Weekly Recap: Si Woo Wins in Honolulu

It's a new year for Si Woo Kim. That's not all that's new for him. He has a new wife, a new caddie, a new mindset and, as of Sunday, a new win.

Kim shot a final-round 64 -- tied for the low round of the day -- and birdied the final two holes, including a chip-in on No. 17, to overtake Hayden Buckley and win the Sony Open by one shot with an 18-under-par score at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu.

It's been a whirlwind past few months for the 27-year-old Korean, who switched caddies after last season ended and told reporters in his post-tournament news conference that he got married just a few weeks ago, on Dec. 19.

After playing the 2021-22 season with Brian Vranesh on his bag, a glass-half-full experience with 11 top-25s but only one top-10, Kim made the change beginning with the Presidents Cup in September. He turned to Manuel Villegas, who is the brother of Camilo Villegas and a pretty fair golfer in his own right, having played more than 60 tournaments on the Korn Ferry Tour.

You may recall that Kim had a amazing Presidents Cup, teaming with Cam Davis to beat Scottie Scheffler/Sam Burns in foursomes and with Tom Kim to topple Patrick Cantlay/Xander Schauffele before stunning Justin Thomas in Sunday singles.

In Kim's ensuing PGA Tour start at the Shriners, he tied for eighth, so he already has doubled his top-10s from last season with Villegas by his side.

Kim has always had the talent, notably winning the 2017 PLAYERS Championship at age 21. But he also always has been slowed by inconsistency, to say the least. The Sony was his fourth win in 220 career Tour starts, also including the 2016 Wyndham and the 2021 American Express, where Kim is in the published field for this coming week.

At Waialae, Kim was in control of his game, shooting twin 64s on the weekend and leading the field in both Strokes Gained: Approach and Tee-to-Green. He also was in control of his emotions.

"It was a tough year I had last year," he told reporters at the course, "but I played a lot of good rounds, but I didn't play good Sunday. That's why I finished a lot of 13th. Yeah, I think that helps me more patience, and then this year trying to mindset, like trying more less upset, more getting attitude-wise. I think that helped.

"Friday and Saturday was a little upset for me, but I didn't act much. I think that helped."

Really, Kim has the physical talent to be a top-20 golfer -- he's that good -- it's just some of that other stuff that has always prevented him from ranking higher than 28th in the world. Right now, he's 41st, having jumped from 84th at the beginning of the week.

Whether Villegas has been a stabilizing influence, being a newlywed has contributed to Kim's newfound maturity on the course or whatever has fueled the changes, it appears to be working.

Following the Amex, Kim may decide to alter his schedule for the rest of the season. After all, he's now headed to Augusta and likely all the majors, plus the WGC-Match Play.

This early victory may also changes his goals.

"Yeah, always before the season starts like my goal is win the tournament, just one more the year, but this is one for one, so hopefully getting two soon, and then yeah, just trying to be more fun, not trying to be win the tournament."

That sounds like a good, more relaxed recipe for success. It makes you think Kim, finally, can have a big year on the PGA Tour.

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Hayden Buckley
Coming so close to his first PGA Tour win but not closing the deal will sting for a bit. But Buckley will learn from the experience of leading for much of the weekend only to miss a 12-foot birdie putt on 18 that would've forced a playoff. The 26-year-old has had top-5s before, but always in the weaker fall events and never a runner-up. His putting held him back last season but he's been much better this season and was T13 at the Sony. As a consolation prize, Buckley can take heart in knowing the cracked the top-100 in the world rankings, at No. 100, after beginning the week at 203rd.

Chris Kirk
Kirk had a great first half of 2022 but did zippo in the second half of the year. His solo third at the Sony was his first top-25 since July. Maybe the 37-year-old ran out of gas in the latter stages of 2022. We'll get a little more info on that this coming week. Kirk has had some success at the Amex through the years and another such week would bode well for his success in the coming weeks and months.

Andrew Putnam
Putnam was one of the top players in the fall season. He hadn't played since the RSM Classic, so it was fair to wonder if he had cooled off. He didn't. Putnam shot 62 on Saturday and closed with a 68 to tie for fourth. At age 33, he really seems to have found a second wind in his career. Putnam will usually e a better play on shorter tracks.

