Looking Back: PGA Tour Sony Open/Hawaiian Open
The PGA Tour Sony Open (also known as the Hawaiian Open and Sony Open in Hawaii) was a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour from the mid-1960s until the mid-2020s. It ended only when the tour decided to scrap its season-opening Hawaii swing in a schedule reorganization announced in 2026. From 2027, a tournament named the Sony Championship Hawaii continues on the same golf course but as part of the Champions Tour (senior tour).
First played: 1965
Last played: 2026
The tournament was always played at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu, Hawaii. The 60-plus-year run at the same golf course is one of the longest such pairings of tournament/course in PGA Tour history.
The tournament was named "Hawaiian Open" from 1965-90, then United Hawaiian Open in 1991, United Airlines Hawaiian Open 1992-98, and Sony Open in Hawaii from 1999-2026.
Winners of PGA Tour Sony Open/Hawaiian Open
1965 — Gay Brewer, 281 (def. Bob Goalby in playoff)1966 — Ted Makalena, 271
1967 — Dudley Wysong, 284 (def. Billy Casper in playoff)
1968 — Lee Trevino, 272
1969 — Bruce Crampton, 274
1970 — Not played
1971 — Tom Shaw, 273
1972 — Grier Jones, 274 (def. Bob Murphy in playoff)
1973 — John Schlee, 273
1974 — Jack Nicklaus, 271
1975 — Gary Groh, 274
1976 — Ben Crenshaw, 270
1977 — Bruce Lietzke, 273
1978 — Hubert Green, 274 (def. Billy Kratzert in playoff)
1979 — Hubert Green, 267
1980 — Andy Bean, 266
1981 — Hale Irwin, 265
1982 — Wayne Levi, 277
1983 — Isao Aoki, 268
1984 — Jack Renner, 271 (def. Wayne Levi in playoff)
1985 — Mark O'Meara, 267
1986 — Corey Pavin, 272
1987 — Corey Pavin, 270 (def. Craig Stadler in playoff)
1988 — Lanny Wadkins, 271
1989 — Gene Sauers, 197 (shortened to 54 holes due to weather)
1990 — David Ishii, 279
1991 — Lanny Wadkins, 270
1992 — John Cook, 265
1993 — Howard Twitty, 269
1994 — Brett Ogle, 269
1995 — John Morse, 269
1996 — Jim Furyk, 277 (def. Brad Faxon in playoff)
1997 — Paul Stankowski, 271 (def. Jim Furyk, Mike Reid in playoff)
1998 — John Huston, 260
1999 — Jeff Sluman, 271
2000 — Paul Azinger, 261
2001 — Brad Faxon, 260
2002 — Jerry Kelly, 266
2003 — Ernie Els, 264 (def. Aaron Baddeley in playoff)
2004 — Ernie Els, 262 (def. Harrison Frazar in playoff)
2005 — Vijay Singh, 269
2006 — David Toms, 261
2007 — Paul Goydos, 266
2008 — K.J. Choi, 266
2009 — Zach Johnson, 265
2010 — Ryan Palmer, 265
2011 — Mark Wilson, 264
2012 — Johnson Wagner, 267
2013 — Russell Henley, 256
2014 — Jimmy Walker, 263
2015 — Jimmy Walker, 257
2016 — Fabian Gomez, 260 (def. Brandt Snedeker in playoff)
2017 — Justin Thomas, 253
2018 — Patton Kizzire, 263 (def. James Hahn in playoff)
2019 — Matt Kuchar, 258
2020 — Cameron Smith, 269 (def. Brendan Steele in playoff)
2021 — Kevin Na, 259
2022 — Hideki Matsuyama, 257 (def. Russell Henley in playoff)
2023 — Kim Si-woo, 262
2024 — Grayson Murray, 263 (def. Byeong-hun An, Keegan Bradley in playoff)
2025 — Nick Taylor, 264 (def. Nico Echavarria in playoff)
2026 — Chris Gotterup, 264
No golfer won the PGA Tour Sony Open more than twice. Several golfers, though, won it in back-to-back years: Hubert Green (1978-79), Corey Pavin (1986-87), Ernie Els (2003-04) and Jimmy Walker (2014-15). Going for a threepeat in 2005, Els lost by one stroke to Vijay Singh.
Native Hawaiian Ted Makalena thrilled the home fans with his victory (by three strokes over inaugural champ Gay Brewer) in 1966. It was Makalena's only win on the PGA Tour.
The 1968 Hawaiian Open was Lee Trevino's first non-major victory on the PGA Tour — his second overall win. He won the 1968 U.S. Open a couple months earlier.
The only PGA Tour victory by Japanese star (and Hall of Famer) Isao Aoki happened in the 1983 Hawaiian Open. It was the first victory by a native of Japan on the PGA Tour, and Aoki clinched the win when he holed out from the fairway for an eagle on the final hole.
The Sony Open gave 14-year-old Michelle Wie a exemption into the field in 2004, Wie's first appearance in a PGA Tour tournament. She fell one stroke short of making the cut that year, shooting 72-68 to finish at even-par. Wie also played the Sony Open in 2005-07, but without coming close to matching her 2004 scores.
Hawaii native son Tadd Fujikawa made a splash at the 2007 tournament just days after turning 16 years old. Fujikawa became the youngest golfer in 50 years to make a cut in a PGA Tour event, rose near the top of the leaderboard in the third round, and finished tied for 20th.
The largest margin of victory by any Sony Open champion was nine strokes by Jimmy Walker in 2015.
When Russell Henley won the 2013 Sony Open with a total score of 256 (he birdied the tournament's final five holes to claim the win), it was the second-lowest score in PGA Tour history to that point. But 256 is not the Hawaiian Open's tournament scoring record. That's because Justin Thomas won the 2017 tournament at 253, a score that at the time was the PGA Tour record for lowest 72-hole stroke total.
Thomas also set the tournament's 18-hole scoring record in 2017, when he opened with a first-round 59. That was the seventh round of 59 in PGA Tour history, the eighth sub-60 round ever on the tour.
More all-time scoring records? At the 1998 Hawaiian Open, John Huston won with a score of 260, which was 28-under par. Huston was the first golfer in PGA Tour history to finish as low as 28-under. Huston made 31 birdies during that tournament, another tour record at the time (and like the first one, since eclipsed).
