Matthew Thayer 3/5/25 Matthew Thayer 3/5/25

From China to Chinatown: An American success story

By MATTHEW THAYER

Hands deep in the pockets of her oversized travel coat, the attractive Chinese farm girl gazes to the left of the camera as its long-ago shutter clicks.

It's easy to imagine Chan Sun Choy studying the stranger from Hawaii, the number one son who handpicked her to be his wife. Or she might be looking to the loved ones who urged her to marry, to trade home for an uncertain future in a foreign land. Is she thinking: “What have you gotten me into?"

The betrothed farm girl who would go on to be one of Honolulu's most famous lei sellers poses for a photo before leaving China with her new husband more than 70 years ago. Photo courtesy of the Lau and Lee families.

More than 70 years later, the evocative black-and-white photo hangs at that woman's work station in Cindy's Lei & Flower Shoppe in Honolulu's Chinatown. The former farm girl is now Cindy Lau, longtime owner of the legendary shop on Maunakea Street. Considering how things turned out—how she became a mother, successful entrepreneur and all-around American success story—it’s easier to spot the strength emanating from within than the fear she was feeling at the time.

"I asked my popo one time about that photo and she told me that she wasn't smiling because she was scared," recalls her grandson, Nick Lee. "She didn't know this man. She didn't know if the marriage was good. She had no idea of what her future would look like."

He says though she enjoyed working on the farm, eating fresh food and playing sports, she was pressured by her family to accept the arranged marriage. Cindy's daughter, Karen Lee, says her grandmother in China relied heavily on Sun Choy, but she also championed the move to Hawaii.

"My grandmother, her mother, said, 'you should marry this family, it's a good family,'" Karen said. "My grandmother knew nothing about our family, but I think it was just the opportunity. My grandmother had her when she was older. Her brother left the village to go to Hong Kong and became a shopkeeper. Her sister got married and left the village, so it was just my mother and my grandmother. My grandmother wanted to find security for her."

The stranger in this story is Raymond Lau, the eldest son of a Honolulu barbershop owner. Karen says Raymond's parents were so determined to have him marry a suitable Chinese girl they took him to Guangdong Province to find one.

*Raymond and Cindy Lau pose in a photo hanging from a wall in Cindy's Lei & Flower Shoppe. Photo courtesy of the Lau and Lee families.*

"His brothers and his sisters were all connecting with different ethnicities and that didn't make my grandmother very happy," Karen said. "My father was number one Chinese boy, so she told my grandfather, 'Take him back to China now. Let's go. Let's go find him a wife, a Chinese girl.' So they went abroad and they went around to two different villages, so I hear. And then, when my mom appeared, he said, 'I choose that lady, I choose that girl.'"

Raymond and Sun Choy traveled around China and Hong Kong for about a year before landing in Honolulu. Not long after their arrival, Sun Choy gave birth to their first child, Karen. Though she spoke little to no English and basic housework was equally foreign, she was as willing to learn as her accepting in-laws were to teach.

"She was eager," Karen said. "Everything was new to her. Her mother-in-law and her father-in-law treated her well. The in-laws welcomed her. I think it was just sort of like a welcome addition to the family.

"My mother didn't even know how to cook. She said, 'I didn't even know what a washing machine looked like.' Her sister-in-laws helped her, helped her with dressing, helped her learn how to cook a little bit, how to do laundry a little bit."

Before long, she and Raymond had three kids and she was a busy housewife. Occasionally, she would visit her father-in-law's Chinatown barbershop where, in the back, her sister-in-law Janet Lau ran a small lei shop. Something about stringing lei and feeling the flowers in her hands appealed to the former farm girl.

When her beloved mother-in-law suffered a stroke that left her totally paralyzed, Sun Choy and Raymond served as primary caregivers for five years.

"With three kids and also taking care of this invalid, I mean, my mom just miraculously handled this all. Usually, when you have total paralysis, you don't last that long. My grandmother lived five years bedridden. And you know, there were no diapers back then."

Shortly before her passing, Raymond's father asked what he could do to repay their efforts.

"My grandfather wanted to show gratitude and obligation, and also not feel so… maybe to lighten his guilt because he was already planning his next wedding," Karen said. "He asked my father and my mother, 'What would you like tonight? You know, to repay you. What would you like?'"

The property on Maunakea Street appealed to them.

*Cindy's Lei Shoppe is located on Maunakea Street in Honolulu's Chinatown.*

"They both said, 'Let's take this small space, this property here.' Well, my mom was still helping out at the store here, and that's how they got this property."

