Posted by Jason Sobel
HONOLULU -- Here's what I learned while covering the first two events of the PGA Tour season in Hawaii:
Someone's going to get rich correctly predicting the weather in Maui someday. Right now, it rains when it's supposed to be sunny, the wind blows when it's supposed to be calm and there's a general sense of wonderment when people wake up each day and look out the window.
Sean O'Hair and Ryan Moore are chic picks to make the U.S. Ryder Cup roster, but if you're looking for a young guy to break through, keep an eye on Vaughn Taylor. The stats show he's just getting better, with 11 straight made cuts going back to last season.
Jason Bohn is a good player already, but the PGA Tour should hope he continues to improve. It could use a guy with his smile and enthusiasm winning some more tournaments in the next few years.
Michelle Wie moves the needle like no 16-year-old before her. In any sport. Love her or hate her, people are watching.
That said, Wie seems to have more doubters than supporters right now. Based on the feedback I've received from golf fans, most are displeased that sponsors have given her exemptions and TV coverage has followed her so closely. And they're taking out these frustrations on this 16-year-old kid who doesn't deserve to have people dislike her so early in life.
Chad Campbell played all four rounds of the Sony without a headcover on his new Nike driver. Did he lose it? Not receive it from the company yet? "No. Just don't carry it," he said. "You hit it every hole, no use in taking it off and putting it back on."
David Duval's final-round 63 Sunday is just going to lead to more questions about what happened to his game and whether he can make a full return. For a guy who doesn't like the spotlight, he's going to be right in the thick of it this year.
Bubba Watson can hit the ball a mile, but he's brash and might rub his peers the wrong way. Consider these comments from Saturday: "I don't think John Daly or Hank Kuehne or Scott Hend, I don't think they can hang with me when I'm hitting it. If I hit my best, there's not too many people that can get within shouting distance."
Humpback whales migrate from Alaska to Hawaii and back every year. And when they swim right up to your boat, well, it's pretty cool.
I'll take a windblown course with slick greens (read: Kapalua) over one that yields a birdiefest any day of the week.
Right down the road from Kapalua, the Kaanapali Golf Course (and especially the South 18, its "resort" course) has improved dramatically in the past year with new Kapalua-like greens. Nice work, fellas.
J.B. (don't call me John) Holmes gets credit for quote of the week at the Sony. Asked whether he feels a camaraderie with his fellow Bluegrass state players, he said, "It's nice to get Kentucky out there and show everybody we wear shoes."
As to why he recently changed from John to J.B., Holmes said, "You know the answer to that." And if you don't, well, I ain't gonna go there.
Best job in golf? Korean-born K.J. Choi travels with a translator, but after years of living in Texas, he speaks pretty solid English. So what's left for Eujone Kim, who walks with Choi during every round? Well, not much. At least not on the course. Off of it, Kim helps the Choi family with day-to-day business. Still, sounds like a pretty nice gig to me.
That Scott Simpson is one heck of a guy. A seven-time PGA Tour winner, he was on the bag at Waialae for his former caddie, Parker McLachlin, who looped for Simpson at the Sony when he was just 14. Simpson, who also won the 1987 U.S. Open, told me he wasn't giving much advice to McLachlin this week. The Hawaii native obviously didn't need it; he made the cut and finished T-54.
Maybe they teach typing at Clemson. Of all the players who have chatted in The Show during the past two years, only three have typed their own responses. Two of them are former Tigers -- Lucas Glover and Jonathan Byrd. The third is Brad Faxon.
Honolulu's nice, but it ain't no Maui.
Then again, it beats Bristol, Conn., this time of year.
