By Harry Gagnon
SONY OPEN IN HAWAII
WAIALAE COUNTRY CLUB
HONOLULU, HAWAII PAR 70
JANUARY 13-16, 2022
Well the golf season started up against last week in Maui and we were treated to some golf that was extraordinary as Cam Smith shot 34 under and held off Jon Rahm by a single stroke. The golf stays in Hawaii with a full field and here are my plays that hopefully put some green in your pockets.
MATCHUPS
-115 KEVIN NA OVER ABRAHAM ANCER
Na is the defending champ here and shot a 3rd round 61 a year ago. Na also played much better last week in Maui than Ancer did.
+105 BILLY HORSCHEL OVER SEAMUS POWER
The young Irishman Power is getting better on tour but the veteran Horschel had a solid tournament last week and recorded a top 10 finish here last time in Honolulu.
-150 CHARLES HOWELL III OVER RYAN PALMER
Palmer is hit or miss, meanwhile Howell has numerous top 20 finishes here.
-160 CAM SMITH OVER HIDEKI MATSUYAMA
I know it seems to much to ask after Smith dominated the field and course in Maui last week, but his drives were dead on as was his putting. He also just happened to win the Sony Open in 2020.
TOP AUSTRALIAN MARC LEISHMAN +270
I understand he has to be better than Cam Smith but the burly Aussie finished tied for 2nd here last year and 3rd in 2019. He only has to be better than 5 other players and maybe Cam Smith backs up a little after winning last week
TOP ASIAN SUNGJAE IM +200
I played Im last week to be top Korean and that came in so let's try him as top Asian after Sunday's round. Matsuyama and 9 other golfers will being gunning for Im but I feel he holds off this field mostly because of his iron play.
TOP 20 FINISH PATTON KIZZIRE +310
Kizzire's drives here in 2018 were tremendous when he actually took home the hardware. He also finished in the top 10 last time here so asking for a top 20 performance and getting over 3 times your money sounds like fantastic value.
TO MAKE CUT BRENDAN STEELE -180
Steele has top 5 finishes here the past two tournaments and that includes last January when he shot a round of 61.
TOP 10 +120 & TOP 5 +175 FINISH WEBB SIMPSON
The former US Open champ has had plenty of success at Waialae in his career and i fully expect that trend to continue. Here is just a small sample of what he has accomplished here: tied for 3rd last year, 3rd in 2020, and finished 4th in 2018.
MY 6 PACK OF PLAYERS WHO CAN WIN THE SONY OPEN
15/1 WEBB SIMPSON -again, has a great history here
15/1 MARC LEISHMAN- what goes for Webb goes for this Australian as well
29/1 KEVIN NA- have to have the defending champ in there plus I can't wait to see the Hawaiian shirts he selects for this week (his shirts were top notch last week in Maui).
32/1 HARRIS ENGLISH- guy had a season to remember with 3 wins on tour
36/1 MATT JONES- a very underrated player on tour and played well last week
65/1 BRENDAN STEELE- Steele finished tied for 3rd and had a solo 2nd place finish here in 2020.