HUALALAI, HAWAII >> The golf course is soft and the greens are slow.
Where have local golf fans heard that one before? Try the first two weeks of the PGA Tour’s 2020 schedule, where the renovated Plantation Course and the venerable Waialae Country Club offered a similar refrain from the touring pros taking part in the Sentry Tournament of Champions and the Sony Open in Hawaii.
Now, it’s the seniors’ turn to point out that things are the same around here at the Jack Nicklaus-designed course at the Four Seasons Resorts located along the Kona Coast. Normally sunny nearly year round, the weather on Wednesday was overcast with an off-and-on drizzle greeting the old guys taking part in the opening event of the year on the PGA Tour Champions. It’s expected to remain this way through the weekend.
Defending champion Tom Lehman noticed it right away. So much so, he was afraid his age had something to do with it by hitting him all at once. Maybe the course was the same. He just couldn’t hit it as far. But once in the locker room, everyone was saying the same thing about the fairways and greens.
“They are soft,” Lehman said. “I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but the course is playing very long compared to how it normally does. It’s wet. The air is heavy, the ball isn’t going that far. The only time the course gets difficult is when it gets super windy and when it gets firm. So unless the wind blows hard, I think the scores are going to be low.”
This winners-only event will be the first of the season for the senior circuit. Among the 38 golfers teeing it up today in the 54-hole event are South Africans Ernie Els and Retief Goosen. This is Goosen’s first tour of this golf course, but for Els, it is more than just that. For him, it’s is the first senior event for the man who turned 50 last October.
Els has a thing about playing in Hawaii. He has won more money at the Tournaments of Champions and the Sony Open than any other golfer at $5.2 million. He’d like nothing better than to add to that island total with a good showing this week. Fresh off being the Presidents Cup captain for the International team, Els has spent more time watching other people’s swings than his own.
He will play here this week before returning to South Africa to take some time off before returning to the states in late February and early March, where he will split time between both tours. Els said he has enjoyed seeing all of his old friends again at the pro-am party earlier this week. These are the golfers he idolized and grew up with during his early days on tour.
“These are my guys kind of thing,” Els said Tuesday. “Really happy to join them. It’s really a privilege if you think about it. You’re playing on the regular tour for so long. They call this the Champions Tour for a reason, because if you’re a champion there, they reward you on this side. Hopefully, I can be of some benefit out there.”
This tour could use a big name that Els more than provides. But it’s likely he will take part in the major events out here and remain a regular tour member for as long as he can compete well enough to retain his status. He did not play in the Sony last week, but regular senior members Jerry Kelly and Vijay Singh did. Singh told golf officials out here he wished he hadn’t played given the conditions. As for Kelly, he made the cut en route to cashing a paycheck for a little more than $18,000.
The man who won it all here two years ago would like to pocket more than that this week. He won the Sony in 2002, (Els in 2003, 2004) and Singh in (2005). David Toms won the Sony in 2006 and has been competitive here the past couple of years, but he withdrew once his beloved Louisiana State qualified for the national championship in football. He went to the game rather than make the trip here.
Mitsubishi Electric renewed its sponsorship here for another five years through the 2025 tournament. The seniors also held their annual awards party Tuesday night where Scott McCarron was named player of the year. He also won the Schwab Cup and the Arnold Palmer Award for being the leading money winner with $2.5 million.
