Sony Open – 2024 Betting Preview

In the first full-field event of 2024, the PGA Tour hops Hawaiian islands for the second event of the “Aloha Swing”, going from Maui to O’ahu for the Sony Open played at the classical Waialae Country Club in Honolulu. With legendary figures such as Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Lee Trevino, and Ben Crenshaw having won championships here, the course carries on still today, withstanding the test of time. Having hosted the Sony Open since 1965, it is the third oldest annual course on Tour, only behind Colonial Country Club and Pebble Beach Golf Links.

Waialae CC is known as a shot-makers golf course distinguished by its narrow corridors, sharp doglegs, unpredictable Bermuda rough, and firm greens. It is a positional track that has effectively neutralized any advantages held by bombers off the tee. In essence, this week is all about strategy, position, and shot-making on a tight and flat course. In the words of Kevin Kisner, “I like that it’s a shot-maker’s golf course. It’s a shorter, ball-striker’s paradise. You’ve got to play to certain spots. I think it’s Point A to Point B and make some putts.” This is why we typically see the same type of player (shorter-hitting ball-striker with a quality short game) have success here year after year.

Coming off four rounds at the Plantation Course at Kapalua, this week will present quite the contrast with the completely divergent Waialae CC. While Kapalua has enormous amounts of slope and is the toughest walk in golf, Waialae is one of the flattest courses on Tour and is perhaps the easiest walk. The sizes of both courses are also completely different. Whereas Kapalua has massively wide fairways, Waialae has tight tree-lined corridors. The greens are also dissimilar from each other. Kapalua’s are much bigger with more slope and grain while Waialae’s are smaller, flatter, and easier to make putts.

While not a complete birdie-fest, minus the wind-blown 2020 event, the average winning score over the past five tournaments has been 21-under par. It’s a course where if you hit good shots, you can make a birdie on almost every hole. But if you are in the rough or out of position, it will be a tough scramble for par.

The Field

36 golfers who played in last week’s Sentry event are making the short trip to Honolulu this week. As the course trends show, those who did not play last week will need to shake off the competitive rust and will be at a slight disadvantage. Past performance at Waialae is of massive importance this week as it’s the second most predictive out of any course on Tour. Only Augusta National features a greater correlation with course history.

While not the star-studded event we saw at Kapalua, this will still be one of the strongest Sony Open fields ever with 15 of the top 40 and 33 of the top 65 in the Official World Golf Rankings in attendance. The main headliners include Matt Fitzpatrick, Brian Harman, Tyrrell Hatton, Keegan Bradley, Russell Henley, Ludvig Aberg, Hideki Matsuyama, and last week’s winner, Chris Kirk.

Will Zalatoris, who returned to competition at the Hero World Challenge in December, is scheduled to make his first official start since the 2023 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. Gary Woodland will also make his return to action after undergoing surgery in September to extract a brain lesion.

Being the first cut event of the year, the 144 golfers in the field will be “cut” to the top 65 players, including ties, by the end of Friday afternoon’s second round. Unlike The Sentry, the Sony Open is not a signature event and will have a prize purse of $7.9 million.

Past Winners and Odds