The PGA Tour concludes the Hawaii swing this week with the Sony Open. This week sees a return to a full-field event with a cut after 36 holes, bringing back the Friday cut sweat for your lineups. Unlike last week, there appears to be some weather that needs to be monitored. Especially on Thursday, it seems as if there is going to be a good amount of wind and it could present an edge to stack our lineups based on tee times. It will also make me reconsider what type of golfer I am looking to roster this week, as the higher winds will limit some of the scoring and make it not quite the birdie fest it plays in optimal conditions.

I will be keeping an eye on the weather as we get closer to lineup lock, so be sure to follow me on Twitter (X) @mlafem10 where I post additional information and am always available for questions that you might have. We also get the added bonus of this tournament starting later in the day due to the tournament obviously being in Hawaii.

Course Notes

Switching it up a little and going to make this section a little more digestible than a couple of paragraphs. Here are the key things to know about Waialae Country Club.

-Located: Honolulu, Hawaii

-Par: 70

-Yardage: 7,044

-4 par 3s ranging between 175-200 yards and holes 4,11 and 17 rank as three of the seven hardest holes on the course. 2 par 5s that play as the easiest two holes on the course. 8 of the 17 par 4s play at or below 450 yards.

-Fairways are wider than Tour average, but are firm and fast, leading to a lot of missed fairways. The rough is 3” Bermuda grass that can be violate, but overall isn’t a huge problem for golfers.

-A good number of bunkers and not much water to speak of in terms of danger.

-Greens are also Bermuda and are quite large, but are much flatter and faster than we saw last week.

-Overall, a pretty easy course (ranking 12^th easiest relative to par last year), but can be subjected to high winds being a coastal course.

Here is a look at the beautiful Waialae Country Club:

The Field

This week is the first full-field event of the season with 144 players. The field is the strongest I can remember for this event with a slew of top names staying in Hawaii for an extra week. Two of those top names will be making their Sony Open debuts with rookie stud Ludvig Aberg and veteran Englishman Tyrrell Hatton teeing up for the first time at Waialae.

The Sony Open also annually hands out sponsor’s exemptions to standouts on the Japan Golf Tour, including former number one ranked amateur in the world, Takumi Kanaya.

There were four Monday qualifier spots open to fill. Parker Coody, Martain Trainer, Robert Streb and Norman Xiong all played their way into the field this week. As of this writing, there have not been any withdrawals from the tournament.

Key Stats

Here are some of the key stats I am considering when building my lineups this week.

1. SG: Approach– Iron play is always on this list and forever will be. This course is an aim-and-fire-at-the-pin type of course. Greens are big here, but great iron play is always a recipe for success at Waialae.
2. Good Drives- While the fairways themselves aren’t very narrow, these are (usually) very firm and fast, resulting in a lot of missed fairways. Good drives don’t penalize golfers for missed fairways, as long as they still hit the green in regulation.
3. SG: P (Bermuda)– Another week of Bermuda greens where the winning score is usually close to the 20 under par mark. Good putting will be required to be near the top of the leaderboard this week.
4. Proximity 150-175- Just about 25% of approach shots at Waialae come from this range. Well above the average PGA Tour stop. 125-150 isn’t a bad idea to take a look at as well.
5. Birdies or Better Gained- 12^th easiest course on Tour and eight holes with a birdie rate above 16%, there are going to be birdies made this week.

DFS Top Tier Play

Tyrrell Hatton

Salary: $10,300

Hatton is a Swiss Army knife that can play in any setup. A lot of people associate Hatton as a tough course and tough condition grinder which he had on full display with his win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in 2020 when he won with a score of four under par. However, Hatton is more than capable of lighting it up in a birdie fest as well with his ability to get white hot with the putter and top-notch iron play. Given that Hatton has no course history here and that is going to be a major theme that people use to build their lineups this week, I think Hatton will come with less ownership than he should garner in this field. I don’t have to worry if the weather turns nasty and the winds pick up significantly because Hatton excels in those conditions and I don’t have to worry if the conditions end up better than expected because Hatton is one of the best Bermuda putters in the field. Hatton also checks the box of having played last week to the tune of a tie for 14^th on a course he had not previously seen. You may even see some ownership steam towards Fitzpatrick if the winds are supposed to pick up, but I would still be comfortable holding pat and rostering Hatton.

Others Considered: Eric Cole ($9,700), J.T. Poston ($9,100)

DFS Mid-Tier Play

Justin Rose

Salary: $8,200

Rose ranks number one in my model this week and was my first best on Monday morning. Now, that doesn’t always translate to making my DFS lineup, but I have a strong enough conviction on Rose this week to make it so. He fits the trend that everyone loves of playing last week at The Sentry where he went nuclear on Sunday with a twelve under 61. What was most encouraging about that blistering round was that it wasn’t all with the putter and was a nice ball-striking round from Rose. As for this week, Rose plays easier, shorter courses really well, is an excellent short to mid iron player, and has four top twenty finishes in five appearances at this course. Granted the last time he played here was 2017 when he finished second, which makes me wonder why he didn’t incorporate this tournament more into his schedule lately. Rose also plays well in the wind, if the conditions do end up being tougher than expected. The $8K is loaded with a lot of options, so I do not expect Rose’s ownership to get out of control compared to others around him.

Others Considered: Cam Davis ($8,500), Adam Hadwin ($8,000)

DFS Value Play

Ben Griffin

Salary: $7,400

The last time we saw Griffin, he was wrapping up an excellent fall season with a tie for 8^th at the RSM Classic. What is nice about Griffin for this week is that his biggest weakness, which is off the tee, should be somewhat neutralized at a course like Waialae. He is another golfer who is excellent at putting on Bermuda greens (4^th in the field) and does his best work on shorter coastal courses. Griffin is also an above-average wind player, so he provides some security if the winds are as bad as forecasted for Thursday. Griffin is not as lethal as I would prefer with his iron play, but when we start getting to these lower-priced golfers, you are going to have to make some sacrifices and they are not going to check all the boxes of what you are looking for. For the value-type players, I look to see if they have that one elite skill that can keep them afloat and for Griffin, it is the aforementioned Bermuda green putting. He has played well on comp courses to Waialae and debuted here last year with a tie for 12^th. You could realistically end your lineup with Griffin and feel really good or get different and have him as your 5^th man. There is a lot of opportunity with quality plays in the $7,000-$7,400 range that are getting overlooked.

Others Considered: Alex Smalley ($7,100), Takumi Kanaya ($6,700)

Betting Card

Corey Conners +3300

Justin Rose +4500

Alex Noren +6500

Ben Griffin +8000

Alex Smalley +12000

Lineup Builder