Several foundational changes for the business happened around this time. Sister-in-law Janet eloped and offered Sun Choy the then-unnamed lei business.

"She [Janet] had a couple of Hawaiian workers that helped her, and she said, 'They will stay and help you,'" Karen said. "You can have the business. See what you can do. My mom was delighted about that idea and my father said, 'OK, if that's what you want to do.' That was kind of the beginning."

It was around this time that the lei shop supplanted the barbershop at the front of the store, and that Sun Choy adopted an Americanized name. The name change came by way of a favored hairdresser who suggested a slight riff on the Chinese dialect's pronunciation of Sun Choy.

"She used to go to a hairdresser regularly and the hairdresser said, 'Why don't we do it like a nice name?' And then she said, 'What about Cindy?' My mom quickly came home and told my father about it and he thought that was, 'OK, great, a good idea.' And shortly after, my father prepared the sign that you see that is still hanging. And it's called Cindy's Lei Shoppe."

Set to turn 93 this month, Cindy Lau remains a fixture at the busy flower store. The photo of her peering into the future hangs where she still strings flower lei alongside store employees. Her daughter Karen now leads the business that serves the needs of local customers and also ships lei to every state in the union.

*Longtime shop owner Cindy Lau makes a lei.*

*Cindy Lau holds court at the front of the shop.*

Having grown up around the shop, Karen says she took a break after college before returning for good in 1987. She says she has many fond memories, including when her aunt Janet was in charge of the small no-name shop.

"When I was a little girl, I would come over and hang with her because I really liked the idea of getting away from my 'Chinese-iness,'” Karen said. "There was a chance for me to, like, you know, be out in the street and have fun and string lei. My auntie didn't have any girls, so I was kinda like her little Calabash daughter. I loved being a part of it all here, stringing lei and taking the baskets down to the pier and helping her."

*Surrounded by family photos, Cindy's Lei & Flower Shoppe general manager Karen Lee pauses her busy day to talk about the history of the business.*

Karen says when Cindy took over, the immigrant housewife found she had a knack for business. Cindy was good with customers and not afraid to try new ideas. Her willingness to shift with changing consumer tastes and suppliers helped her shop survive where many Chinatown stores, from big boxes to mom and pops, have fallen by the wayside.

"You gotta realize she came from a village and everybody's Chinese there," Karen said. "Nobody speaks English there, right? Nobody's Americanized yet at that point. I think she was just so enchanted by the whole thing.

*With 92-year-old Cindy Lau stringing a lei in the background, a leimaker creates a lei in the back area of the iconic Honolulu Chinatown lei shop.*

"She was pretty. She was charming. They [the customers] liked her broken English. I think people thought that she was, you know, I'd say, clean and trustworthy. We would have politicians and we would have musicians, the local entertainers. People that came off the Lurline would go back and spread the word of this cute little shop."

Chinatown has gone through growth spurts and downturns, Karen says, adding that the historic district appears to be on the upswing.

A leimaker strings a hefty carnation lei at Cindy’s. Once a staple of Hawaii politicians and entertainers–even Elvis famously wore them–carnation lei are making a comeback. General manager Karen Lee said the shop is planning a carnation promotion for the upcoming graduation season.

"Gosh, when I think of when I was growing up, it was just the pool halls, the dance halls, a few chop suey restaurants," Karen said. "And I would say most of the people were from China, Chinese. But now it's not so Chinese. It's more like a mixed Thai, Vietnamese, locals and then all of a sudden you got the bars, you get the restaurants, you get the art scene. I see a lot of different faces. A lot of the Chinese people have moved out.

"I think we went through kind of a stagnant time, maybe about 15-20 years ago. I think now you see kind of a resurgence. It's like a curiosity, or people are interested in being in Chinatown."

She says an influx of new businesses, from bakeries and pizza shops to a pickleball facility that has taken over the old Fort Street Walmart store, have injected new life into the area. In the middle of it all sits one of the only old-time family shops still going strong: Cindy’s Lei Shoppe. Its staying power can certainly be credited to Cindy, but also all the other family members who have contributed their own time and energy. That it currently has three generations working side by side makes it an anomaly, Karen said.

*Cut flowers and flower arrangements have become part of the shop’s offerings as it stays nimble in an ever-changing consumer market.*

“Usually, you don't go on to three generations. It's a real fine line. It's a lot of toil. Everything is by hand here and it can be grueling sometimes during high season where, you know, you gotta work later."

She says after a stint on Maui in the 1980s she decided to see if she had what it took to survive in the family business.

