- He may not be a top 5 player, but Patrick Reed showed that last season was no fluke as he fired a final round 67 and made a clutch birdie putt in the playoff to win the Hyundai Tournament of Championships. Any player can have a good season, but it shows more about their character if they're able to bounce back from struggling and win. After his famous "top 5" comment, Reed missed several cuts and started to plummet down the rankings. Winning this tournament is huge for Reed, and shows that he has the mental toughness to win in just about any environment. The only thing he has left to prove is his skills in a major.
- Even winners on the PGA Tour have a hard time winning on the PGA Tour. Three players all had the opportunity to put this tournament away, and were unable to do so. First it was Reed, who looked like he was ready to run away with the tournament until he missed a three foot putt on the 17th hole. Then it was Hideki Matsuyama, who hit the ball better than anyone all week but could not make the putts he needed to, including a relatively short one on the final hole to get into the playoff. Finally it was Jimmy Walker, who lead most of the final round but shot a back nine 73 and completely airmailed his approach shot on the playoff hole to end his chances. For Matsuyama, he will rebound and win a few times this season. He is a top 5 player in the making, and he almost won in Kapalua in his first time seeing the course, which is incredibly rare. For Walker, it may be harder to rebound from this loss, but he has the Sony Open next week, an event he won last year, so he will at least be landing onto softer ground.
- Jason Day's final round 62 was an announcement to the rest of the rest of the PGA Tour that this is going to be his year. Day has the explosive talent to make birdies in bunches and go on a huge run, but he needs to put four rounds together. If he is able to do that, Day could take home a bunch of trophies this year.
- I had Sang-Moon Bae in my Fantasy Four until the very end. The news of Bae's legal battle with the South Korean military scared me, as I figured he would be too distracted to play well. Now, I am wondering if his legal battles are actually fueling him to perform well and prove to the government that he deserves an extended stay. I am not in Bae's mind, but I do know his talent, and he if the kind of player that can contend in several tournaments.
- Ten under par was good enough for a T22 finish at the event. JB Holmes finished in last place at three under. I am ok with this kind of scoring at Kapalua, but we're in the early part of the Tour season, and these are going to be the kinds of scores we see for several tournaments. No thank you.
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