David Lipsky
The 34-year-old Los Angeles native was good in Europe for a number of years, winning twice on the DP World Tour, plus once on the Korn Ferry in 2020. As a PGA Tour rookie last season, Lipsky showed flashes. Will this tie for fourth lead to more frequent flashes? One of his best tournaments last year was the Amex, where he tied for 14th.

Ben Taylor
The 30-year-old Englishman and Korn Ferry grad tied for fourth at Waialae, piggybacking on his tie for third at Houston late last year. Taylor also had a top-25 at the RSM, so he's had a string of good weeks, meaning he surely bears watching. Beware the stronger fields, though.

Matt Kuchar
Now 44 and outside the top-100 in the world for a while last year, Kuchar still has his moments and still has DFS/betting value. His strength lies at shorter, thinking-man's tracks, rather than 7,500-yard bomber's paradises. Kuchar tied for seventh, matching his Sony result from last year. He won the tournament in 2019. Kuchar is sitting out the Amex but if he returns for Pebble Beach, he warrants consideration. He's now back up to 74th in the world.

Maverick McNealy
McNealy is no longer a kid. He's 27, this is his fourth full season on Tour and he just played his 100th career tournament. He's still looking for his first win. Will this be his year? McNealy had a great start to 2023 with a tie for seventh.
  
Corey Conners
Conners tied for 12th, which followed a T11 last year and a T12 three years ago. Which is just about the ceiling for a superior ball-striker who can't putt very well. Conners led the field in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee, was 11th in SG; Approach and second in SG: Tee-to-Green but was 73rd in SG: Putting. There's only so much upside when the putts don't fall, and Conners has shown that that upside ends at a borderline top-10.

J.J. Spaun
Spaun just missed the Tour Championship last August, then strung together three top-15s in the fall and added a tie for fifth last week at Kapalua. And now another top-15 with a tie for 12th. He appears to have really gotten his diabetes under control and is showing how good he can be.
 
Taylor Montgomery
Another great week has Montgomery closing in on the top-50 OWGR (59th). He tied for 12th, on the heels of six top-15s in the fall season.

Adam Scott
Scott played both legs of the Hawaii Swing, which was a real rarity for him. But it's part of his rejuvenated commitment to the PGA Tour as one of the top-20 guys in the PIP standings. Now 42, Scott tied for 21st at the Sony and we should see a lot of him going forward. But not this coming week at the Amex.

Jordan Spieth
The perception is that Spieth is one of the top golfers in the world. The results and his ranking say otherwise. This was a particularly bad week, and a rarity, as Spieth led after the first round yet missed the cut after blowing up on Friday. He's 15th in the world for a reason – he's not a top-10 golfer. He's been in the top-10 only for a few weeks in the last 5-plus years. Yes, he won last year for the second year in a row, but he had only three other top-10 finishes in all of 2022. What makes the best golfers the best is not only wins, but consistently high finishes, something Spieth is not doing.

Tom Kim
Kim was the betting favorite and, as the best golfer in the field, deserved to be. But he had never played Waialae before, and it showed. It's a tricky course that usually takes multiple years to master, and Kim will be a lot better if he returns in 2024.

Webb Simpson
A missed cut is just the latest piece of evidence that Simpson has fallen far and fast. He's no longer a top golfer. He finished in the top-5 in three straight visits to the Sony ending in 2021. But he tied for 61st last year and was even worse this time around. Simpson is 37 years old now, and it appears to be an old 37.

Keegan Bradley
Bradley has been putting much better the past two seasons, and that had elevated him to No. 25 in the world entering the Sony. But when his putting is bad, well … Bradley ranked 113th in the field in Strokes Gained: Putting and thus missed the cut. We really liked Bradley this week, but we obviously didn't expect his putting to revert to three-year-ago levels.

Sungjae Im
Im has never been great at Waialae, and now he has had five visits. He missed the cut for the second year in a row and has never cracked the top-15 there. Im has a lot of good finishes every year – three runners-up last year despite seeing his two-year winning streak end. But he also has far too many bad weeks for a top guy, which is why he has never cracked the top-15 in the world rankings. Stunning, right? But true.

Billy Horschel
There was indication at the beginning of the week at Horschel would pull out and head home to work on his swing. He didn't. He should have. Horschel missed the cut badly, shooting over par both rounds. We'll all have to pay attention to Horschel the next time he tees it up. Presumably, he won't be back till he is happy that he's making progress with his game.