"I thought, I'll just come and kind of park myself and see if maybe something will come of it. One year led to another, to another, and here I am. Like with my mom, I just got so enchanted by it all. Selling lei is so much easier than selling real estate. And so much more rewarding. It's a happy thing. Giving lei is happy, it's happiness. You know you are moving someone's heart some way."

Karen serves as general manager of the business, while her son Nick is the comptroller and her nephew Alex Lau is the manager. All three were hustling around the busy shop last month as Cindy did her part by stringing a plumeria lei. They say the matriarch has her "good days and bad days," and her hearing and short-term memory may not be what they once were, but she's still the boss.

When it came time to take a photo of Cindy and Karen for this story, Cindy refused until they each held a lei. Having posed for countless reporters, photographers and camera-happy tourists through the years, she knows the value of including the shop's product in pictures.

*Cindy's Lei & Flower Shoppe owner Cindy Lau poses with daughter Karen Lee. Having grown up around the shop, Lee is now the shop's general manager and a driving force of the popular business.*

"She is a force to this day, to this minute," Karen said. What she's done, she is definitely a force. All the cousins, the aunties, they see, they recognize this. This force, this magic that she has."

Nick says Karen is made of similar stuff. Like Cindy, she has never been shy about shifting with the changing times or putting in a full day's work, day after day after day.

*Nick Lee grew up in the business and now serves as its comptroller.*

"My mom is a real inspiration," Nick said. "She's somebody that's a big person for product. I think working with other people, talking to other people, prompting them and I guess, in some way, getting them to open up. She has that talent, that skill. It's natural. She has a lot of the same instincts as my grandmother, my papa, and my uncle Raymond as well. I think that they're quick on their feet, quick in mind, and with great instincts with people. I think they know how to make people feel seen, heard and remembered. And that goes a long way."

Karen said the family plans to honor Cindy's birthday with a party this month. Every attendee will be encouraged to stand close to Cindy so she can hear them offer a three-minute tribute.

"I'd rather it be said now than when she's no longer here. And I think it'll be easy to say. The words will come easy because of what she's done."

Cindy's Lei Shoppe is open Monday-Friday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. To place an order online or learn more, visit cindysleishoppe.com.

*Manager Alex Lau slides buckets of cut flowers to the walk-in cooler.*

*A leimaker creates a haku lei at Cindy's Lei & Flower Shoppe. Haku lei are worn around the head like a crown, often for very special occasions such as weddings, graduations and hula competitions.*

*Cindy Lau creates lei in a line of leimakers.*

Matthew Thayer 2/21/25 Matthew Thayer 2/21/25

George Kahumoku Jr.: Making connections and sharing aloha

*Four-time Grammy Award winner George Kahumoku Jr. plays a tune at sunset at Napili Bay.*

Story and photos

By MATTHEW THAYER

George Kahumoku Jr. may not have been the strongest or healthiest in his family, nor even its best musician, but his innate curiosity, ingenuity and a burning desire to “find a need and fill it” have led him to heights few would have predicted.

The four-time Grammy Award winner says it’s all about making connections. His relationships with the land, sea and thousands of people he has shared his aloha with through the years have opened opportunities around the world. Not bad for a sickly underdog raised by his grandparents alongside 26 cousins.

With so many colorful twists and turns in Kahumoku’s life story, it is difficult to choose where to start. Do we begin with his tale of a private visit with Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II? How she revealed that the first George Kahumoku was a heroic Hawaiian stowaway on a British sailing ship? Or how a later great-grandfather was one of the first Hawaiians to receive a guitar from Spanish cowboys and thus helped lay the foundation for the music genre known as slack key? Or maybe how Nona Beamer dubbed the celebrated Maui storyteller, musician, farmer, teacher and artist “Hawaii’s Renaissance Man” in honor of his willingness to connect traditional Hawaiian techniques with modern science?

Kahumoku picks a papaya on his Kahakuloa farm. The three-acre farm features a wide variety of crops including 30 types of avocado trees, 35 of banana, Hawaiian medicinal plants and herbs. With the assistance of volunteers and paid help, Kahumoku says the farm produces between 500-1,500 pounds of food a week.

Kahumoku has had so many varied careers and experiences, perhaps it is best to harken back to the early days when he was a small child at his grandmother’s knee.

“When I was young, I was really sickly,” Kahumoku said during a recent interview on his remote Kahakuloa farm. “I had asthma. My grandmother wouldn’t let me go out and work.”

While he longed to be with his cousins doing his share, his grandmother kept him busy inside, and in doing so, bestowed him the gift of Hawaiian language.

