KAPALUA, Maui »Usually, the Sony Open in Hawaii benefits from having the world’s best golfers open their season on Maui at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions.
Not so much this year.
The Sony Open field was officially announced Friday with 20 of the 30 golfers who teed it up for the first round of the winners-only tournament here making the island hop to Oahu next week. But there are some notable golfers among the 10 not coming.
Perhaps the most surprising is Steve Stricker, who has done well at Waialae in the past without ever winning. He announced on Wednesday that he planned to play in only 10 to 12 events this year, preferring to spend more time with his family.
TODAY’S TEE TIMES
7:30: Rickie Fowler, Jason Dufner
7:30: Matt Kuchar, Webb Simpson
7:40: Keegan Bradley, John Huh
7:40: Ian Poulter, Jonas Blixt
7:50: Marc Leishman, Ted Potter Jr.
7:50: Kyle Stanley, Scott Stallings
8:00: George McNeill, Ryan Moore
8:00: Ben Curtis, Mark Wilson
8:10: Johnson Wagner, J.J. Henry
8:10: Carl Pettersson, Scott Piercy
8:20: Zach Johnson, Hunter Mahan
8:20: Charlie Beljan, Tommy Gainey
8:30: Bill Haas, Nick Watney
8:30: Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson
8:40: Brandt Snedeker, Steve Stricker
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Masters champion Bubba Watson is also sitting out next week, as are FedEx Cup winner Brandt Snedeker, Rickie Fowler, Jason Dufner, Ian Poulter, Hunter Mahan, Charlie Beljan, Bill Haas and Nick Watney.
U.S. Open champ Webb Simpson is making the trip over to Oahu, as are Dustin Johnson, 2011 PGA winner Keegan Bradley, Matt Kuchar, 2012 PGA Tour rookie of the year John Huh and 2009 Sony Open champion Zach Johnson.
Some other notables in next week’s first full-field event of 2013 are K.J. Choi, Charles Howell III, Davis Love III, Ryan Moore, John Senden and Vijay Singh.
Wagner with juniors
Sony Open defending champion Johnson Wagner will play with Colby Takushi in Tuesday’s Acura Hawaii Pro-Jr. Skills Challenge. The exhibition starts at 2:30 p.m. at Waialae Country Club.
Other teams feature John Daly and Mariel Galdiano, Jerry Kelly and Skye Inakoshi, Kuchar and Allisen Corpuz and Mark Wilson with 2011 state high school champion Eimi Koga.
Galdiano, who qualified for the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open, and Corpuz, who broke Michelle Wie‘s record to become the youngest to qualify for a USGA open event, are freshmen at Punahou. Koga is a Moanalua senior who will play for the University of Washington next fall. Inakoshi, who will play for Hawaii, and Takushi are seniors at Mid-Pacific Institute and Pearl City.
Wilson won the 2011 Sony and Kelly captured the title in 2002. Kuchar won last year’s Players Championship and is competing in his second challenge, along with Wilson. Kelly is playing in his 10th and Wagner in his first.
Daly got an exemption into this year’s Sony, along with Fred Funk, Ryuji Imada, Yuta Ikeda, Hideki Matsuyama and Hideto Tanihara.
The teams will compete in four skills — over the bunker, sand trap shot, shot from the swale and challenge putt.
Inside the numbers
If you want to know how hard the wind was blowing during Friday’s washed-out first round, look no further than the par-3 fourth. The average drive directly into the wind was a mere 220.1 yards. As Snedeker put it, "I might have hit a drive there about 50 yards."
There were only two golfers under par when PGA Tour officials decided to wipe out the round. One of those was Simpson, who was leading at 3 under after seven holes. His reply was, "It stinks for me."
Only two golfers made it as far as No. 8, with Fowler and Dufner double-bogeying the difficult par-3.
In all, there were 12 birdies, 49 pars, 19 bogeys, seven double bogeys and one triple carded by the golfers over the opening eight holes.
Ann Miller of the Star-Advertiser contributed to this report.
