The PGA Tour is off and running in the new year, although it isn’t running very far. After opening 2019 last week in Maui, the Tour moves to the Big Island for the Sony Open in Hawaii, contested at the Waialae Country Club in Honolulu. And unlike last week’s invitation-only event that featured 34 players, the field expands to 144 competitors this week with the cut rule back in place.
Around 20 players made the trip from Maui to compete this week. However, we won’t see Xander Schauffele, who tied a course record at Kapalua to win the TOC. Gary Woodland claimed runner-up honors last week and was the only golfer to shoot all four rounds in the 60s. He’s listed as the fourth favorite on odds posted at BookMaker.eu at +1439. Justin Thomas took solo third at the TOC and is the betting favorite this week at +575 while defending champion Patton Kizzire is at +4025.
Odds to Win Sony Open in Hawaii at BookMaker.eu
Justin Thomas +575
Bryson Dechambeau +982
Jordan Spieth +1439
Gary Woodland +1439
Marc Leishman +1871
Cameron Champ +2924
Cameron Smith +3003
Charles Howell III +3262
Patrick Reed +3288
Hideki Matsuyama +3574
Kyle Stanley +4008
Patton Kizzire +4025
Emiliano Grillo +4125
Matt Kuchar +4300
Abraham Ancer +4529
Paul Casey +4555
Brian Harman +4809
Kevin Kisner +5050
Scott Piercy +5555
Zach Johnson +5555
Si Woo Kim +5788
Adam Scott +6575
Andrew Putnam +7000
Bubba Watson +7050
Sungjae Im +7077
Keegan Bradley +7575
Ian Poulter +8000
Kevin Tway +8000
Russell Knox +8000
Adam Hadwin +8000
Chris Kirk +8000
Brandt Snedeker +8100
Russell Henley +8555
Danny Lee +9000
Jimmy Walker +9000
Chez Reavie +9500
Pat Perez +9800
Dylan Frittelli +9800
Patrick Rodgers +9800
Ryan Armour +9800
Kevin Na +12500
Jamie Lovemark +12500
Sam Burns +12500
Steve Stricker +13500
James Hahn +13500
Brian Gay +13500
Brice Garnett +13500
Ryan Blaum +13500
Jason Dufner +14500
Brian Stuard +14500
Any Other Player Not Listed +305
Odds Analysis
Justin Thomas +575
He had a tough time converting on the greens last week, but Thomas was the best in the field at Kapalua getting there. He finished alone in third at 18-under, five shots back of Schauffele, and ended the tournament with a 65. He loves banging the irons and did so expertly here two years ago with tournament record 27-under, highlighted by a magnificent 59 in the first round. Thomas digs playing on the islands with back-to-back victories at the TOC and Sony Open in 2017 and his third-place finish last week.
Charles Howell III +3262
If you’re looking for experience and course knowledge, there’s no one better than Howell. His odds are long, but given his play at Waialae it wouldn’t be a stretch to consider him a contender. He’s played the last 10 Opens and he has nine top-10 finishes in 17 career starts here. And really, aside from Thomas the field is wide open. Howell has experienced recent success as well. He won the RSM Classic in November and tied for third at 28-under in the QBE Shootout. He got greased up for this event with a share of 14th at last week’s TOC.
Jordan Spieth +1439
He’s listed as the third favorite, but he probably shouldn’t be that high. Spieth is making his first start since getting hitched in late November, so there’s the rust factor to consider. And he was on a run of poor form prior to that. He finished 55th at the Shriners and followed that by missing the cut at the Mayakoba Classic. He went without a Tour victory last season and has placed inside the top-10 just once in his last 15 starts. You could say he’s due, and the course suits his game. But there are better value picks out there.
Gary Woodland +1439
Taking a 3-shot lead into the final round at the TOC, it wasn’t going to take a monumental comeback or an epic collapse to lose. Schauffele had the comeback with a 62 to win by a single shot. Woodland did nothing wrong and it was tough to imagine him falling after posting a bogey-free 68 on Sunday. Getting over last week’s loss shouldn’t be too hard considering Woodland has had good times here, finishing T21 or better after each of his last 14 rounds.
Course: Waialae Country Club – 7,020-yards, par-70
The course has hosted this event since 1965 and is short by Tour standards. Those who played last week will have to do an abrupt change to their approach. The beast at Kapalua measured over 7,500 yards at par 73 and played to the long strikers. Now we have the tidy layout at Waialae that goes just over 7,000 yards. The track will force players to club down off the tee box with importance on placement rather than distance. It’s a straightforward layout with few hazards which is why we’ve seen some low scores in the past. Two years ago Justin Thomas won the prize with a record 27-under. It appears as though the weather is going to cooperate, which should lead to more birdies and eagles.
TV Coverage: Golf Channel
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