Wife Nancy Kahumoku shades George Kahumoku with an umbrella as they ride in Kihei's Whale Day Parade in 2010. On display with them is one of the four Grammy Awards he won. Nancy, the sister of the late pianist George Winston, is a driving force behind the career of husband George. “She handles airfare, marketing, branding and doing all the stuff I don't want to do," George Kahumoku said. "I don't want to do paperwork. The only thing I want to do (with paper) is draw or write."

“Most of the time they were the guys outside working hard and I was inside close by my grandmother. In a sense, by being close by my grandmother, she made me read the Bible to her all the time. So there I was reading the Bible in Hawaiian and not knowing I’m learning the language.”

Once he was set loose upon the neighborhood, Kahumoku began cooking up ways to earn money.

“I always felt I had to do more, you know, I always have to push it.”

From mowing lawns and cleaning used cars as a child, to going door to door at age 16 to hawk the services of an Oahu roofing company, Kahumoku displayed an uncanny entrepreneurial streak that continues to this day. He learned early how to turn a nickel into a quarter. Almost from the start, music has been one of his most lucrative hustles.

Kahumoku (from right) plays with special guest Nathan Aweau and Slack Key Show co-host Shem Kahawai'i at the Napili Kai Beach Resort this past Wednesday. It was Kahumoku's last show before heading out on a 12-state, coast to coast tour. The long-running Slack Key Show runs every Wednesday, 6:30-8 p.m. Kahawai'i said he is set to steer the ship while Kahumoku is off spreading his aloha on the Mainland.

He says he was washing cars at Lippy Espinda’s used car lot after school when he happened into his first paying gig. Espinda’s lot was on Kalakaua Avenue, near where the Hawaii Convention Center now stands in Honolulu.

“First time I got paid, I was 11 years old,” Kahumoku said. “This was at the Forbidden City on Kalakaua. It was a strip joint from 10 o'clock at night until about 4 in the morning. But from 3 o'clock in the afternoon to 8 o'clock at night, that is where Kui Lee was playing.

“I was washing cars next door at Lippy Espinda’s used car lot. I was playing guitar during one of my breaks and Kui heard me. He asked me, ‘Hey, come inside and play one song for us.’ I said, ‘OK.’

“I’m kinda shy as a young kid. I take my slack key guitar and they mic it up. I do one of my grandfather’s slack key songs. The place was full of construction workers and carpenters drinking cheap beer and eating free salty food. That place was just packed.”

*Kahumoku plays Wednesday at his Slack Key Show.*

At Espinda’s, Kahumoku says he made a dime for each car he detailed and waxed for the popular TV pitchman credited with popularizing the shaka sign. The fastidious Espinda made little George earn every penny. The goal for Friday afternoons was 10 cars to earn a buck. On Saturdays, he put in 12 hours to hopefully do 30 vehicles and make three dollars.

The reaction to his song at Forbidden City opened his eyes to the power of music.

“I do one song, took me three minutes. Those guys, they throw money on that stage. I made $27.10.” Professionally, I wasn’t paid for the gig; I was paid in tips.”

Every once in a while, Lee would invite him over to play another song. Kahumoku says the paydays were usually similar to the first, or even better. The memory still brings a wide smile to his face.

Oregon fan Carl Christianson takes video as Kahumoku plays his ukulele following Wednesday's Slack Key Show at the Napili Kai Beach Resort. Christianson asked Kahumoku to autograph the instrument for him and ended up with a signature and a song.

*Dr. Norman Estin of Kaanapali snaps a photo of Kahumoku and Christianson.*

Born on the Big Island, Kahumoku and his 26 cousins were moved to Oahu by their great-grandparents while his father, George Kahumoku Sr., and uncles were working for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Kwajalein Atoll. The Kahumoku men were stationed there before and during the testing of nuclear bombs in the Marshall Islands.

“I have photos of him with no shirt on and glasses they made of Coke bottle bottoms with an atom bomb going off behind him,” Kahumoku said. “They didn’t know. Nobody knew what the hell it was.”

He said the deadly radiation exposure wasn’t limited to the air. When the thrifty Hawaiians saw dead fish floating ashore, they harvested them to cook, salt and smoke.

“He was radiated inside and out,” Kahumoku says. “My uncles too, they all died young. They didn’t even live to be 50 years old. They all died from radiation poison.

“That’s why we were raised by our great-grandparents. First, by our great-grandparents, and then, when they died, by our grandparents, and when they died, by aunties and uncles.”

