PGA Tour stays in Hawaii, Europe gets Ryder Cup preview

Updated Jan. 10, 2023 9:40 a.m. ET

Associated Press

PGA TOUR

SONY OPEN

Site: Honolulu.

Course: Waialae CC. Yardage: 7,044. Par: 70.

Prize money: $7.9 million. Winner's share: $1.442 million.

Television: Thursday-Friday, 7-10:30 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 4-6 p.m. (NBC), 6-8 p.m. (Golf Channel).

Defending champion: Hideki Matsuyama.

FedEx Cup leader: Seamus Power.

Last week: Jon Rahm won the Sentry Tournament of Champions.

Notes: Nineteen of the 38 players who finished the Sentry Tournament of Champions on Maui are in the field. ... The field has no one from the top 10 in the world, but four of the top 20 — Jordan Spieth, Tom Kim, Billy Horschel and Sungjae Im. ... Hideki Matsuyama won his only tournament last year by hitting 3-wood to 3 feet for eagle to win a sudden-death playoff at the Sony Open. ... The field includes Taiga Semikawa, who won two Japan Golf Tour events last fall as an amateur. ... Jerry Kelly, who won the Sony Open in 2002, is playing on a sponsor exemption. He starts the PGA Tour Champions season next week on the Big Island. ... Charles Howell III played the Sony Open for 22 consecutive years. He cannot play this year because the PGA Tour suspended him for joining the Saudi-funded LIV Golf league. ... Kapalua head pro Michael Castillo won the Aloha Section to earn a spot in the Sony Open. He is the oldest player in the field at 60.

Next week: The American Express.

Online: https://www.pgatour.com/

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EUROPEAN TOUR

HERO CUP

Site: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Course: Abu Dhabi GC. Yardage: 7,642. Par: 72.

Prize money: None.

Television: Friday, 2-8 a.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday, 11 p.m. (Friday) to 8 a.m. (Golf Channel); Sunday, 1:30-7 a.m. (Golf Channel).

Defending champion: New event.

Race to Dubai leader: Thriston Lawrence.

Last tournament: Antoine Rozner won the Mauritius Open.

Notes: The Hero Cup was created to give Ryder Cup-styled competition to European players ahead of the September matches in Rome. ... Tommy Fleetwood is the playing captain for the Britain and Ireland team that will have two players with Ryder Cup experience in Tyrrell Hatton and Shane Lowry. ... Former British Open champion Francesco Molinari is captain of the continental European squad of 10 players that come from seven countries. That includes Thomas Pieters and Alex Noren, who have Ryder Cup experience. ... Sepp Straka, born in Austria and raised in Georgia since he was a teenager, is playing for continental Europe. Straka has played every international competition, including the Olympics, under the Austrian flag. ... The tournament is a renewal of the Seve Trophy, which was played eight times in non-Ryder Cup years. It was last held in 2013. ... The European season starts the following week in Abu Dhabi.

Next week: Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

Online: https://www.europeantour.com/dpworld-tour/

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AUGUSTA NATIONAL, R&A AND USGA

LATIN AMERICA AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

Site: Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.

Course: Grand Reserve GC. Yardage: 7,316. Par: 72.

Television: Thursday-Friday, 9 a.m. to noon (ESPN2); Saturday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. (ESPN News); Sunday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. (ESPN2).

Defending champion: Aaron Jarvis.

Notes: The winner gets an invitation to the Masters and the British Open, along with the U.S. Amateur and British Amateur. The winner and runner-up are exempt into the final stage of U.S. Open qualifying. ... Aaron Jarvis last year became the first player from the Cayman Islands to win. ... Chile has produced three of the seven winners since it began in 2015, including Joaquin Niemann. ... This is the first time the championship is being played in Puerto Rico.

Online: https://www.laacgolf.com/

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LPGA TOUR

Next week: Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions on Jan. 19-22.

Last tournament: Lydia Ko won the CME Group Tour Championship.

Race to CME Globe winner: Lydia Ko.

Online: https://www.lpga.com/

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PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS

Next week: Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai.

Last tournament: Padraig Harrington won the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

Charles Schwab Cup champion: Steven Alker.