THE golfing year of 2025 got off to a record-breaking start in Hawaii at the weekend when Hideki Matsuyama posted a frankly ridiculous 35-under-par total for 72 holes at The Sentry.

And more new ground was broken overnight with the launch of the Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy-backed TGL, a high-tech indoor golf league featuring some of the best players in the world who have been handed another opportunity to top up the bank balance without putting themselves out too much.

There are visions of Full Swing, hosted by Jimmy Tarbuck, in my head (look it up on YouTube), but no doubt I’ll be totally sucked in once I catch up on Sky at some stage.

Meanwhile, the DP World Tour makes a soft start in Dubai from Friday with the Team Cup, a getting-to-know-you matchplay exercise between GB&I and Continental Europe, where clues for the Ryder Cup are far more important than the actual result.

The big guns on the European circuit will be out in force for the Dubai Desert Classic next week, while 35 of the 59 players who teed it up at The Sentry have made the short journey to Honolulu, where they will be joined by 109 others from tomorrow for the first full-field event of the PGA Tour campaign, the Sony Open.

It is only a hop from Kapalua to the hosting Waialae Golf Club for this one, but the two courses are miles apart in terms of scale and the test they put up.

Waialae is a short, tricky par-70, with very few undulations, tight fairways and small greens.

It is all about strategy and precision, whereas Kapalua was all-out attack from the off.

And yet, there is every reason to believe they will throw up the same victor, as they did in 2003 (Ernie Els) and 2017 (Justin Thomas).

Matsuyama heads the betting for the Sony, but I was expecting him to be shorter than the 9/1 on offer and at the price I can’t resist putting him up here.

Everything was purring last week – as it would need to be to get to 35-under – with the Japanese superstar leading the field from tee-to-green and coming second in approach play.

The latter is always a particular strength for Matsuyama, while crucially he was third in putting for the week, something that makes the difference between going well and winning.

Those facets of his game will all need to stand up again in Honolulu, albeit in a different way, but Matsuyama is clearly the best player in this field and also has winning history at Waialae, having seen off Russell Henley in a play-off in 2022.

The world number five has now won three times in the last 11 months and was also second on his last start of 2024, in the Dunlop Phoenix in his homeland, and he has history of putting victories together in quick succession – actually doing three-in-a-row back in 2016.

Tom Kim the big danger to Japanese superstar

If Matsuyama can produce anything close to the levels of last week, he should win in a weaker field, although Tom Kim makes his 2025 bow and he could prove the main danger.

The Korean youngster had a difficult 2024 on the whole, but really found his game as the season was winding down.

Kim actually goes against the Sony trends as it is generally a benefit to have played the week before, while experience helps at Waialae, and the 22-year-old missed the cut two years ago on his only previous outing.

That said, he has the game to succeed here as he isn’t a powerful player, but he got back towards his best in terms of approach play at the end of 2024, finishing second to Scottie Scheffler in the Hero World Challenge before another runner-up finish in the mixed pairs Grant Thornton Invitational alongside Jeeno Thitikul.

Kim was also second in the Genesis Championship in Korea at the end of October and carries momentum into the new season, so he has big chances at 18/1 with William Hill.

Finally, I’ll put up Austin Eckroat at 35/1 with Sky Bet as he seeks a third win in the space of 10 months.

The American made the breakthrough in windy, seaside conditions at the Cognizant Classic in Florida last March, before also prevailing by the ocean in Mexico in November.

That will stand him in good stead with gusts coming in off the Pacific in Honolulu, while he had a decent warm-up when a very steady 15th in The Sentry.

A brilliant iron player, Eckroat was 12th on debut at Waialae in 2023 and led at halfway last term before fading, and could be a contender as we look to make a Matsuyama-like fast start to 2025.

SONY OPEN SELECTIONS

Hideki Matsuyama, 9/1 (General);

Tom Kim, e/w, 18/1 (William Hill);

Austin Eckroat, e/w, 35/1 (Sky Bet)