The elders moved the kids to Oahu with hopes of enrolling them at Kamehameha School. Of the 26 cousins, George was one of two to be admitted. He says his graduating class of 1969 featured some “shakers and movers,” including Keola Beamer, Mililani Trask, Malama Solomon and Kali Watson. Just as he may not have been one of the top stars in school, he says he was middling among family members when it came to making music.

“I wasn’t even the best guitar player in my family,” Kahumoku said. “My younger brother was the best, Moses. And I had cousins who were even way better. I was probably like the 11th best player, but I was the guy who knew how to turn it into money. That’s the big difference. The other guys were shy and stuff like that. And they needed to drink or get loaded, get high before they could play, to get enough encouragement.

“I was always the underdog when I was little because I have asthma. And I always wanted to prove that, okay, you know, I can do this. And my sister still says, ‘til today, she says, ‘George the race is over, you already won.’ She’s trying to get me to slow down too. But I don’t know how to slow down.”

Wainani Kealoha performs a hula at the Slack Key Show to a song played by Nathan Aweau. She has been with the show since 2012 and says it is "an honor" to work with Kahumoku. "George cares, he cares about people, he cares about the land," Kealoha said. "He loves to take care of the homeless. He's really one of a kind. He'll help anybody."

*Kealoha helps lead concert goers in singing Aloha 'Oe at the close of Wednesday's show at the Napili Kai Beach Resort on Maui.*

Now 74 years old and sporting a pacemaker to help his heart keep time with his busy mind, Kahumoku’s schedule is frenetic as ever. Not only is he running a farm, playing four gigs a week and thinking about adding another show, he and his wife Nancy will soon be leaving on a 12-state tour that will see him do 22 events in four weeks. Traveling with them will be fellow Hawaiian slack key legends Herb Ohta Jr. and Sonny Lim. Kahumoku says they will do workshops and small performances by day and play larger venues in the evenings.

It will be a chance for folks from coast to coast to hear great Hawaiian music and, no doubt, be treated to heartfelt stories about the islands and the people of Hawaii. A storyteller at heart, Kahumoku loves to share tales of the past. They might be about Hawaiian legends, working as a welder on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, or how he raised pigs and produce on the Big Island.

As for where he got his first name, he says it took a royal visit to learn the answer. Kahumoku said he was part of an entourage from Hawaii that traveled to London in 1977 for Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee. For his part, he played her the song, “Queen’s Jubilee,” which had been written for Queen Victoria in 1887 by Hawaii's Princess Liliuokalani.

Later in the reception line when it was his turn to introduce himself, the queen repeated his name before shaking his hand. The next day, he says, he received a note from the queen expressing a desire to meet. A car was sent to fetch Kahumoku, and the next thing he knew, he was down in “the dungeons” exploring the royal archives with the monarch herself.

Wearing a mask and white gloves to preserve the fragile paper, Kahumoku was led to where the captain’s logs are kept. The queen explained that an important part of her education was studying the leather-bound, handwritten tomes penned by ship’s captains who roamed the planet in service of country, king and queen. One can only imagine the geography, history, economics, politics and other subjects to be gleaned from the crumbling pages.

Queen Elizabeth directed him to a particular log, one with a story from 1793 about a heroic young Hawaiian. The surname and hometown were spelled phonetically, but both were easily recognizable.

“In the book, it says there is a young Kahumoku who is a stowaway from Kealakekua,” Kahumoku said. “That’s where my family is from, Kona. There was a huge storm right out of Nova Scotia and what happened is, the first mate fell overboard. None of those sailors knew how to swim. They don't know how to swim because they don’t go into the ocean. Here’s young Kahumoku straight out of Kealakekua Bay. He knows how to swim, how to surf and everything. So, when the guy falls overboard, he jumps into the cold icy waters and saves the first mate and brings him aboard. When he reaches England, he is knighted ‘George’ by King George. King George knighted him after himself.”

The queen let the words from the yellowing pages sink in for a moment, then asked: “Are you related? Are you from Kealakekua?” To his affirmative, she continued, “Well, that was the first George Kahumoku. What number are you?”

The young Hawaiian musician said his father was number seven and one of his brothers was number eight, so that made him George IX.

He says the queen did more than share a bit of history. As with other invited nations and communities touched by the British Empire, the Hawaii contingent returned home with a cache of important historical artifacts that had been collected and sent to England through the centuries.

Kahumoku (from left) shares a break with farm helpers Leo Kalua'u and Pascual Lopez Kelilikane. "It's a blessing we have uncles like this who bring us back into the old ways," Kalua'u said. "He's not only a good guy, he's an inspiration to young men."

