Live leaderboard: WGC-HSBC Champions

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Happy New Year! As the date above shows, it’s literally the first day of the year, so you know that the greeting is genuine. Beginning at some time later this week, we can debate (and disagree) when the message jumps the shark, but if the PGA TOUR in 2018 provides even a fraction of what we witnessed last year, we’ll be happy all year. The season resumes with the Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua Resort’s Plantation Course on Maui. He’s gone 2nd-Win-T3 and has averaged 67.67 in those 12 rounds since debuting here in 2014. Arrives having recorded six straight top 10s, the last a T3 at the Hero World Challenge. Beginning a fortnight of title defenses in Hawaii. Ranked third in proximity and fourth in strokes gained: putting here last year. Gutted out victory in South Korea in October. Concluded 2017 with a solo second at Mayakoba and a victory at the Hero. T6 (2013) and solo fifth (2016) in previous two appearance at Kapalua. Checks every box. Since 2013 title here, he’s logged four top 10s in as many trips and a scoring average of 69.00 in 15 rounds. Began the 2017-18 season with a disappointing T2 at the WGC-HSBC. When you insert a long-hitting ball-striker into the spaciousness of Kapalua, you’d expect a T3 (2015), a solo second (2017) and a scoring average of 68.13 in eight rounds. Return trip, albeit five years since his debut (T23). Cannot overstate his confidence in the wind. Four top-four finishes in his last six starts worldwide capped a career year. Keeps on keepin’ on and giving no reason why he won’t continue his remarkable pace. Currently second in FedExCup points. Ended a six-year hiatus at Kapalua with a T3 last year. Third appearance and second consecutive after winning the Safeway. Ranked fifth in proximity en route to a T6 at Kapalua last year. Shared 13th place in his last start at the CIMB. Fits the profile (read more on this below) to prevail. Terrific putter in his second appearance. Already has two top fives and a solo eighth on the board this season. Sealed 2017 with victory at the DP World Tour Championship, his latest in a litany of impressive performances in tournament debuts. Maui’s trade winds are new to him this week. Opened 2017-18 with a T4 at The RSM Classic. Second in proximity and T3 in strokes gained: putting during a solo ninth in only previous Kapalua appearance in 2016. T14 in what was a sum-is-greater-than-parts showing as a debutant last year. Won’t mind another go at the Bermuda greens, but still needs to rely on his balanced attack. The first-timer already has a T3 at the CIMB Classic on his ledger this season and he placed (a distant) T2 in his last start at the Dunlop Phoenix. Now 25th in the OWGR. Rested since breakthrough victory at the Shriners. Expect first-time lumps, but since resuming his career 11 months ago, he’s 15-for-15 with five top 10s and another five top 25s. A T3 here in 2016 is the best finish by any first-timer in the last two editions. Now recovering from a sore left wrist that has overshadowed a T2 and a win this fall. POWER RANKINGS: SENTRY TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS   RANK PLAYER COMMENT With only 34 golfers in the field, there is no Sleepers this week. Instead, all remaining golfers will appear in Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider. It was announced in August that Sentry Insurance assumed title sponsorship of the winners-only Tournament of Champions through 2022. Of this year’s 37 qualifiers, only Sergio Garcia, Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson have chosen not to compete. Fourteen of the 34 in the field are making their tournament debut, including Adam Hadwin of Canada, Jon Rahm of Spain and Cameron Smith of Australia. Not only is each attempting to become the first first-timer to prevail in 10 years (Daniel Chopra), but each would be ending the Americans’ streak of seven consecutive victories. If it doesn’t seem like that should matter in the context of an individual sport – you’re right, it really doesn’t outside of fact – consider that the previous nine editions were won by internationals. Sticking to another trend, with his three-stroke victory last year, Justin Thomas became the third straight winner in his second appearance, following Patrick Reed (2015) and Jordan Spieth (2016). There is a learning curve at Kapalua, but the youth of today are ruining it for the rest of the class, not that the formula for success is a mystery this week. With generous fairways, one of the largest and most receptive sets of greens on the schedule and an exclusive field comprised only of winners, the extremes baked into the challenge amplify the necessity to hit the ground sprinting. As you’d expect on a par 73 (with four par 5s but only three par 3s on a 7,452-yard layout) and with a field of this quality, Kapalua is three years running as the easiest course in relation to par. Last year’s average landed at 70.375. Connecting on approach or with the putter are prerequisites to contend, but the overlying objective is to knock it in tight what with the top of the leaderboard often eclipsing the field average of greens in regulation with easy targets. Bermudagrass surfaces are prepped to run at just 10 feet on the Stimpmeter, while the introduction of a fringe cut extending nearly two feet around the perimeter of every green figures to grab a handful of aggressive approaches. Textbook weather conditions are expected throughout the tournament. Moderate-to-gusty trade winds present the greatest test for the 14 newcomers, while sun-splashed vistas accompanying daytime highs in the upper 70s will remind most of us on the mainland why Hawaii is an even more popular destination at this time of year. ROB BOLTON’S WRITING SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Columnist Rob Bolton will be filing his usual staples leading up to this week’s event. Look for the following columns this week. MONDAY: Rookie Ranking, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Fantasy Insider WEDNESDAY: One & Done * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO, which also publishes on Tuesdays.

