Busy week ahead for Punahou’s Suppa

Kyle Suppa will be working overtime next month at the Sony Open in Hawaii.

The Punahou junior, who won the PGA Tour event’s amateur exemption last month, also earned a place in the Acura Hawaii Pro-Junior Challenge on Tuesday of tournament week.

Suppa, who verbally committed to USC for the 2016-2017 school year, will be joined by Punahou classmate Aiko Leong, Moanalua’s Shawn Lu, ‘Iolani’s Rose Huang and Kaiser’s Malia Nam on Jan. 13.

Huang is the only senior in the group and just signed a letter of intent to attend Brigham Young. Nam is a freshman while Leong, Lu and Suppa are all juniors.

The three-hole scramble shootout will be at Waialae Country Club’s 10th, 11th and 18th holes. The Pro-Junior Challenge starts at 2:45 p.m. and is free for spectators. It raises $20,000 annually for the Hawaii State Junior Golf Association, from participating pro purse donations and sponsor support.

Junior qualifying for the Challenge is a season-long points competition run by the HSJGA. Pros will be named later.

The 2015 Sony Open is Jan. 15-18 at Waialae, following the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, Jan. 9-12 at Kapalua’s Plantation Course.

Jimmy Walker will defend his Sony championship against a field that has received early, non-binding commitments from Robert Allenby, Camilo Villegas, Matt Kuchar, Tim Clark, Luke Donald, Angel Cabrera, Zach Johnson, Geoff Ogilvy, Hideki Matsuyama, Kenny Perry, Fred Funk and Davis Love III.

Stricker has surgery to alleviate pain in hip

MADISON, Wis. » Steve Stricker has had surgery on a bulging disk in his lower back to alleviate recurring issues in his hip area.

Mario Tiziani, Stricker’s brother-in-law and agent, says the one-hour surgery Tuesday was successful and that Stricker will be away from golf for at least eight weeks.

The 12-time tour winner won’t be missing much. Stricker already plays a reduced schedule, and he was not likely to play in 2015 until the Florida swing.

The 47-year-old Stricker rested for nearly four months before playing the Hero World Challenge and Franklin Templeton Shootout. While he felt good, tests showed Stricker would continue to have problems with his hip and quadriceps without surgery.

The Associated Press contributed to this report