GOLF

PGA DFS: Top Cash Game Picks for the Sony Open in Hawaii

By Landon Silinsky @landonjake24
Jan 11, 2023

The PGA DFS Breakdown offers data-driven analysis for each week’s slate, using the FantasyLabs Tools and metrics to highlight notable golfers.

The PGA TOUR continues in Hawaii this week for the Sony Open in Hawaii. Waialae Country Club will be the host and is a par 70, which measures at 7,044 yards and boasts Bermuda grass greens.

I’ll be highlighting the best cash game/single-entry plays on the DraftKings main slate, but these players are often great options in any contest.

My analysis will frequently 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.

There are a variety of Strokes Gained-related metrics, but the six main categories you need to know include:

Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee (SG: Off-the-Tee)
Strokes Gained: Approach (SG: Approach)
Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green (SG: Around-the-Green)
Strokes Gained: Putting (SG: Putting)
Strokes Gained: Ball-Striking (SG: Ball-Striking), which is SG: Off-the-Tee + SG: Approach
Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green (SG: Tee-to-Green), which is SG: Ball-Striking + SG: Around-the-Green

If you missed it, we added two new metrics in our models — Perfect% and SimLeverage. You can find an explainer on those metrics here.

The cliff notes version is that you can use SimLeverage to quickly find leverage plays in tournaments, while Perfect% is great for finding the best price-considered plays for cash games.

And don’t forget to utilize our various PGA DFS tools like our Lineup Optimizer, Lineup Builder, PGA Correlation Dashboard, and our Trends tool.

The following players listed are based on DraftKings scoring and pricing.

PGA DFS Core Picks

Sungjae Im ($10,300 DraftKings)

Tom Kim has absolutely taken the golf world by storm these past few months, but he should not be more expensive than Im right now. Im is the best player in this field and costs only $10,300, making him arguably the biggest value on the board this week. The rolling numbers illustrate this point as well, as Im ranks No. 1 in this field in SG: Total, SG: Tee-to-Green, and SG: Off-the-Tee, while sitting third in SG: Ball-Striking and 35th in putting.

He’s playing some of the best golf of his career right now and has eight top-15 finishes across his past 10 starts, which includes three runners-up in that stretch. Despite not having the best history at Waialae in his career, he has played here four times, while finishing T21 or better in two of those.

If you are spending up in cash games this week, Im should be your target.

Cameron Davis ($8,500 DraftKings)

Cam Davis is one of the main guys in the $8K range this week that are underpriced. He has been on a tear for quite a while now, making 14 of his past 15 cuts with four top 10s in that span. He’s really become a well-rounded player after battling inconsistency for the better part of the past few years. The Aussie ranks fourth in this field in SG: Total over his past 48 rounds, while sitting 11th in SG: Tee-to-Green, 15th in ball-striking, and 29th in putting.

In addition, he leads the entire field in birdies over that span as well. Davis has played this event each of the past four years while making three of four cuts with a T9 in 2020. It’s mind boggling to see him cost just $8,500 this week, and he’s close to a must-roster in all formats.

Keith Mitchell ($8,300 DraftKings)

Another guy’s price that makes absolutely zero sense is Keith Mitchell, who, first of all, has insane history at Waialae. The former Honda Classic champ has made five starts at the Sony and finished T25, T16, T14, and T7 (last year) in four of those. He ranks sixth in the field in SG: Tee-to-Green per round at Waialae among anyone who’s made at least three career starts at the Sony.

Many think of Mitchell as a bomber only, but he’s quite accurate off-the-tee and even more so recently. He ranks sixth in this field in driving accuracy over his past 24 rounds, something that will come in quite handy this week on a short par 70.

It’s no surprise to see how much success he’s had at this event, considering he basically is hitting shots from the fairway on every hole, and we know much better of a putter he is on Bermuda, being that his moniker is “Bermuda Keith.”

It’s going to be tough not to start my rosters this week with Sungjae, Cam Davis, and Killa Keith.

Andrew Putnam ($8,000 DraftKings)

If you have not been following Andrew Putnam’s ascension, I can assure you this guy is for real. Dating back to the 3M Open at the end of July, which is a span of 12 tournaments, Putnam went 12-for-12 in made cuts while finishing inside the top 30 nine different times. He even posted a T2 at the FedEx St. Jude, which got him to the second round of the playoffs.

During this stretch, Putnam ranks eighth in this field in SG: Total, which is largely due to his approach play and elite putting, where he ranks 22nd and sixth, respectively in those two categories. Oh, by the way, he ranks fourth in SG: Around-the-Green and fifth in sand save percentage as well, which is a great skill to have in your bag at Waialae with all the greenside bunkers that are in play.

This will be Putnam’s seventh career start at the Sony, and while he does have a few missed cuts, he posted a runner-up finish here in 2019, so he’s certainly flashed a ceiling.

At just $8,000 on DraftKings, I love him in all formats.

PGA DFS Value Picks

Gary Woodland ($7,600 DraftKings)

This price on Woodland does not look right, as it feels like just yesterday he was out-dueling Brooks Koepka to win the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. The fall from grace comes unexpectedly. However, Woodland did have somewhat of a bounce-back season in 2022, posting five top-10 finishes.

His short game is a stone disaster, but he’s been hitting the ball as well as anyone in this field, sitting fifth in SG: Ball-Striking over his past 48 rounds. If you zoom in a bit, he’s been even better than that, ranking No. 2 in this field in SG: Ball-Striking over his past 16 rounds, behind only Tom Hoge, who gains like 10 strokes on approach every week, it feels like at the moment.

Woodland has not played the Sony since 2019, where he was an MDF, but before that, he went T7, T6, T14, T3 across his previous four starts at Waialae. He’s simply too cheap for his upside this week and has the same amount of inherent risk that anyone in this price range has.

Brendan Steele ($7,300 DraftKings)

We will round things out with Mr. Steele, who has made three starts at Waialae in his career while posting a solo second and T4 with an MC as well. Over his past 48 rounds in this field, Steele ranks behind only Corey Conners in SG: Ball-Striking and only behind Sungjae Im in SG: Tee-to-Green. We know he struggles with his putter, but he should be hitting a ton of fairways and greens this week, giving himself plenty of birdie looks.

Steele’s course history and rolling stats look too strong for someone who costs just $7,300 this week, making him one of the strongest values on the slate.

Get a 100% Deposit Match up to $250!

Your deposit will be fully matched

New users only

GET $250 FREE