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THE OVERVIEW If Sungjae Im was one of one of the cool-kid, Madison Avenue-driven American youngsters, the media hype around him might be out of this world. This South Korean star on the rise dominated the Web.com Tour in 2018, winning the opening event and leading the money list wire-to-wire, the only player in Tour history to achieve the feat. Two wins and 13 total top-25 finishes showed incredible consistency, and at just 20 years old, Im is indeed a player we need to keep an eye on. His first win came when he was just 19, making him the second-youngest player to ever win on that Tour behind Jason Day. He made 397 birdies during the Web.com Tour season, the most by a single player since 2011, and his final-round scoring average was an incredible 68. Im is the youngest of all new rookies on the PGA TOUR this season and may turn out to be the best – although Cameron Champ already has set a pretty high standard by posting a win in the fall. Proving the step up to the big leagues would not faze him, Im opened the new season with a T4 at the Safeway Open. Through six starts he sits 34th in the FedExCup and has plenty of TOUR veterans looking over their shoulder wondering just how long it might be before he makes his next breakthrough. Im hits the ball incredibly straight and loves a high ball flight, making him well suited to plenty of TOUR venues. His swing is comparable to Japanese star Hideki Matsuyama given the deliberate takeaway, although there is not as much of a pronounced pause at the top. — By Ben Everill BY THE NUMBERS How Sungjae Im ranked in Strokes Gained statistics during his last full season on the PGA TOUR: FEDEXCUP UPDATE Current 2018-19 position: 34th Playoff appearances: 0 TOUR Championship appearances: 0 Best FedExCup result: Im is in good shape after the fall events as he seeks to secure a Playoffs spot in his rookie season. SHOTLINK FUN FACT Sungjae Im was 192 under par on the Web.com Tour last season, ranking second for the most under-par player on that tour since 2010. INSIDER INSIGHTS PGATOUR.COM’s Insiders offer their expert views on what to expect from Sungjae Im in 2019. TOUR INSIDER: Talk to anyone who spent time around the Web.com Tour last season and they’ll wax lyrical about this kid. The key to his performance appears to be a machine-like quality of consistency. He’s already ranked 20th in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee. To get to the next level of excellence, he will need to sharpen his short game. Around the greens can cause a level of anxiety for the youngster, perhaps because he’s rarely in trouble. — By Ben Everill FANTASY INSIDER: All things considered, he’s off to the kind of start that he projected after a historic season on the Web.com Tour. He co-leads the PGA TOUR with six starts – he may touch 35 overall – and his final-round scoring average (with four sub-par scores contributing) is better than his averages of each of the first three rounds. Showcasing the same balanced attack that led to the top spot in Web.com Tour earnings, exempt status from the reshuffle this season and a tee time at TPC Sawgrass for THE PLAYERS in March. And he still won’t turn 21 until two weeks after the TOUR’s flagship event. — By Rob Bolton EQUIPMENT INSIDER: Although Im found success on the Web.com Tour with a TaylorMade M3 driver in the bag, he switched to a Titleist TS3 for the 2018 Safeway Open and The CJ Cup. He stayed with the Graphite Design Tour AD-DI shaft despite switching heads. Im now has a bag full of Acushnet products, including a 917F2 fairway wood, 818H1 hybrid, AP2 irons, Vokey SM7 wedges and a Scotty Cameron 009 putter. — By Andrew Tursky STYLE INSIDER: With 1/4-zip sweaters, saddle shoes, and straight-legged trousers, Im proves there is still place in the game for classic looks. His style game is at its best when he uses pops of bright colors against darker, more traditional hues. Trading the white belt for one that matches his trousers would be a good New Year’s resolution for Im. — By Greg Monteforte

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