The first full-field event of 2023 sees the best in the world tee it up in paradise for the Sony Open in Hawaii. The tournament is celebrating its 25th edition with Sony as the title sponsor.

Nineteen of the 39 golfers who played the Sentry Tournament of Champions will also make the island hop for the Sony Open.

FIELD NOTES: The field is headlined by Jordan Spieth, the No.14-ranked golfer in the world. This is Spieth’s first time playing the Sony since 2019… Spieth’s new BFF, Tom Kim (read more on their budding friendship here) is just behind him in the world rankings at No. 15 and will also be teeing it up… Six of the top eight golfers in the FedExCup standings (as of Jan. 7) are set to take on Waialae CC… Defending champion Hideki Matsuyama looks to become the first golfer to go back-to-back since Jimmy Walker (2014-15)… Keegan Bradley is the highest-ranked player in the FedExCup (as of Jan. 7) in the field. He is No. 2 after his win at the ZOZO Championship, his first triumph since 2018… Other notables including Presidents Cup participants Adam Scott, Billy Horschel, Corey Conners, K.H. Lee and Christiaan Bezuidenhout… The top 10 finishers in The RSM Classic, the final full-field event of 2022, earned spots in the Sony, including former world No. 1 amateur Cole Hammer. His T5 at The RSM was his best TOUR finish and ended his first year as a pro on a high. He finished fifth in last year’s class of graduates in the PGA TOUR University Ranking presented by Velocity Global. He does not have PGA TOUR status but will have conditional Korn Ferry Tour status this year… Sponsor exemptions include Blaze Akana (a sophomore at University of Hawaii at Manoa), Kohei Okada (who won the Japan Amateur Championship last year) and a pair of former world No. 1 amateurs from Japan: Taiga Semikawa and Keita Nakajima. Semikawa won back-to-back starts on the Japan Tour last year before turning pro. Nakajima, a former Asia-Pacific Amateur champion, was the world’s No.1-ranked amateur for a record 87 weeks. Nakajima finished T12 in last year’s ZOZO and was T5 halfway through last year’s Sony before finishing 41st… Kazuki Higa also is amongst the sponsor exemptions. He topped the Japan Golf Tour’s money list in 2022. Higa recently received a special invitation to the Masters along with reigning NCAA champ Gordon Sargent.