Charley Hoffman’s Risky Play on Waialae 18th Hole

A clever shortcut at the Sony Open has golfers and fans buzzing about what might be golf’s newest secret weapon.

Charley Hoffman turned heads this week by basically creating his own golf hole at Waialae Country Club. Instead of playing the par-5 18th hole like everyone else, he decided to take a totally different route – hitting his ball down the 10th fairway instead.

It’s pretty wild when you think about it. He aimed about 45 degrees left of where he was supposed to, threading his shot through a tiny gap in some palm trees, over a bunch of tournament tents, and landing it near the 10th green.

The payoff? He cut about 60 yards off the 546-yard hole.

Tom Hoge shared a map of what’s now being called “The Hoffman Line” on social media, showing just how creative this shortcut really is.

From his landing spot, Hoffman only had about 112 yards left to the green – though he did have to hit over some grandstands to get there.

Here’s where it gets interesting: This shot used to be illegal. During COVID, the tournament put stakes in the ground to stop players from trying exactly this kind of thing. But when they brought back the grandstands, they took the stakes away.

Hoffman actually tried this same trick last year, but his first attempt went way left and ended up out of bounds near the Kahala Hotel. He played it safe until the weekend, when he finally got it right and made birdies both Saturday and Sunday.

This year, he went all in on his strategy. He played the hole 3-under par for the week, scoring three birdies. His only non-birdie came Thursday when he had to take some relief from the tournament structures.

Despite his creative route-finding though, Hoffman’s final round 71 left him tied for 59th place.

The real question now is: How many other players will try to copy “The Hoffman Line” next year?