John Higgins and Judd Trump will face off in Saturday’s first semi-final after coming through quarter-finals of contrasting quality.

Higgins, 50, rolled back the years with a superb comeback from 5–3 down to defeat the current world champion Zhao Xintong, while Trump continued this year’s dominant 6–2 theme by beating Mark Allen in a match that proved far tougher than the scoreline suggested.

Higgins stops world champion Zhao with thrilling comeback

John Higgins 6 – 5 Zhao Xintong (best of 11 frames)

John Higgins proved he can still stand toe to toe with the very best, producing a tenacious fightback from 5–2 down to claim a remarkable victory in the deciding frame.

Zhao Xintong, playing fearlessly in his first Masters quarter-final, looked the more fluent of the two in the early frames, compiling breaks of 89 and 74. But John Higgins dug in to keep the match level after six frames, helped by a superb century break of 114.

Errors in the seventh and eighth frames allowed Zhao to move to the brink of the semi-finals, but Higgins summoned every ounce of experience to claw back the deficit and force a deciding frame.

The final frame appeared to be going Zhao’s way until he missed a long red to bring his break to an end at 53. John Higgins stepped in, cleared the table, and sealed a dramatic victory to reach his first Masters semi-final since 2018.

Trump finds just enough form to edge out Allen

Judd Trump 6 – 2 Mark Allen

The second semi-final proved a less enthralling affair, with neither Judd Trump nor Mark Allen producing their best.

World number one Judd Trump appeared to struggle with his positional play early on, but Mark Allen, who was playing the better of the two, failed to capitalise as the opening four frames were shared.

The match, dominated by prolonged safety exchanges, gradually tipped in Trump’s favour as he proved the more positive and clinical, reeling off four straight frames after the mid-session interval.

Trump will need to raise his level for Saturday’s meeting with Higgins, but it is likely to be a more fluid contest than his match against Allen, given the contrast in tempo between the two opponents.

The Sony Open is underway at Waialae Country Club in Oahu, Hawaii. This article will serve as a thread of live updates plus information from the grouping of Hideki Matsuyama, Keegan Bradley, and Jordan Spieth.

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As of 12:30 Hawaiian Standard time or 5:30 Eastern Standard time, the leaderboard in the media room is as follows

T1 Ben Griffin: -7, Finished

T1 Chris Gotterup: -7, Finished

T1 Nick Taylor: -7, through 17 holes

T1 Kevin Roy: -7, through 15 holes

5 Alex Smalley: -6, finished

T6 Denny McCarthy: -5, Finished

T6 Kurt Kitayama: -5, Finished

T6 Harry Hall: -5, Finished

T6 Russell Henley: -5, Finished

T6 John Parry: -5, through 16 holes

Live Updates from Matsuyama, Bradley, and Spieth Round 1 at the Sony Open

Update 12:55

I finally was able to catchup to the group on the tee box at 4.

Through 3 they all are currently 1 under par

Interesting note: Bradley birdied 1, Spieth birdied 2 and Matsuyama birdied 3.

Hole 4:

Spieth: Missed the green right. The ball is pretty well buried, tough up and down. Not a bad chip, not a great chip either long look for par. Par putt left just short, it’s a bogey on 4.

Bradley: On the green in the middle tier will have a long uphill putt at birdie. Good lag putt, just short, he cleans up for par.

Matsuyama: Got his tee shot to the back third tier of the green, best look at birdie of the 3. Missed the putt just left of the hole and cleans up for par

Through 4: Bradley -1, Matsuyama -1, Spieth E

Hole 5: Par 4 with the pin tucked in the back right of the green.

Matsuyama: In the fairway on the left side. Missed the green to the right will be chipping from the rough. Good chip will have a really good chance to save par. Misses the short par putt, bogey on 5.

Bradley: In the fairway on the left side. A couple yards closer than Matsuyama. Hits the middle of the green in the back will have a putt at birdie. Drills the long birdie putt to move to -2.

Spieth: In the fairway on the right side. Sticks one to the back right pin should have a really good look at birdie. Missed his birdie putt.

