JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM
The gallery watches Matt Kuchar putt on the second hole during the final round of the Sony Open in Hawaii.
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Final attendance figures and television ratings for this past week’s Sony Open in Hawaii won’t be known until sometime this week, but with the strength of the field and the local interest in golf, fans flocked to the 10th stop on the PGA Tour, particularly on Sunday when they were lined down the street waiting to get in.
Hideki Matsuyama and Jordan Spieth, the first two days before he just missed the cut, were popular figures on the course. Weekend numbers appeared strong, particularly with fan favorite Matt Kuchar atop the leaderboard for all four rounds. It’s hard to quantify how many people are on the course or at a particular hole. The 18th was barren late Thursday afternoon, but had filled in nicely 48 hours later. It was packed for Sunday’s final round.
Over the weekend, fans could go the senior route with Davis Love III or the Masters champion path with Patrick Reed or the rising star journey with No. 4-ranked Justin Thomas or No. 5 Bryson DeChambeau. With all these choices, you tend to see folks spread out across Waialae Country Club before gathering at the three closing holes where the drama often ensues.
Television ratings were down for last week’s Sentry Tournament of Champions as is often the case when going head-to-head with the NFL playoffs. Local attendance on Maui was strong with seven of the top eight golfers in the world playing the patchy Plantation Course that will undergo a facelift that that will last from mid-February to November.
The Sony Open faces a similar NFL challenge over the weekend, but pretty much had the closing holes all to itself in Sunday’s stretch drive won by Matt Kuchar by four shots over Andrew Putnam.