The 2023 Sony Open in Hawaii is the first PGA Tour event of the calendar year to offer a Monday qualifier.
The first tournament in the Aloha Swing, the Sentry Tournament of Champions, is an invitational reserved for PGA Tour winners and Tour Championship qualifiers. Over in Honolulu, the Sony Open in Hawaii, though, is an open event and allocates four spots in the field to players who earn their way in through a Monday qualifier.
Monday qualifiers are tournaments held on Mondays (although a rare few are not), and they feature a field of typically around 80 players that are looking to get into that week's PGA Tour event. The tournaments are 18-hole affairs typically put on by the local PGA of America section nearest to the tournament host. Eligibility is not limited to professionals, as amateurs with a USGA handicap index under 2.0 may play as well.
For the 2023 Sony Open in Hawaii, the Aloha Section of the PGA of America presents the tournament. The Monday qualifier is played January 9, 2023, at Hoakalei Country Club, and the field of 41 players was finalized on January 6 at 5 p.m. local time.
Before the Monday qualifier, there was a pre-qualifier, which is common. This tournament creates a pathway to the Monday qualifier for players who have limited or no status with the PGA Tour and, frankly, raises entry fees.
The top four finishers from the Monday qualifier will gain entry to the 2023 Sony Open in Hawaii. The last Monday qualifier to win on the PGA Tour is Corey Conners, who won the 2019 Valero Texas Open after Monday qualifying.