Kahumoku’s meeting with the queen can be chalked up to fate or coincidence, but so many of his connections happen because he seeks and nurtures them. What other musician do you know who displays guest books at their shows and then mails postcards to the mainland to let people know he is coming to their town? Who else invites audience members to their farm to help with the chores and share a meal?

“I think the big thing I want people to realize, I’m just an ordinary person who saw an opportunity to connect,” he said. “To help others connect with others and make something useful out of it. Come up with something that can help out each other.

“The money was never the bottom line. The first line is connection. Even with my cousins, I’m just an ordinary guy doing extraordinary things. But it’s not that extraordinary if you look around. Like, people’s lawns needed to be done, so I mowed yards. People needed ginger, so I raised ginger. Then the next thing you know, I’m selling them Chinese taro and then avocados. It’s just one thing rolls into the next. I didn’t plan any of it, that’s for sure. I just go with the flow.”

*Kahumoku conducts a Hawaiian blessing at a tree-planting event in Wailuku in 2020.*

When Kahumoku is on Maui and not on tour, he says he generally performs on Mondays at Pailolo Bar & Grill at the Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort, Wednesdays at his own long-running Slack Key Show at the Napili Kai Beach Resort, Fridays at Kula Lodge and Saturdays at Leilani’s on the Beach in Kaanapali.

Going with the flow these days means that he and Nancy have put the Kahakuloa farm where they have lived for the past 22 years up for sale. Once it sells, a move to the mainland to be closer to their grandchildren is in the offing. As hard as it must be to leave behind all his trees, plants, friends, clients and neighbors, change has never frightened George Kahumoku Jr.

Perhaps it is because he never stops making connections, never stops learning and creating and never stops sharing his aloha.

To learn more about George Kahumoku's tour schedule, workshops, store, blog and how to connect, visit https://kahumoku.com.

George and Nancy Kahumoku share smiles during a community performance at a post-pandemic event in Lahaina in 2022. The Kahumokus are familiar faces at fundraisers and other Maui functions where they lend their talents to help others.

*Merchandize available at Kahumoku shows includes books, CDs, artwork and sheet music to some of the several thousand songs and chants he has written through the years.*

*Kahumoku takes a photo of achiote, or red dye lipstick pods, growing on his farm. He said the pods are used to make Puerto Rican pasteles and gandule rice.*

*Kahumoku cups an edible nasturtium flower growing on his Kahakuloa farm.*

*Raindrops collect on the leaves of one of Kahumoku’s tapioca plants.*

Kahumoku holds an Okinawan spinach leaf grown at his farm. He says the leaves are tasty eaten fresh, lightly poached or steamed. Spinach from his farm is featured on the menu at Hula Grill restaurant in Kaanapali, he said.

Matthew Thayer 1/5/25 Matthew Thayer 1/5/25

Matsuyama wins The Sentry going away

*Hideki Matsuyama hoists The Sentry champion's trophy Sunday afternoon on the Kapalua Plantation Course's 18th green.*

By MATTHEW THAYER

Hideki Matsuyama put proof to the old saying, "Beware the injured golfer," as he shook off a lingering illness and sores in his mouth that made it hard to talk, to stamp his name in the PGA Tour record book with a dominating win at The Sentry Sunday.

Crafting an eight-under-par 65 in shifting winds over the final round at the Kapalua Plantation Course, his 35-under-par total set a new PGA Tour record score in relation to par. Cameron Smith set the previous record while winning the 2022 Sentry title at 34-under on the par-73 Plantation Course. Matsuyama also set a PGA record for birdies in a 72-hole tournament with 35. His steady birdie barrage was too much for weekend playing partner Collin Morikawa, who shot 67 Sunday for 32-under and solo second place. Sungjae Im finished third at 29-under.

*Matsuyama pumps his fist as his birdie putt on No. 18 drops into the cup Sunday.*

In his post-round press conference Sunday, Matsuyama was asked about his on-course conversations with caddie Shota Hayafuji, and he revealed he has been so under the weather speaking has been difficult.

"You know, I actually wasn't feeling too well this week, and so I was really just focused on what I needed to do, so I really didn't speak much, so there's nothing that I can remember that comes to mind.

"In December I was kind of ill, and kind of, I thought I was better coming into this tournament, I had a couple sores in my mouth, so it was hard for me to speak this week, so that's what I had coming in."

