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The Sports Network
Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - PGA TOUR - SONY OPEN IN HAWAII, Waialae
Country Club, Honolulu, Hawaii - Now that the first week is in the books, the
PGA Tour really gets started with its first full-field event of 2012.
For the second week in a row, the tour is in Hawaii, where Mark Wilson will
attempt to defend his championship at the Sony Open. It was the first of his
two titles in 2011, winning two of his first three events before falling back
to the middle of the pack the rest of the year.
It was a marathon for Wilson, who had to play 36 holes that Sunday because of
poor weather earlier in the week. He managed to outlast Tim Clark and Steve
Marino by a pair of strokes to earn nearly $1 million, his second biggest
paycheck of the year.
The top-ranked player in the field is No. 5 Steve Stricker, who is coming off
a victory at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. Stricker, who is now a 12-
time PGA Tour champion, has been one of the best golfers of recent years,
posting eight wins since the start of 2009.
Other than Stricker, some of the more recognizable names in the field include
reigning PGA Champion Keegan Bradley, three-time major winner Vijay Singh and
FedEx Cup runner-up Webb Simpson.
Additionally, last year's Nationwide Tour money leader J.J. Killeen and Harris
English, who won as an amateur on the Nationwide Tour last year, will get
their first crack at the PGA Tour since earning their cards for 2012.
Unlike the Tournament of Champions, the Sony Open ends on the traditional day
of Sunday. Golf Channel will have coverage of all four rounds.
Next week is the Humana Classic, renamed from the Bob Hope Classic, which was
won by then-rookie Jhonattan Vegas in 2011.
EUROPEAN TOUR
JOBURG OPEN, Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club, Johannesburg, South
Africa - Reigning Masters champion Charl Schwartzel will attempt to capture
his third straight Joburg Open this week in the sixth running of the event.
Schwartzel has dominated at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club in his
hometown, winning by four and six strokes, respectively, the last two years.
Last year, he rode the momentum from the win all the way until April, when he
posted a shocking Masters victory and vaulted himself into mainstream golf
conversation.
Now ranked No. 9 in the world, Schwartzel heads into this event with a new
title that goes with Masters champs: the favorite. Unfortunately for the South
African, he has yet to post another win since Augusta, but is returning to his
most familiar surroundings.
Only five players on the European Tour have previously won the same tournament
three years in a row, most recently Tiger Woods in 2005-07 at the WGC - CA
Championship and WGC - Bridgestone Invitational.
Schwartzel's biggest competition will likely come from fellow South African
and two-time U.S. Open champ Retief Goosen, who posted a third-place finish at
last week's Africa Open.
Golf Channel will have coverage of all four rounds, and the European Tour
remains in South Africa next week for the Volvo Golf Champions, won by Paul
Casey in 2011.
The Sports Network