2023 SONY OPEN IN HAWAII

Old Quotes

“You know, Waialae is a great golf course. It's a golf course that anybody can win at. You don't have to be one style of game. It's whoever is hitting it the best and putting the best. So it's a golf course that you don't have to overpower, and I think because of my good iron play, I have an advantage here and you have to make some putts. There are other golf courses out there, the ones I've won, like Colonial is a great example. I think Hilton Head is one of the tournaments I'd like to win to get it off my checklist. And the PLAYERS Championship say golf course that you've seen all kinds of winner, all kinds of style of players. There's still plenty of golf courses left in the schedule that I'd like to win.” - Kevin Na (2022)

“Course is in great shape. Rough is up and nasty. I didn't miss too many fairways today but you get punished pretty quickly.” - Seamus Power (2022)

It just reminds me so much of home to be honest. The grasses are almost the same. You know, very -- where I grew up is very flat and you know just kind of like this golf course, you kind of have to -- it's windy. It's always windy. You always have to control your ball into the greens, which I love doing. I feel as though you can be very creative around the greens here. Yeah, I love it. Great golf course. - Cam Smith (2021)

“It's a golf course where it's really hard to keep the ball in the fairway. So it's a golf course where you always have to play your angles, your misses, etc., where you'll see a lot of balls, especially if the wind stays up this week, you'll see a lot of balls land in the fairway and bounce out into the rough. It's important to know what sides of the fairway that you can miss and play from. You know, that, and the greens don't have a ton of slope in them. So if you do get the putter going, guys can make a lot of putts, which last couple years has not been very strong winds and guys have shot some low scores because of it.” - Charles Howell III (2021)

New Quotes

Going ahead to Sony, what's the biggest thing you have to shift to when you go from Kapalua to Waialae? (1/8/23)

JORDAN SPIETH: Honestly, everything. The greens putt totally different. Your ability to hit fairways goes way, way down. You're thinking through positioning versus just hitting driver everywhere. So I haven't played there in a little while, so I really need to almost kind of re-learn where you push it and where you lay back. So I'm looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to just the difference. It's fun as a golf lover to play such drastic, differences in golf courses, whether they're right next to each other or not. You don't have two more different back-to-back weeks I think than Kapalua to Sony. So it will be a fun challenge trying to make up for the decision making this weekend. Because it requires so much more there. So going to have to work on that.

Going back to last year and of course winning here in 2013, you obviously like the golf course, and you mentioned maybe some things about it. Are there things in the design of the golf course or the way it sets up that you like here? Everyone likes the weather. You seem to like the golf course, how it fits your game. (1/10/23)

RUSSELL HENLEY: Yeah, I do. I think it puts a premium on ball control. I think it puts a premium on hitting the fairway, hitting good approach shots, making good decisions, good course management. I think it puts a premium on that. I think that's more my game when I'm playing well. There are some weeks I don't have it and my course management is bad and I'm not able to control the ball and hit it straight, but typically when I'm on, playing well, ball control and having a cleaner card is kind of my game. And so that's what I feel like this place is. If you can hit fairways and know which side of the fairway to miss it, if you miss it, things like that, I think that's kind of how I try to play golf. So I feel like that and this course is. Much more so than last week.

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