*Matsuyama pats caddie Shota Hayafuji on the back after their win Sunday.*

*At the conclusion of an epic weekend head-to-head battle on the Kapalua Plantation Course, The Sentry winner Hideki Matsuyama (right) shakes hands with runner-up Collin Morikawa Sunday afternoon.*

Though he said the illness limited his practice time, you couldn't tell by the way he played, posting scores of 65, 65, 62, 65 over his four rounds. For the 32-year-old Japanese pro, it was his 11th PGA Tour win in 265 starts. He won the Sony Open on Oahu in 2022, and is now one of seven players to win both Hawaii events, joining Jim Furyk, Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, Zach Johnson, Justin Thomas and Smith.

Morikawa said he felt like he left some shots and opportunities on the course, but could not take anything away from Matsuyama's play, especially his chip-in for eagle from 105 yards on the third hole Sunday.

*Morikawa putts on the Kapalua Plantation Course's 18th green Sunday afternoon.*

"Yeah, excuse my language, but 35-under par is, that's low," Morikawa said. "I mean, he was matching me yesterday shot for shot, and I felt like I was playing lights out, right? Like, yes, you could leave some shots out there, but you shoot 11-under on any golf course, you're going to be happy, right? Today he just never let up. Then you get to the third hole and the guy holes it. I just knew I had to be on top of everything, and just kind of let a few slip on that front nine. Played a good back nine, but to win on a course like this, conditions like this, you got to have it for 72, and I had it for 65."

*Matsuyama (left) pounds his drive off the tee on No. 16 as Morikawa looks on Sunday.*

Out of the $20 million purse, Matsuyama pocketed $3.6 million, Morikawa earned $2.2 million and third-place Im took home $1.4 million.

Morikawa leads a large Sunday gallery up the No. 15 fairway. The threesome of Morikawa, eventual winner Hideki Matsuyama and Thomas Detry had the largest crowd all day long as golf fans followed their play on the hilly Kapalua Plantation Course.

*Belgian pro Thomas Detry gets off to a rough start Sunday as he sand shot on No. 2 carroms sideways off the lip of the trap set up a double bogey.*

*Jhonattan Vegas tees off on No. 10 Sunday. Vegas finished fourth at 25-under, good for $975,000.*

*Sungjae Im follows through on his drive off the 10th hole Sunday. Im finished third at 29 under par to win $1.4 million.*

Matthew Thayer 1/3/25 Matthew Thayer 1/3/25

Two crowd favorites top crowded Kapalua leaderboard

*Second-round leader Hideki Matsuyama follows through on his drive on the uphill fourth hole Friday.*

By Matthew Thayer

Two crowd favorites who have played well through the years at the Kapalua Plantation Course without capturing a win, Hideki Matsuyama and Collin Morikawa, sit atop the leaderboard halfway through The Sentry PGA Tour season-opening golf tournament.

Matsuyama is alone in first place after posting his second-straight eight-under-par 65 Friday to put him at 16 under. Second place Morikawa matched that 65 to reach 15 under.

Collin Morikawa walks off the Kapalua Plantation Course's ninth green after settling for par. The former Cal Bear shot an eight-under-par 65 and is alone at second place halfway through The Sentry at 15 under.

Those scores were far from dominating as the leaderboard is crowded at the top. Four golfers, Corey Conners, Maverick McNealy, Tom Hoge and Thomas Detry, are tied for third and 14 under. Four pros, Keegan Bradley Harry Hall, Cameron Young and Wyndham Clark, are tied for seventh at 13 under. Another six players are within six shots of the lead.

Offering short answers in his post-round media interview, Matsuyama, a Japanese pro out of Sendai Japan, was asked why he plays well in Hawaii.

Second-round leader Hideki Matsuyama chips to the Kapalua Plantation Course's ninth green Friday. His second-straight eight-under-par 65 put him at 16 under, one shot clear of second-place Collin Morikawa as they head into the weekend of the $20 million PGA Tour golf tournament at the Kapalua Plantation Course.

"You know, obviously the views are beautiful here, I haven't played well here in a while, so it's good to get off to a good start here," he said.

Former University of California Berkeley player Morikawa, whose family roots on Maui date back to a family-owned restaurant on Lahaina's Front Street, said knowing the layout helped him to remain confident during a slow start to the day. He finished Friday's round with five-straight birdies.

Peter Malnati gives an autographed golf ball to volunteer standard bearer Felix Eisenberg, 13, after shooting a nine-under-par 64 Friday. Eisenberg is Maui Junior Golf member and a sixth grader at Kalama Intermediate School.

