Sony Open hasn’t been kind to past winners

Golfers always talk about having fond memories at places where they’ve won before. But as difficult as it was to win a tournament in the first place, going back and doing it again here at Waialae Country Club has proved difficult.

In the history of this event dating back to 1965, only four have won it twice, with three of those successfully defending their titles. Hubert Green won back-to-back championships in 1978-79, Corey Pavin matched that feat in 1986-87 and Ernie Els in 2003-04. Lanny Wadkins also won here twice, in 1988 and 1991.

Of those multiple champions, only Els did it after Waialae went from an easy par 72 to a more challenging par 70 when this event became the Sony Open in Hawaii in 1999. Granted, there are certain courses for certain horses at every stop on the PGA Tour, but because most of the golfers can reach the two par 5s here in two shots, it doesn’t favor any particular style of player off the tee.

Els has called this course a gem. Mark Wilson said Wednesday it was one of his favorite courses and thought one reason people don’t talk about it that much is because the tournament is held so early in the year.

"It’s kind of forgotten or maybe because it’s over here in Hawaii," Wilson said. "It brings in all of the different types of players, because length isn’t an advantage unless you hit straight."

Wilson was paired with fellow past Sony Open champs Zach Johnson and David Toms. How much does Toms like playing here at Waialae — a course many liken to the one at Colonial, where he won last year? He didn’t stay behind to see his beloved LSU Tigers in the national championship football game because he didn’t want to miss an opportunity to play here this week, where he won in 2006. As he put it: "I love the course."

Johnson, a winner here in 2009, was excited because he was paired with Toms the first two days. The year Johnson won, they were together in the final round. Maybe he was hoping for a little good luck to rub off once more. Unfortunately for him, that wasn’t the case on Thursday.

Wilson, Johnson and Toms didn’t make any moves toward the top of the leaderboard in Thursday’s opening round played in the afternoon. All three were over par for most of the day, with Johnson shooting a 72, while Toms and Wilson managed 3-over 73s. Last year, Wilson had five bogeys over four rounds. He matched that total Thursday.

The only two of the eight past champions in the red are 2010 winner Ryan Palmer at 1-under 69 and K.J. Choi at 5-under 65. Choi, a winner here in 2008, sits two shots off the pace of Boise State product Graham DeLaet, whose only other appearance here was in 2010, when he tied for 25th. Like any past champion, Choi draws on the surroundings to provide inspiration.

"Yeah, there’s a lot of similarities between Hawaii and Wando (an island where he grew up in South Korea)," Choi said. "Water all around, the wind, I’m really used to that. You know, this is my ninth time coming here, so (I’m) going to feel comfortable. But given the people here, it just feels like people at home, so it’s very comfortable here."

Whether that leads to Choi becoming only the fifth multiple winner here in 47 years will be revealed on Sunday. But if history is any indication, it’s not that likely.