Best bets for PGA Sony Open in Hawaii

Collin Morikawa lost a nine-shot lead at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Jon Rahm won the tournament at an average price of 7-1.  Jon Rahms finished runner-up last year at 33 under par to Cameron Smith.

Morikawa finished second at the Sony Open in Hawaii. The PGA Tour leaves Maui for Honolulu on the island of Oahu for the first full-field event of 2023. Tom Kim, Hideki Matsuyama, J.J. Spaun, K.H. Lee and Taylor Montgomery are playing. Tom Hoge is making his 20th-year debut. Brian Harman finished fourth here in 2018 and is a defending champion. Jordan Spieth finished third here last year.

The Sony Open in Hawaii has been contested at the Waialae Country Club in Honolulu since the event’s inception in 1965. It was originally contested as a mid-fall event during its first five years before being moved to winter in 1971. There have been only five multiple champions in the 55-year history of the tournament. Justin Thomas won the 2017 event.

Waialae Country Club was designed in 1927 by Seth Raynor and restored by Tom Doak in 2017. It plays as a par-70 of 7,044 yards and has 83 bunkers throughout and four water holes. The course is all Bermudagrass and the greens average 7.100 square feet. In 2020, the winning score was 11 under, in 2021 it was 21 under. In 2022 it played as the ninth-easiest course on tour with an average round score of 68.0. According to Data Golf, Waialai CC is second to only Augusta National in terms of predictive course history.

Seven of the last nine Sony Open champions teed it up the week before at Kapalua. 17 of last 24 winners of Sony open had played the Tournament of Champions the previous week.

17 of the last 24 winners of Sony Open had played the Tournament of Champions the week before. Five of last eight winners had already won in the fall or in swing season. Only four Sony winners since 2000 have been under 30.

The last seven winners of the Sony Open in Hawaii rated seventh or better for Strokes Gained: Approach during their respective winning weeks.

Strokes Gained Par-4s (Last 36 rounds) Taylor Montgomery 39.3, J.J. Spaun 33.2, Andrew Putnam 30.6, Tom Hoge 29. 6, Maverick McNealy 28. 2, Kurt Kitayama 27.5, Sungjae Im 27, Brian Harman 24.8, Brendan Steele 24, Denny McCarthy 24 and Ben Taylor 21. 3. Short Game encompasses both chipping around the green and putting to account for tough par putts while scrambling.

Corey Conners is 22-1 in DraftKings. He ranks second in the field for Strokes Gained: Total at Waialae over the last 24 rounds.

Jon Rahm avenged his runner-up finish at Kapalua. Russell Henley is a former winner here (2013) and leads the field for Fairways Gained and Good Drives Gained.

Cam Davis is the favourite for PGA Sony Open in Hawaii. Davis won the Sandbelt Invitational in his native Australia last week.

H.K. Lee is 40-1 favorite to win the AT&T Byron Nelson in 2021 and 2022. He finished fifth at the BMW Championship in last season's PGA Tour playoffs and won two of his three matches at Presidents Cup.

J.T. Poston finished mid-pack last week at Kapalua. He has won both the Wyndham and the John Deere Classic on short, low-scoring courses.

Mackenzie Hughes is a favorite to win the PGA Sony Open in Hawaii. He won the Sanderson Farms Championship last September.

Adam Svensson finished 37th last week in what became a 38-player field with Xander Schauffele's withdrawal due to a back injury. Svenson finished seventh at the RSM Classic last year and was the first-round leader with a 9-under-par round of 61.

Brian Harman is the favorite to win the PGA Sony Open in Hawaii.