Jordan Spieth has become a fixture in Hawaii over the last couple years, and he's just fine with that.
"I'd like to make these two weeks a regular step every year," Spieth said Wednesday at his press conference ahead of this week's Sony Open. "I really enjoy this golf course. The first year I played it, I didn't — you actually have to learn quite a bit of how to map yourself around this place, and the ball rolls a lot more here than it did any place else, and I tried to do a little too much.
"I remember hitting driver, 3 wood a lot the first year I played it and missed the cut. Then last year played pretty smart, didn't putt very well."
Spieth has recorded four straight top 10s in Hawaii, including a solo third here last year. Last week's Tournament of Champions was played on a course where players can just grip it and rip it. But Waialae Country Club is much more finesse.
"You have to work the ball both ways more," Spieth said. "Last week you can kind of pick a ball flight and hit whatever you wanted. Here you have to kind of work even irons off the tees a certain direction on one hole and hit a 3 wood the next hole that works the other way. You've got to pick smaller, more specific targets here and think a little bit more than you do at Kapalua.