The PGA TOUR moves to Honolulu as we stay in Hawaii for another week to play the 2022 Sony Open at Waialae Country Club. Waialae is a 7,044-yard par 70 that was built in 1927 and has annually featured a TOUR event since 1965. The Sony Open is the first full-field event of the calendar year.
This year’s Sony Open field is comprised of 144 golfers. Some notable names in the field include Hideki Matsuyama, Webb Simpson, Sungjae Im, and Cameron Smith.
The Sony Open typically produces a low-scoring affair, and with soft conditions in Hawaii, this season could provide even more birdies. Wind is about all the course has in terms of defense, so it may prove wise to keep an eye on the forecast this week.
For GPP contests on DraftKings, I will be breaking down the key stats (past 24 rounds) and selecting golfers from different price tiers to provide flexibility for a DFS lineup.
For large-field tournaments, you can utilize our Lineup Optimizer to effortlessly create up to 150 lineups, or use our Lineup Builder if you like to hand-build your lineups.
Don’t forget about the other tools that FantasyLabs has to offer, such as the Trends tool and PGA Correlation Dashboard.
This analysis may reference Strokes Gained, a set of proprietary metrics generated by the PGA TOUR using millions of data points to calculate how many shots on average it takes a player to get the ball in the hole from every distance and situation. Strokes Gained is now available in the FantasyLabs PGA Models.
Strokes Gained: Approach
Green sizes are much smaller at Waialae than we saw last week at Kapalua. Green in Regulation numbers are far lower, therefore requiring iron play to be even sharper in order to go low.
- High-end target: Cameron Smith– $11,200 (8th SG:APP)
- Mid-range target: Russell Henley – $8,500 (5th SG: APP)
- Value target: Hudson Swafford – $6,800 (7th SG: APP)
Fairways Gained
Not only are the greens much smaller at Waialae than we saw at Kapalua, but the fairways are also a lot smaller. Last week, golfers were spraying errant drives with little consequence; that won’t be the case this week. While missing the fairway might not be incredibly penal, those who split the middle on the narrow fairways will be rewarded with flat lies and straightforward approach shots.
- High-end target: Corey Conners – $9,600 (7th Fairways Gained)
- Mid-range target: Russell Henley – $8,500 (10th Fairways Gained)
- Value target: Jim Furyk – $6,500 (5th Fairways Gained)
Strokes Gained: Short Game
With small fairways and greens, it is to be expected that golfers will have to scramble around the green at one point or another. Strokes Gained: Short Game encompasses both chipping around the green and putting to account for tough par putts while scrambling. Historically, players with great hands and short games have had success here (Thomas, Kuchar, Kizzire, Smith, Na).
- High-end target: Cameron Smith – $11,200 (6th SG: Short Game)
- Mid-range target: Matt Kuchar – $7,500 (9th SG: Short Game)
- Value target: Hank Lebioda – $6,800 (5th SG: Short Game)
Birdie or Better Gained
While Waialae presents its fair share of challenges, the winning score will likely be somewhere in the -20 to -27 range; therefore, birdies are a must. In an event where par isn’t good enough on most holes, golfers who can get hot and go low need to be targeted this week.
- High-end target: Marc Leishman – $10,000 (3rd in Birdies or Better Gained)
- Mid-range target: Joel Dahmen – $7,600 (4th in Birdies or Better Gained)
- Value target: Cameron Young – $6,800 (5th in Birdies or Better Gained)
Course History
Course history seems to be particularly important at Waialae, as 15 of the past 16 winners have played the course previously before hoisting the trophy. It is also common to see similar players pop up on the leaderboard year after year in Honolulu, so a bit of course history should be factored in.
- High-end target: Marc Leishman – $10,200 (4th SG: Total at Waialae)
- Mid-range target: Matt Kuchar – $7,500 (5th SG: Total at Waialae)
- Value target: Hudson Swafford – $6,800 (6th SG: Total at Waialae)
