, but due to a shortage of participants, the eligibility was expanded to include players who competed in the previous year's Tour Championship, and from last year, players ranked within the top 50 in the FedEx Cup standings were also allowed to compete.
Although the threshold was lowered, only 60 players are participating this year. There are 31 players who won tour events last year and 29 players who qualified by ranking within the top 50 in the FedEx Cup standings. It is a premier designated event. The total prize money is a whopping $20 million (approximately 29.5 billion KRW). There is no cut-off. The winner's prize reaches $3.6 million (approximately 5.3 billion KRW).
Kim Si-woo is a player who has won 4 PGA Tour titles in total. In particular, he gained the spotlight by winning The Players Championship, known as the fifth major, in 2017. He last collected a winner's trophy at the Sony Open held in Hawaii in January 2023. He is stronger than anyone else against the wind and grass conditions in Hawaii. This is why there is anticipation for his 5th career win this time.
Korea's Im Sung-jae will participate for the fifth consecutive year. He will challenge for his second career win since the Shriners Children's Open in October 2021. He has performed well in this tournament, finishing in the top 10 three times out of four appearances, including two 5th places and one 8th place. Last year, he set a new PGA Tour record for the most birdies in 72 holes since 1983 by collecting 34 birdies. This is an opportunity to restart his halted winning clock. PGA Tour.com predicted Im Sung-jae as the 4th favorite to win. An Byeong-hun, who had his best season last year, will also participate. He finished 4th in his first appearance last year.
World No. 2 and winner of two major championships last year, the PGA Championship and The Open, Xander Schauffele (USA) is considered the strongest favorite to win. Collin Morikawa, Sahith Theegala, Justin Thomas (all USA), Ludvig ?berg (Sweden), and Hideki Matsuyama (Japan) are also mentioned as strong contenders. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (USA) will not participate due to a hand injury.
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