The first event of the PGA Tour season is a lot like the first day of school. Players show up with shiny new toys, transfers and new students enter the fold, and everyone is trying to get a feel of classrooms and what, if any, friends are taking the same courses. And oh yeah, there’s that one old guy (Vijay Singh), who is somehow back for another year.
Factor in that this school year doesn’t start on its usual grounds — The Sentry at Kapalua — and the 2026 PGA Tour season is already off to a unique start, albeit one that will feature a stronger-than-usual field at the Sony Open.
Without the traditional event on Maui, the Sony Open steps into the box as the leadoff hitter. While the Hawaii swing as a whole may be up in the air for future seasons, this year’s tournament at Waialae Country Club welcomes seven of the top 20 players in the Official World Golf Rankings as well as some of the biggest names in the game.
U.S. Ryder Cup team members like Russell Henley, Ben Griffin, J.J. Spaun and Collin Morikawa headline the field alongside captain Keegan Bradley. European players such as Robert MacIntyre, Aaron Rai and Harry Hall represent their continent, while an international contingent of Hideki Matusyama, Si Woo Kim, Corey Conners, defending champion Nick Taylor and Adam Scott add to this field.
While these players enter the new year with a good sense of their standing, there are plenty who do not and need more than a fast start. This crop of players includes Korn Ferry Tour graduates like Johnny Keefer, who many expect to make a splash, and DP World Tour graduates such as Kristoffer Reitan. PGA Tour sophomores like Matt McCarty, Ryan Gerard and Michael Brennan all have high hopes for the year ahead, as do Maverick McNealy and Chris Gotterup, who had strong seasons.
Others like Billy Horschel and Sahith Theegala are returning from injury after experiencing topsy-turvy seasons. Jordan Spieth had a good, albeit not great, 2025 coming off a wrist surgery the prior offseason. They are all looking to put the pedal to the metal just like Tony Finau, Tom Kim and Nick Dunlap, who had seasons to forget in 2025.
It’s a brand new season. Hope is renewed. Everyone has a chance to cross off those yearly goals when balls start flying on Thursday morning. Waialae CC is a classic golf course, which, despite its lack of length, still presents some challenges to players and intrigue to viewers. The PGA Tour is back. Time to enjoy it.
2026 Sony Open schedule
Dates:Â Jan. 15-18
Location: Waialae Country Club — Honolulu, Hawaii
Par:Â 70 |Â Yardage:Â 7,044 | Architect: Seth Raynor
Purse:Â $9,100,000
2026 Sony Open field, odds
Odds via FanDuel Sportsbook
- Russell Henley (11-1): You won’t find a bigger Henley fan than yours truly. Driving the Russ bus and proclaiming him a top 10 player in the world a couple of years ago, I was finally vindicated in 2025. Unfortunately, Henley may only have one direction to go from here, and that is in reverse. This backing up will have to wait, however, as the good news is that Waialae CC is an ideal place for him to start his season in style. He has a win in 2013, a playoff loss to Matsuyama in 2022 and finishes of T4 and T10 the last two years. His blend of accuracy and precision is rewarded at this old-school course.
- Ben Griffin (16-1): Tough to be so pessimistic at the onset of a new year, but that’s where we stand. Griffin comes into 2026 fresh off a transformative season in which he won three times, finished inside the top 10 of two major championships and played on the U.S. Ryder Cup team. That may be as good as it gets for the 29-year-old, but that doesn’t mean he will slow down immediately. He has never missed a cut in his three trips to Waialae.
- J.J. Spaun (20-1): For whatever reason, Spaun did not take to Waialae in the early part of his career, but he seemed to have turned the corner last year. The U.S. Open champion finished one stroke outside of a playoff and carried that form into what became a defining season in his career. Similar to Henley, Spaun’s driving and wedge play will set him up for success here.
- Collin Morikawa (20-1): Morikawa makes his first start at the Sony Open since 2021, and it is for good reason. The two-time major champion has not won since Fall 2023 and looks to make inroads early in 2026 with the hopes of his patented iron play showing up in a big way. Iron play was not his issue last year but rather Morikawa’s short game, which is an underrated key to success at Waialae. The par-70 course should give us a good idea where Morikawa stands.
- Keegan Bradley (22-1): The former U.S. Ryder Cup captain is, for my money, the most intriguing player to watch this year. Without the weight of a captaincy and the looming decision of whether he should play, Bradley will be able to play more freely. He has been impressive at Waialae the last four seasons, during which he has finished T12 or better in three of his trips. Bradley’s ball striking remains world-class, and his chipping and pitching improved drastically last year.
- Hideki Matsuyama (22-1)
- Robert MacIntyre (22-1)
- Maverick McNealy (25-1)
- Si Woo Kim (25-1)
- Harry Hall (25-1)
2026 Sony Open picks
Who will win the Sony Open in Hawaii, and which longshots will stun the golfing world? Visit SportsLine now to see the projected leaderboard, all from the model that’s nailed 16 golf majors heading into the weekend, and find out.Â