Through 5: Bradley -2, Spieth E, and Matsuyama E

Hole 6: Par 4, middle pin placement

The Sony Open is played at Waialae Country Club, located about 20 minutes east of Oahu’s downtown of Waikiki. The course had the 6th lowest scoring average on tour last year, at 68.73 strokes per round. It was the second-lowest scoring average on par 5’s last season, behind only East Lake for the Tour Championship. Waialae only has 2 par 5’s on the course, but they are both ranked inside the top 3 of birdies made on a par 5 since 2003. The 9th hole ranks first in terms of birdies made on a par 5, with 6,087 being made since 2003. The 18th hole is not far behind at 3rd on the list with 5,040 made since 2003. All in all, Waialae is relatively easy compared to some of the tour’s other venues. However, hitting fairways is imperative; the strokes gained tee-to-green stat is typically an indicator of who wins this tournament.

Stats courtesy of PGA Tour ShotLink

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Guys with Strong Tee-to-Green numbers

These stats I found on X via BetspertsGolf and are all based on past rounds at Waialae.

Hideki Matsuyama has an average of 1.56 strokes gained tee-to-green over 32 rounds.

Corey Conners has an average of 1.31 strokes gained tee-to-green over 26 rounds.

Jordan Spieth has an average of 1.43 strokes gained tee-to-green over 12 rounds and has missed the cut the last two times he has played in the Sony Open.

Collin Morikawa has averaged 1.52 strokes gained tee-to-green over 8 rounds and has not finished worse than 21st in his two Sony Open appearances.

Nick Taylor, the returning champion, has only averaged 0.45 strokes gained tee-to-green over his 2 completed rounds at Waialae, but has finished in the top 10 over the last 3 years at the Sony Open. Title defenses have not gone Taylor’s way, as his highest finish in a title defense was T-20 in the defense of his 2015 win at the Sanderson Farms Championship. Taylor is one of 4 players to have at least one win on tour over the last 3 years. Joining Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, and fellow competitor this week, Keegan Bradley.

Also of note in his lone start at the Sony Open, Matthieu Pavon has posted 1.42 strokes gained tee-to-green to go along with a top-10 finish in 2024.

Hole Breakdown

Disclaimer: I’m not great at golf, but these are just some notes I made on the holes in terms of set-up as I walked the course over the last couple of days. Also, I started on the back-9, and my notes improved from there.

1- par 4 480 bunker on the right side, driving range on the left, the hole where Hiediki split the trees (figure out how to spell his name), bunker roughly 50 yards in front of the green, big bunker on the left, bunkers to the right of and behind the green, big bunker

2- par 4 423 water down most of the left side of the fairway, one bunker on the right, and one that guards the front right of the green couple of bunkers on the left, a bit of cushion between them and the green

3- par 4 422 water down the left side, and some spotty palm trees guard the right with water on the left and bunkers in front of and behind, most likely into the wind 

4- par 3 204 fairly simple par 3 long 3-tiered green with 3 bunkers guarding each side, most likely with the wind

5- par 4 467 hole has 2 trenches as fairway defense that don’t seem to come into play bunkers on either side e of the green, and a palm tree growing out of the back left bunker

6- par 4 460 large bunker on the right side of the fairway, along with scattered palm trees, smaller bunker a little further down the left, big bunker on the front right of the green, most likely into the wind

7- par 3 176 three bunker guard the front of this hole, pretty large faces likely to have a helping wind, pot style bunker on the backside 

8- par 4 454 likely into the wind collection of bunkers on the right side of the fairway bends left, but there is a large hanging tree on the left that will persuade players to hit towards the more open right side of the fairway. Longer bunker on the front right with another guarding the left front of the green 

9- par 5 506 bunkers along the right side don’t seem like they will come into play. Based on distance long bunker on the left side can definitely come into play, driving range to the left, so the net could help a miss left. Two bunkers guard the front right and left of this wide green

10- par 4 tee shot should be safe from wind, approach opens up to the wind

11- par 3 into the ocean, wind is a big factor

12- par 4 bunkers down the left relatively unimpeding, playing away from the ocean wind still plays

13- par 4 477 most likely into the wind all week, headed back towards the ocean, big bunker on the right plays with it being a dogleg right 

14- par 4 430 favors a draw. Dogleg left, large bunkers guard the front portion of the hole on the left and right

15- par 4 398 bends slightly left. Trees on the left-hand side should not impede once again, bunkers guard either side of the green

16- par 4 417 large bunkers line the turn, potentially limiting what players feel comfortable with off the tee in terms of distance. Another dog leg left, bunkers also guard this hole on both sides 

17- par 3 green has a false front and bunkers guarding either side, big one on the left, 3 smaller on the right, one of the more undulating greens on the back 9

18- par 5 551 not sure how much they come into play based on distance, but bunkers guarding either side of the bend in this left-turning hole, green guarded by a bunker on the front left, fairly accessible