The PGA Tour heads across Hawaii this week for the first full field event of 2024 which is the Sony Open, a popular stop off as the Aloha Swing concludes a week after a really good season opener at The Sentry.
Si Woo Kim enjoyed this part of Hawaii a year ago when he won the title and the Korean will be looking to defend his crown but plenty of players get their season underway here looking to stop that from happening.
Recent Winners
2023 – Si Woo Kim
2022 – Hideki Matsuyama
2021 – Kevin Na
2020 – Cameron Smith
2019 – Matt Kuchar
2018 – Patton Kizzire
2017 – Justin Thomas
2016 – Fabian Gomez
2015 – Jimmy Walker
2014 – Jimmy Walker
The Course
It is the Waialae Country Club that hosts the tournament once again this week. As with most island tracks the wind is the best defence for this place but the organisers are said to have given the track a little tougher look with rough said to have been allowed to grow to three inches. The greens are slow though so that won’t completely stall the scoring but it might avoid a repeat of last week where scoring got out of control. The course is a par 70 but it only measures 7,044 yards so it isn’t overly long.
If you consider that only Russell Henley has won this tournament on debut in recent times then course management is very much a feature of this place. The other thing to consider when we look at the list of recent winners is they are all tremendous putters but now the rough is up a little bit it might bring the ball strikers into the game as much as the bombers. Keep good putters in mind this week though.
The Field
We have 38 players in the field who teed it up last week and when you consider that only two of the last 10 winners of the tournament hadn’t played The Sentry the week before that feels like a key statistic. Those 38 include the winner Chris Kirk and his closest challenger in Sahith Theegala. The Open champion Brian Harman is also in the field this week while the European charge is headed by the likes of Tyrrell Hatton and Matthew Fitzpatrick along with their Ryder Cup teammate Ludvig Aberg.
There are some former champions in the field this week as well with Russell Henley having won here and was the runner-up a year ago. Other notables in the field include Corey Conners and J.T. Poston who were both teeing it up at The Sentry last week. A couple of other big names are Billy Horschel, who will be looking for a turnaround in his form, and Gary Woodland who returns to action for the first time since his brain surgery.
Market Leaders
Tyrrell Hatton is the 18/1 favourite to win the tournament this week. Generally when there is a requirement for hitting greens and putting well he comes to the fore and he had that remarkable 62 in the second round last week so he is clearly hitting the ball well. He did get on his own case again over the weekend though and that is always a concern. Another concern is that he makes his debut in the tournament here and this isn’t an event which serves debutants well.
Three men line up as 20/1 shots for this tournament. You would think that Brian Harman would be ideally suited to this track but his record here is very ordinary. He is a major champion now though so it wouldn’t be a surprise if he comes good. Ludvig Aberg is another in the debutant ranks and as I eluded to before you usually need a spin or two around here. The other issue for Aberg is his length probably isn’t the weapon around here that it will be on other courses. The other 20/1 shot this week is Matthew Fitzpatrick but he is another on debut here.
Russell Henley is a former champion around here and he was second two years ago so he seems to love this part of Hawaii and that is no surprise because he has made a living of hitting greens and holing putts and that is the primary requirements around here. He averages less than 66 shots per round here for his last 12 rounds so he will be an extremely popular pick at 22/1 this week. He doesn’t always look great when he is in contention which puts me off a touch. It is 25/1 bar.
Main Bets
I’ll go for a couple of decent ball strikers as my main bets this week. The first of those is J.T. Poston who I really like on the shorter tracks because he is very aggressive with the wedges and he can afford to be because he is a decent putter. He opened up his season in good touch last week where he was inside the top 15 with the putter in terms of strokes gained and that bodes very well for him here. That course was probably a touch too long but this one isn’t and a former PGA Tour winner who has had a warm up last week feels like a big price to me.
Another who is a big price based on last week is Brendon Todd. He spoke on one of the mid-round interviews that his relationship with his new caddie is exciting him and there were certainly signs of that in his play. Todd is a very good putter and strong with the irons and if his caddie is working him hard to improve his game then 2024 could be a big year for him. He is especially strong on the shorter courses such as this one. He has finished just outside the top 20 here a couple of times recently and carded a pair of 65s here a year ago. If there is improvement in his game then I think he could be a threat this week.
Outsiders
Erik van Rooyen had a decent week putting wise at The Sentry and he is someone who tends to come to the fore where there is a bit of breeze which allows his shot shape to come into play. The South African doesn’t win as often as perhaps he should at this level but he doesn’t have too many problems getting into positions. Van Rooyen started slowly last week which pretty much cost him but he was 20 under par for the last three rounds so he certainly picked up speed once he had shaken the rust off. If he does that again here then he could well get himself into contention if he putts as well again.
Nico Echavarria had a relatively quiet week to begin his season at The Sentry last week but it has to be a positive that he teed it up there and I think we can see the benefits of that here. The Colombian went fairly well here last year when he finished T12 but he played the weekend in 10 under par so if he had started on more favourable terms with the winner he might just have got to him. Since then he has won in Puerto Rico so we know that he can handle island golf. He was sixth in strokes gained putting on a course that was probably too long for him last week. This one won’t be so I think he is a live shout.
Tips
Back J.T. Poston to win Sony Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 29.00 with Coral (1/5 1-10)
Back B.Todd to win Sony Open (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 41.00 with Betfair (1/5 1-8)
Back E.Van Rooyen to win Sony Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 91.00 with Boylesports (1/5 1-8)
Back him here:
Back N.Echavarria to win Sony Open (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 251.00 with Sky Bet (1/5 1-8)
