Fantasy Golf Sleeper Report – 2022 Sony Open

2022 Sony Open Fantasy Sleeper Report

A new year brings with it a new start….and a record breaking one at that.

Cameron Smith laid waste to the Kapalua Resort in 2022’s opener, the Tournament of Champions, and his unbelievable performance led to a winning score of -34 – a PGA TOUR record.

This wasn’t a stableford format, either. Smith made birdies left, right and center, and he was joined on that front by Jon Rahm and Matt Jones, who finished one and two shots adrift respectively.

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It was the typical early year jolly, and for all the records that were shattered it’s the action along the coast at Honolulu that many have been eagerly awaiting.

The Sony Open is the first full-field event of the calendar year, and while our host venue Waialae Country Club will yield to high quality golf, it’s less of a doddle than Kapalua regrettably proved to be last time out.

Designed by Seth Raynor, Waialae has a short and squally feel to it, with plenty of trees and just two Par 5s to make the most of. At 7,044 yards for its Par 70, there’s not a great deal of wide open space down by the ocean.

But Justin Thomas posted a winning score of -27 here in 2017, and with the forecast suggesting benign conditions and low winds (until Sunday at least), a tally of -20 or lower may be required once more.

For the most part, we have to consider those that played at the Tournament of Champions last week to have an edge over those that were grinding away on the range, and it will come as no surprise to learn that our sleeper plays for the Sony Open dip liberally into that 39-man field.

There’s shots to be gained off the tee and on approach, but beware that the slow Bermuda greens are well protected by bunkers, so there is a premium on classy iron shots in.

But, with a winner’s rollcall that includes defending champion Kevin Na, Smith, Matt Kuchar and Thomas, it won’t come as a surprise to learn that making plenty of putts is the key to success at Waialae.

Can our quintet of picks for the 2022 Sony Open hold up their end of the bargain on that front?

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2022 Sony Open Fantasy Sleeper Report

Matt Jones – 50/1 – It’s impossible to underplay just how good Matt Jones was at the weekend.

Closing his Tournament of Champions effort with rounds of 61 and 62, Jones flew up the leaderboard and finished just two shots adrift of Smith’s record low score.

His record at Waialae is solid, with six made cuts in a row featuring a high of T11 last year – this is a guy who loves Hawaiian golf.

Something of a Bermuda greens specialist, Jones is a key play for your betting tickets this week.

Seamus Power – 50/1 – The Irishman got his act together with a fine closing round of 67 at the Tournament of Champions, and that gives him a platform to build on along the coast in Honolulu.

It follows T4 at the RSM Classic and T11 at the Mayakoba – both of which we can class as correlating events, and so we have to assume he will build upon a pretty ordinary record at Waialae.

Now a confirmed PGA TOUR winner, Power tends to save his best for coastal layouts – surely a breakthrough at this Hawaiian assignment is next on the list?

Si-Woo Kim – 60/1 – We, along with many others, expect big things from Si-Woo Kim and, for the most part, he continues to flatter to deceive.

But the Korean possesses a fine iron game, and the irony is that this was his main weakness at Kapalua last week – otherwise, he played pretty well by all accounts.

Si-Woo has a T4 to his name at Waialae, and ended his 2021 with top-20s in the BMW Championship, Sanderson Farms and ZOZO Championship, is he gearing up for a run at a fourth PGA TOUR title?

Chris Kirk – 60/1 – The long-time PGA TOUR pro served up 24 birdies and two eagles at Waialae last year on his way to a T2 finish.

That continued a long-time love affair for Kirk and this golf course – his last eleven trips have yielded three top-five finishes, a top-10 and two other top-30 returns.

Kirk wasn’t at his best at the tail-end of 2021, but the time off over the festive period often serves as a chance to reset, and he will be chomping at the bit for a return to his beloved Waialae.

Cam Davis – 70/1 – The big-driving Aussie is a birdie machine – he ranked T12 for that stat last week and T10 for birdies made at the Sony Open 12 months ago.

The upshot is that it means he makes too many mistakes to challenge at the top of leaderboards, but a run to the Rocket Mortgage Classic title in 2021 suggests he can put it all together when the mood takes.

The Australian will surely be inspired by his compatriot Smith’s victory last week, and at a relatively straightforward golf course – with a benign weather forecast – he will be hoping to make plenty more birdies at Waialae.

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Want more of this week’s fantasy predictions? Check out our full fantasy preview for the Sony Open here.

Sleeper Report Predictions This Season (2021-2022)

[skill_bar heading=”Total Top 3s” percent=”3.63%” bar_text=”2 out of 55 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Top 10s” percent= “23.63%” bar_text=”13 out of 55 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Top 25s” percent=”29.09%” bar_text=”16 out of 55 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Winners Picked” percent=10.00%” bar_text=”1 out of 11 events” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Runners-Up Picked” percent=”10.00%” bar_text=”1 out of 11 events” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Made Cuts (Includes Sleepers)” percent=”60.00%” bar_text=”33 out of 55 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″]

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Cover photo via Instagram