Sony Closed

Good start to the year for some of you... but "regular" events are where the money is made! That's probably not even true, but I'm trying to fake some excitement as both TOURS (DP and... SP?) are in full swing.

First up is one of three exclusive DP World Tour events on our schedule. It's the inaugural Dubai Invitational. The $2.5M prize pool "elevates" it above most European events, but the field is lacking. Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Ryan Fox, Adrian Meronk, and Nicolai Hojgaard are the only golfers selected in our pool that I recognize. These weak fields are why we moved to a 3-tier scoring system.

It's a little better on the PGA TOUR at the Sony Open, thanks to schedule changes discussed in last week's post leading to a desperate attempt to hoard points. Previous European guys (5) who earned 2024 TOUR cards made the trip. A bunch of medical exemption players (7) did as well. In fact, it's being reported that half of the rookies and Korn Ferry grads who were promised spots in the field didn't get in! Points might actually matter!

This gives me hope for the 2024 schedule, as a glimpse toward the future. These "regular" events should be hyper-competitive for guys attempting to jump into the next tier, or retain their current status. We just need to get rid of a few exemptions... like "Career Money" which went to Charley Hoffman and Zach Johnson. Oof.

It should be pretty windy the first three days. But that won't stop scores from being ridiculously low.

"3d render of the Waialae Country Club w palm trees blowing in hurricane force winds, digital art"

Good luck!