“I still have no choice but to shake my head. Kim Joo-hyung will firmly take a historic step.”
This is the evaluation the PGA Tour official website put Kim Joo-hyung (21) at the top of the power ranking ahead of the Sony Open, which starts on the 12th (local time). The Power Ranking is a ranking that predicts who will win the tournament. Joo-hyung Kim, who tied for 5th at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, the first tournament of the year on the PGA Tour, will challenge to win the Sony Open in Hawaii, USA.
If the Sentry Tournament of Champions was the ‘King of the Kings’ with only 39 players who won the PGA Tour last year or participated in the Tour Championship, the final match of the season, the Sony Open is a regular regular tournament with 144 players. It will be held at Waialae Country Club (par 70) in Honolulu, Hawaii.
As can be seen from the power rankings, Kim Joo-hyung is the highest in the world ranking (14th) and FedEx Cup (3rd) among the players participating in this tournament. From last week’s world ranking of 15, he moved up the rankings with a top-five finish at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. The 14th place is a personal best tie, having briefly been in the 14th place in early November last year. With many of the world’s top ranking players absent, Kim Joo-hyung is aiming for his third PGA Tour trophy following the Wyndham Championship in August last year and the Shriners Children’s Open in October.
A total of 7 Korean players will participate in this tournament, starting with the ‘youngest’ Kim Joo-hyung. In the Sentry Tournament of Champions, Lee Gyeong-hoon (32), who tied for 7th place, and Lim Seong-jae (25), who tied for 13th place, will compete for two weeks in a row, just like Kim Joo-hyung. Lim Seong-jae, who is participating in this tournament for the 5th time, was ranked 6th in the power rankings. 토토
Kim Si-woo (28), Kim Seong-hyeon (25), and Ahn Byeong-hun (32) are making their first appearance in the new year. Choi Gyeong-ju (53), the “eldest brother” of Korean men’s golf, who was the only Korean to win the tournament in 2008, is also taking part in the PGA Tour tournament.
The defending champion of this tournament is Hideki Matsuyama (31), a leading figure in Japanese men’s golf. Matsuyama reached the top last year by defeating Russell Henry (34, USA) in overtime. With 8 wins on the PGA Tour, he is tied with Choi Kyung-ju for the most wins by an Asian player. Henry also has a deep relationship with this tournament. Henry, a rookie in 2013, won the Sony Open in his debut year with a score of 24 under par. He lifted the 4th trophy of his career at the World Wide Technology Championship last year and rose to 2nd place in the power rankings.
Other contenders for the title include Jordan Spieth, 15th in the world rankings, and Keegan Bradley (US), 5th in the FedEx Cup. Spieth invited Kim Joo-hyung to his house for Christmas at the end of last year and spent time with him.