"Yeah, I mean, when you look at the leaderboard, and I'm through six holes and I'm even par, and guys are lapping the field already," Morikawa said. But like I said, it's not telling myself I got to be patient. I just know this golf course and I know at any point you can kind of go on a little stretch of birdies, and I just had to keep playing my game. The game felt solid enough to shoot a low score and thankfully it came on that back half of the round today."

Morikawa said favorable conditions and low winds mean weekend scores are sure to go low.

*Corey Conners (left) shakes hands with playing partner Nico Echavarria after their round Friday. Canadian Conners shot his second-straight 66 and is tied for third at 14 under.*

"Yeah, look, I know guys are going to take it low," Morikawa said. "I like to look at leaderboards and I know by the time I start tomorrow, someone's probably going to have the lead, someone else, before Hideki and I go out. But it's just like I said. I feel like from hole one all the way through 18, I can make birdies and with that mindset, it's not about rushing, like, getting to 5-under by 9. If it comes, it comes."

*A mirror reflects golf patrons walking the steep uphill path alongside the Kapalua Plantation Course's ninth hole Friday.*

U.S. Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley hits his long approach to No. 9 Friday.

*Viktor Hovland lines up a putt on No. 9 green Friday. Visibly limping from a broken toe when he finished his round, the Norwegien pro shot 69 and is tied for 29th at four under.*

*Tony Finau misses a birdie putt on No. 9 Friday. Finau shot 69 and is tied for 13th place at 10 under par.*

*Brian Harman hits from the deep rough on his way to posting bogey on No. 18 Friday. He shot 74 and sits alone at 58th place in the 59-player field.*

*Two-time tournament champion Justin Thomas chips to the ninth hole after his long approach sailed over the green Friday. He finished with a 71 that put him in a tie for 44th place at four under.*

*No doubt, there's a story that goes with the golf-ball-sized dent in the Sentry signage along the Kapalua Plantation Course's ninth hole Friday.*

*Belgian pro Thomas Detry tees off on No. 3 Friday. He shot 65 and is part of a four-player tie for third place at 14 under.*

*Peter Malnati waves to the gallery on No. 18 green after sinking a birdie putt to seal a nine-under-par 64 Friday.*

*Max Greyserman hits his approach to No. 18 Friday. He shot 67.*

Matthew Thayer 1/2/25 Matthew Thayer 1/2/25

New dad leads The Sentry on Maui

The Sentry first-round leader Tom Hoge (left) and playing partner Adam Hadwin converse on the Kapalua Plantation Course's 18th green as they wait to close out their rounds Thursday afternoon. Hoge finished with a nine-under-par 64, while Hadwin posted a six-under 67.

By MATTHEW THAYER

New father Tom Hoge, a 35-year-old pro out of Fargo, N.D., made the most of an early tee time to grab the first-round lead of The Sentry PGA golf tournament Thursday at the Kapalua Plantation Course.

Hoge fired a nine-under-par, 64, a score that was good for a one-shot lead over Hideki Matsuyama and Will Zalatoris who both posted 65s. Tied for fourth, two shots behind Hoge going into Friday's second round, are Cameron Young, Collin Morikawa and Corey Conners.

*Hideki Matsuyama follows through on the Kapalua Plantation Course's first tee Thursday.*

In his press conference following his round, Hoge was asked why he had taken time off recently and he said he and wife Kelly had their first child in December.

"I played all the way through Mexico, first week of November," Hoge said. "Then was just at home, and we had our first child in early December, so kind of forced time off. I feel like with the changes in the schedule, last year was a lot of golf from now until the TOUR Championship, it was cramped in there pretty tight, so I felt like I was pretty burned out at that point, needed a little bit of time away."

*Will Zalatoris tees off on the Kapalua Plantation Course's first tee Thursday.*

He said the break tempered his Maui hopes.

"Really didn't have much for expectations coming in, because there wasn't a whole lot of play or practice the last few months. But felt like I was putting really well coming into the week."

*Cameron Young tosses his ball to his caddie on the No. 18 green Thursday.*

Tied for fourth at seven-under 66 are Adam Hadwin, Thomas Detry and Tony Finau. Tied for 10th at six-under are Jhonattan Vegas, Harry Hall, Aaron Rai, Austin Eckroat, Maverick McNealy and Adam Scott.

The 72-hole, $20 million tournament is scheduled to conclude Sunday with the winner taking home a check for $3.6 million. Second place in the 59-member field is good for $2.16 million, while last will garner $50,000. With fair weather and moderate winds predicted, it will likely take a very low score to win. The tournament record was set in 2022 by Cameron Smith, who finished 34 strokes under par after four rounds on the par 73 Plantation Course.