Fantasy Golf Picks, Odds, and Predictions – 2022 Sony Open

Fantasy Golf Picks, Odds, and Predictions for the 2022 Sony Open 

Sony Open Fantasy Preview

Last Week’s Fantasy Results

Last week our top guy was Colin Morikawa, who simply couldn’t catch the red hot Cam Smith in time. 

Colin finished 5th, and although a healthy 62 on Sunday helped propel him up the leaderboard; it simply wasn’t enough.

In total, we ended up with three Top 10 finishes in our main picks segment for the week.  A solid start to 2022!

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Sony Open Field

Given how well he played last week, there will be plenty drafting and betting on Smith again this week – he’s a former Sony Open champion.

He’ll be joined from up the coast by the likes of Bryson DeChambeau, Hideki Matsuyama, Sungjae Im, Abraham Ancer and the defending champion Kevin Na – all of whom competed at Kapalua.

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Webb Simpson, who has a fine record at Waialae, will make his yearly bow, and he will be joined in the field by a host of players who have hosted the trophy in Honolulu – Russell Henley, Patton Kizzire, Matt Kuchar and former back-to-back winner Jimmy Walker among them.

There are a number of Korn Ferry Tour and Japan Golf Tour invites to top up the numbers of what is a fairly thin field, and they will be joined by the number one ranked amateur in the world, Keita Nakajima.

This Week’s Course Preview

Unlike Kapalua, the Seth Raynor designed Waialae Country Club does have defenses to keep the players at bay even when the wind doesn’t blow.

The fairways are much tighter for a start, albeit something like the average PGA TOUR width, and the greens are well bunkered too.

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But the wind is a major factor, that should be said, with winning scores here ranging from -11 to -27 in the past five years alone.

There is more tree coverage at Waialae than Kapalua, which offers some respite from the breeze, but it should be noted that there are just two Par 5s on this 7,044 yard, Par 70 layout – shooting low numbers on the Par 4s is of premium importance.

As was the case at Kapalua, the greens at Waialae are Bermuda and they run at a fairly sluggish pace – those that thrived with the flat stick last week should once again go well this time around….

Weather Forecast for Honolulu, HI

It’s pretty much a case of as you were on Hawaii this week to last.

It’s going to be sunny and occasionally cloudy, according to the early forecast, with temperatures hitting highs of 80˚F on each of the four days of action.

As for that all-important wind, this is ever likely to change of course, but the early predictions are for single digits from Thursday through Saturday and then up to 12 mph on Sunday.

HONOLULU WEATHER

Last Year’s Results from the Sony Open 

The week’s lowest rounds of 61 from Kevin Na and Brendan Steele thrusted both into contention heading into Sunday’s final round.

Both started that race for the finishing line in decent enough order – Na played the opening nine holes in -2, with Steele going around in -3 which included a magnificent eagle on the ninth.

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But the difference between a serial winner and a ‘bridesmaid’ revealed itself once more on the cutthroat final stretch. Steele bogeyed the tenth and played the rest of the closing holes in +1 with no birdies.

Na, on the other hand, accelerated to the line, making four birdies from 13 through 18 to win by one shot from the fast-finishing pair Joaquin Niemann and Chris Kirk. It was the American’s fifth win on the PGA TOUR, and his third since May 2019.

Where to Play Fantasy Golf for the Sony Open this Week

Here we go then: a return to ‘proper’ daily fantasy golf, and at a course that has a clear identity – and rewards a player we will detail in this article – tends to be the sort of week where we can go in deep with our contest entries.

• PGA $700k Flop Shot: The winner of this $15 event will pocket a rather handy $200k, which would be a nice way to start the year. There’s plenty of other welcome cash prizes, and with multi-entry available we can put together a number of quality rosters.
• PGA $40k Driving Range: With just 296 entries allowed and multi-entry of three teams, we can enjoy a slice of this contest that pays $6k – the top 20 earning at least $500 – from your $150 entry.

This Week’s Fantasy Notes for the Sony Open 

When you look at the recent history at Waialae, only a few interesting titbits of insight reveal themselves.

Neither Na or Smith, the last two champions here, were particularly accurate off the tee, but distance does seem to be something of a factor – both averaged more than 295 yards off the peg, while last year’s top 10 on the leaderboard saw nine of those players average 303 yards or more.

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Approach play tends to be less of a factor at Waialae than other PGA TOUR courses, but note just how key putting is – Smith, Na, Kuchar and Thomas, four of the last five champions here, are all noted ‘streaky’ putters.

As far as course correlations go, there does seem to be an (obvious) link between Kapalua and Waialae – Thomas and Smith have won at both, as has Zach Johnson, while Jimmy Walker has won at the latter and finished runner-up at the former.

Patton Kizzire and Kuchar have won at El Camaleon (home of the Mayakoba Classic) and Waialae, while Harris English has prospered at El Camaleon and Kapalua, so these are all links that should be taken seriously.

Our Top 5 (and Top 2 Sleeper) Fantasy Picks and Odds to Win the Sony Open 

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Fantasy Golf Predictions This Season (2021-2022)

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