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Power Rankings: Sony Open

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HONG KONG, CHINA - NOVEMBER 23: Lin Wen - Tang of Taiwan plays his tee shot on the third hole during the final round of the UBS Hong Kong Open at the Hong Kong Golf Club on November 23, 2008 in Fanling, Hong Kong. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)

With a week under our belt in the PGA Tour season, the Hawaii swing continues in Honolulu with the Sony Open. Waialae and Kapalua could not be more different as courses but, as you’ll see in this week’s Power Rankings, a few holdovers remain from the premiere.

Be sure to join the Golf Channel Fantasy Challenge to test yourself against our panel of experts, including defending champion Win McMurry. Also, you can tweet your picks to me @RyanBallengeeGC and use the hashtag #GCFantasy.

1. Steve Stricker: Stick with the Monday winner. He’s accurate with every club in the bag, and it shows at this old-school track with three top-4 finishes in the last five years.

2. Charles Howell III: CH3 is just shy of the top-5 cycle at the Sony Open. Since 2005, he has finished everywhere but first: T-2 in 2007, T-3 in ’05, fourth in ’09 and T-5 in 2010.

3. Steve Marino: Marino was runner-up last year in that final-day shootout, part of his three top-10 finishes in Honolulu in the last four years. Improved off-season fitness could help close out his first PGA Tour win.

4. Webb Simpson: Hasn’t performed well here the last two years, but tied for ninth in his rookie campaign of ’09.

5. Brian Gay: The fourth most accurate driver on Tour last year, Gay is back with Kip Henley on the bag and has three top-25 finishes at this track.

6. Zach Johnson: Got off to a slow start last year, but was a winner here in 2009. He was eighth in driving accuracy last year and appears to be confident after his short off-season.

7. Rory Sabbatini: Sabo finished well last week and, like at Kapalua, has a pair of runner-up finishes in this event - both coming since 2006.

8. Chad Campbell: Campbell has a good record in this event, despite not winning. Waialae tied for his second best finish on Tour last year with Houston, behind a T-5 at the Open Championship.

9. Stephen Ames: Ames was able to sub for the injured Lucas Glover in last week’s TOC pro-am because he vacations in Hawaii. Already adjusted to Hawaiian time, he finished in the top 16 in his last two starts (2008, ’10) in the Sony Open.

10. Gary Christian: With the Nationwide and Q-School grads getting their first crack this week, why not pick a guy who is making his first ever PGA Tour start? It’s with good reason: Christian was fifth in driving accuracy last year on the Nationwide Tour.


Watch live coverage of the Sony Open in Hawaii on Golf Channel: Thurs.-Sat., 7-10:30PM ET; Sunday, 7-10PM ET.