Black Stick men stage epic comeback to tie 5-5 with Scotland
Who said early-season golf game was slow? After the humdinger that was concluding week'south Sentry Tournament of Champions duel between Cam Smith and Jon Rahm, the Sony Open gave us a reminder that, in 2022, golf rivalries can extend far beyond the confines of the course.
And that's not to take anything away from the skills on display at Hawaii'south Waialae Land Club, which welcomed the first total PGA Tour field of the year. It besides saw a 5-shot pb wiped out with just 9 holes to play, as well as one of the greatest fairway-wood shots in the game's history. Yes, information technology was that good!
Information technology'due south safe to say the Aloha Country has delivered, and here, we circular upwardly the biggest talking points from the 2022 Sony Open up…
1. Putting trumps all withal over again
What meliorate identify to offset than the tournament winner. Fifty-fifty in the appropriate time zone, viewers would've been forgiven for tuning out every bit the final group of Russell Henley and Hideki Matsuyama reached the turn. Henley stood on the 10th tee 5 alee having looked imperious throughout a front end-nine 29, but this is a very different Matsuyama to the ane of 12 months agone, to the one that hadn't won in most 4 years alee of final twelvemonth's Masters.
And information technology was the Japanese star's proficiency with the flat stick that led him to the unlikely victory. The reigning Masters champ turned in the all-time putting performance of his career to gain a whopping 7.27 strokes over the four days, topping the Strokes Gained: Putting rankings in a full-field PGA Tour event for the first time. Drive for bear witness…
2. The ugly side of golf
While players battled for the Sony Open title, 2 of the game'due south more controversial and song combatants came to blows on Twitter. What started off as a fairly inconspicuous comment from American broadcaster Chantel McCabe speedily turned into i of the most random Twitter feuds y'all're probable to see.
Watching Fri's golf game, McCabe tweeted: "Kevin Na walking in putts does not get erstwhile". Then, unprompted, Grayson Murray responded in baroque mode, quote-tweeting the original mail with a caption that read: "Kevin Na taking three minutes to putt them does get sometime". It got worse and other pros even chimed in.
Cheque out the commutation beneath:
Kevin Na taking three minutes to putt them. does get quondam. https://t.co/kzcJ8GtQjrJanuary 14, 2022
Murray, 28, has shown in the past he isn't afraid to ruffle some feathers, having faced criticism for previous remarks made on social media. He's not teed it upwardly since the 3M Open in July last year then perhaps he's simply suffering from extreme boredom.
3. Kisner gets salty nearly Ryder Cup snubs
Having seen his best chances of playing in the Ryder Cup likely come and go, matchplay maestro Kevin Kisner decided it was time to reveal his thoughts on the selection process, calling information technology "also political". 'The Kiz' lost in the final of the 2018 WGC Match Play earlier going one improve the post-obit yr. He also featured in the Presidents Cup in 2017, winning 3 points from four and going undefeated. Despite that, he has been overlooked for every Ryder Cup team he's had a adventure of being picked for.
"They don't like me, I gauge," Kisner said on GOLF's Subpar podcast, earlier adding: "I don't give a southward**t". Sure ya don't, Kev.
4. Furyk rolls back the years
Now plying his trade mainly on the Champions Tour, most would've been surprised to see the name of Jim Furyk atop the leaderboard on Thursday. The 51-year-old last featured on the main tour back in Apr 2021 at the RBC Heritage but rolled dorsum the years in Hawaii to gear up the early pace. Despite losing more than than a stroke off the tee confronting the field, the 2003 US Open champion produced his best putting round since 2009, gaining four.85 strokes on the greens to mail service an viii-under 62. He also fabricated an ace at the penultimate hole… as yous do!
What a stunning pigsty-in-one at the par-iii 17th during the opening circular of the PGA Tour's Sony Open from Jim Furyk ️⛳️👏 pic.twitter.com/XQIoOMzqdTJanuary 17, 2022
5. Shot of the year wrapped up?
Just as information technology started, it seems fitting to stop with the Sony Open champion. And more specifically, the outrageous shot that essentially ended the tournament. Sizing up his 277-chiliad second into Waialae Land Society's endmost par-five, Matsuyama produced a 3-forest from the gods that nestled all of three anxiety from the hole. It was truly one of the greatest fairway-forest shots you're ever likely to see, so if you lot haven't notwithstanding had the chance, do yourself a favour and check it out below:
UNREAL SHOT. 😳 Hideki delivers a beauty from 277 yards out on the get-go playoff hole! picture.twitter.com/qT8ByiAVrmJanuary 17, 2022
If that doesn't win shot of the year, then nosotros're in for a care for in 2022. Every bit an aside, Matsuyama became the first player to win a PGA Tour play-off with an eagle since JJ Henry at the 2015 Barracuda Title.
Notable mentions…
Yous can never take too much Hideki, so hither's some more. With his final-round 63, Matsuyama extended his run of sequent rounds in the 60s to 13, the current longest streak on the PGA Bout. He is just vi short of the all-fourth dimension record, which is held by Viktor Hovland and Patrick Cantlay.
Source: https://www.golfmonthly.com/features/twitter-spats-putting-stats-and-epic-comebacks-5-talking-points-from-the-sony-open
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