Weekly PGA Preview: Sony Open in Hawaii

This article is part of our Weekly PGA Preview series.

Sony Open in Hawaii

Waialae CC
Honolulu, HI

The PGA Tour heads to Honolulu for another edition of the Sony Open in Hawaii. 

We're off and running in 2025 and if this past week is any indication, Hideki Matsuyama is going to break the scoring record by 1000 shots this season. Okay, so the Sentry is a bit of an outlier when the wind isn't blowing, but still, those guys at the top put on a heck of a performance. Expect the scores to come down just a bit this week though. Sticking with this past week, Matsuyama was the story, and the question now becomes, where does he go from here? "Mats" has always been a high-end golfer on the PGA Tour and yet, there's always been this sense that there could be more there. Injuries have slowed his progress at times, and don't get me wrong, he's a major champion and well accomplished, so this isn't an exercise on how Matsuyama has failed, but he's had trouble staying near his ceiling throughout his career. With that said, we might be witnessing a new level unlocked with Matsuyama. Not only did he blow away expectations this past season, but he's already off to a great start this season. A couple more wins this season, along with another major and suddenly Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele have some company on the second rung of the PGA Tour ladder.                                                              

All odds via FanDuel Sportsbook as of 7:00 PM ET Tuesday.

LAST YEAR

Grayson Murray shot a final round 67 on his way to playoff victory over Keegan Bradley and Byeong Hun An. 

FAVORITES

Hideki Matsuyama (9-1) 

Matsuyama is nearing the second-tier when it comes to the odds as well, but he's not quite there yet. He's the clear favorite at Waialae, but if Schauffele or Scheffler were in the field, with only Corey Conners next in line, their odds would be lower than 9-1. So that's the only decision to make this week. Do you feel that Matsuyama is on a track to join the elite? If so, he makes a run this week as well. If not, then you simply pass. I do think he's going to join Schauffele and crew, so I am expecting another strong run and possibly a win.  

 Corey Conners (14-1)

Conners also started the season on a high note with a top-5 at the Sentry this past week. Conners also lead the field in SG: Putting, which is both good and bad. Good if he can keep it up, fool's gold if he can't. Either way, Conners has a shot this week because he knows how to get around this course. He's played here six times and he's yet to miss a cut. His upside has been limited to this point, but if he putts like last week, that'll change fast.     

Tom Kim (20-1)

This will likely be a pivotal year in the career of Kim. He came on like gang busters in 2022, then backed that up with a great 2023 season, only to fall back down to Earth a bit in 2024. By falling back down to Earth, I mean he looked like a very good PGA Tour player instead of a phenomenal one. With all we've seen from Kim, it's hard to believe that he's only just 22 years old. This could be the year he takes off again, or it might be another like this past year. Either way, he'll produce at a high level, but I should point out that he missed the cut here in his only previous start. I might hold off on win wagers until we get to a new venue.  

THE NEXT TIER

Keegan Bradley (25-1)

Perhaps one of the runner-ups can breakthrough for the win here this year? It's not a terrible strategy to go with golfers that have a track record of playing well at this event as it shows a history of being able to play well off a long break. For Bradley, however, his long break ended this past week at the Sentry where he posted a top-15, so we know his form is good enough to make a run this week. His track record here is all over the place, with four missed cuts in 12 starts, but he also has three top-12s in his past five starts. We'll know pretty early in the week if he's going to be a factor.                                   

Byeong Hun An (28-1)

An isn't quite the workhorse he was in 2021 and 2023, but he still loves to play about as often as he can. He did pull back from his previous levels this past year however and it definitely paid off as he posted a career high in earnings. Whether that was just a coincidence or not, we'll never know, but I would assume he'll keep a similar schedule this season. As for this week, An finished runner-up a year ago and T12 in 2023, so he obviously likes this course. He also got four decent rounds in this past week at the Sentry, so there's no rust to worry about.               

Taylor Pendrith (35-1)   

Following the trend using guys that played well at Kapalua, next up is Pendrith who finished T13 at The Sentry. Pendrith is coming off his best season on the PGA Tour, so it's important to see how he starts this season. If he starts well, which I'm expecting, then he could be in for another career year. I'm expecting a solid season from Pendrith and a good showing this week as well.

LONG SHOTS

Thomas Detry (60-1)     

Perhaps I'm going a little overboard on the guys that played well a week ago, but there is so much unknown about the form of the guys that we haven't seen for months. It's a little unnerving placing money on them. I'd rather go with someone who we know has the form to win this week and Detry fits that bill as he posted a solid T5 this past week at the Sentry. This will be his first time at this event, however. 

Nico Echavarria (100-1)   

I'm going to stick with Nico for one more week. Notice that his odds went from 125-1 this past week to 100-1 this week, perhaps others are catching on. He did not contend at The Sentry, but he played well enough to make me think he could make another run soon. He has played here twice and made the cut both times. His best showing was a T12 in 2023.                       

ONE-AND-DONE LEAGUES

Highly-Chosen Pick: Hideki Matsuyama - If you are thinking like me, then you may not want to use Matsuyama, but I have a feeling that many OAD players will be on him. I'd suggest saving him, but I can't argue with anyone who wants to use a guy that just set a PGA Tour scoring record. Winning back-to-back is always tough, but the field is thin this week and Matsuyama is rolling so who knows. 

Moderately-Chosen Pick: Corey Conners - We have to remember that this is not a signature event, so the purse is much lower than what we had at The Sentry. With that in mind, many OAD players will look past Matsuyama, but everyone else in the field should be in play. Conners is thought to have a high ceiling in general and if he continues to putt like he did this past week, this could be a great spot to use him.    

Lightly-Chosen Pick: Thomas Detry - Detry certainly caught some attention with his top-5 at The Sentry, but I can't imagine many OAD players will be on him until he strings together some more solid performances. With that in mind, this might be a good opportunity to gain on the field as he's likely to play well this week with his current form.    

Buyer Beware: Robert MacIntyre - This is not shot at "Bobby Mac", in fact, I was ahead of the curve on MacIntyre prior to this past season, but I wonder if all the success this past season might lead to a bit of let down this year. I always believed that he could succeed on the PGA Tour, but his performance in 2024 went well above what I thought he could do. Maybe he keeps moving upwards, who knows, but I have this feeling that he comes back down a bit this season. 

This Week: Byeong Hun An - I took a chance this past week with Echavarria and it kind of paid off, well, it certainly didn't hurt me, but this week I'm going high-end (for this field anyway). An has the track record here, he's coming off a career-best season and he knocked the rust off this past week. He checks all the boxes. Unfortunately, he's going to be popular in OAD leagues.  

Previous Results

FANDUEL PICKS

Upper Range: Hideki Matsuyama ($12,500)
Middle Range: Taylor Pendrith ($10,500)
Lower Range: Nico Echavarria ($8,900)

SURVIVOR LEAGUES

This Week: Byeong Hun An - I'm going to start the season with a double-up. An has only played this event twice, but he's cleared the cut line with ease both times and has shot in the 60s in 7/8 rounds. As mentioned earlier, there's also no worry about rust, which is perhaps more important in this format than the OAD format.