The 2nd tournament and 1st full-field event of the 2023 calendar year brings the PGA Tour to Honolulu for the 2023 Sony Open at Waialae Country Club. Below, before the 1st round tees off on Thursday, we search for the best value prop bets among the 2023 Sony Open odds and make our PGA Tour picks and predictions.
With many of the top players in the world choosing not to play Hawaii’s 2nd event, the field isn’t as strong as last week’s Sentry Tournament of Champions. Sungjae Im is the highest-ranked player in the field, according to the latest Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, coming in at No. 13. Last year’s champion, Hideki Matsuyama, is also teeing it up; he ranks 22nd.
Waialae Country Club features a completely different layout than Kapalua did last week, featuring very narrow, tree-lined fairways. At Kapalua, the fairways are wide and tough to miss, so players will need to be dialed in off the tee this week.
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Sony Open – Top-5 picks
Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Tuesday at 11:07 p.m. ET.
Tom Kim (+230)
It’s really hard not to like Kim every time he tees it up these days. He has such a well-rounded game that it doesn’t matter much which course he’s playing. In 5 starts so far this season, including one unofficial event, he’s had 5 top-25s, 3 top-10s, 2 top-5s and a win. All he does is contend.
Hideki Matsuyama (+400)
Matsuyama won this tournament last year and will be seeking to defend his title. He hasn’t had great results yet this season, but playing a course he’s familiar with could be what he needs to get back on track. Buy low on him here.
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Sony Open – Top-10 picks
Russell Henley (+240)
Henley is 1 of my favorites this week. He lost in a playoff to Matsuyama here last year and tied for 11th the year prior, so he’s come close to winning it before. It’s worth noting that Henley won at Mayakoba in November, too.
Corey Conners (+250)
Conners offers great value, too. His course history is fantastic, finishing 11th, 12th and 3rd in his last 3 appearances. He’s made the cut all 4 years prior and should be among of the favorites to win this week.
Cameron Davis (+350)
In his last start on tour, Davis tied for 13th at the CJ Cup in November. His poor accuracy off the tee is a concern on the narrower fairways at Waialae Country Club, but he’s a great putter and will have short irons or wedges into a lot of greens.
Sony Open – Top-20 picks
Si-Woo Kim (+230)
Kim is 4-for-5 in cuts made at this event and finished 4th in 2016, so he does have some familiarity with the course. He finished 8th at the Shriners Children’s Open in October, his best showing so far this season.
Matt Kuchar (+220)
Kuchar has won here before, so getting him well into plus money for a top-20 is a decent value – despite his lack of success in recent years. He tied for 7th last year and has 7 top 10s in 17 total trips to the Sony Open.
Webb Simpson (+280)
Simpson hasn’t been playing his best golf recently, really struggling throughout 2022, but he loves this course. He’s made the cut in all 12 appearances at this tournament and has 4 top-10 finishes.
Other T20 contenders (in order from longest odds to shortest):
- Michael Thompson (+650)
- Mackenzie Hughes (+220)
Sony Open – Matchups
Suggested play is golfer in bold.
Tom Kim (-120) vs. Sungjae Im (+100)
It’s not easy to pick between 2 pure ball strikers on this course but I’ll go with Kim. He’s red hot and doesn’t seem ready to cool down any time soon. He finished 3 shots clear of Im last week at Kapalua.
Hideki Matsuyama (+100) vs. Jordan Spieth (-120)
Matsuyama’s quiet Sunday at the Tournament of Champions sunk him down the leaderboard, but he’ll bounce back this week and finish ahead of Spieth, who hasn’t played here since 2019.
Cameron Davis (-110) vs. Keith Mitchell (-110)
Davis’ week will come down to whether he can keep the ball in the fairway because if he can, he’ll be able to attack pins and make enough birdies to contend.
Sony Open – Top American
Russell Henley (+1300)
Henley has the 3rd-best odds to be the top American in the field but he should probably have better odds than the favorite, Spieth (+1000). His iron play and accuracy off the tee set him up well at Waialae.
Sony Open – First-round leader
Si-Woo Kim (+5000)
Let’s get a little crazy. Kim shot 64 at the Shriners Children’s Open, but couldn’t finish the week strong to win the tournament. He has a knack for going really low on Thursday before fading a bit down the stretch.
More expert prop bet predictions
Group B winner: Corey Conners (+320)
Conners has the 2nd-best odds in this group at +320, behind only Brian Harman (+260). Tom Hoge (+350), Bill Horschel (400) and KH Lee (+425) are also in the group, but Conners has the best course history of the 5.
Also see: Sony Open outright winner picks and predicitons
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