PGA DraftKings and FanDuel DFS Primer: Sony Open in Hawaii (2023)

2023 has already delivered plenty of entertainment on the golf course. In the first PGA event of the new year last weekend, we saw Collin Morikawa start off red-hot, going at least seven-under-par in each of his first three rounds, until an epic collapse on the back-nine with three consecutive bogeys cost him the outright win. Jon Rahm had a fast-paced start in the opening round too, but he faltered with a two-under-par outing on Friday, forcing him to play catch-up. The Spaniard wound up sinking five birdies on the front-nine on Sunday, while hitting four par breakers in a row on the back-nine, including an Eagle on the par 5 16th hole, gaining the lead in the final moments and never looking back. Rahm avenged his runner-up finish from a year ago, where he delivered a bristling -33 scorecard that was one stroke behind Cameron Smith, who set the course record at Kapalua. Other notable finishes included Tom Hoge (T3/-23), Max Homa (T3/-23), and Tom Kim (T5/-22) in an exclusive event with only 39 players competing without cut lines.

This week, players will island hop from Maui to Oahu to play the Waialae Country Club course in Honolulu, Hawaii. The standard format returns as well, with 144 players competing in the field, along with the return of enforced cut lines after the first two rounds are played. Waialae is a much less arduous course to walk, as it is level with the Pacific Ocean and has plenty of birdie opportunities with Bermuda greens and over 80 sand bunkers lining the fairways and flanking the greens. Waialae is a par 70 that measures just over 7,000 yards, so players will go from a par 73 but have less yardage to navigate in comparison to Kapalua. Hideki Matsuyama won in a one-hole playoff over Russell Henley in 2022, driving a shot into the setting sun and winding up with a tap-in eagle to win the Sony Open last year.

Since we have so many players available to roster in DFS lineups, there is a ton of value to obtain in the Sony Open. Let’s get right into the slate, as I’ll provide my justification and reasoning for each of the six players I’ve identified as assets in DraftKings and FanDuel DFS lineups at the 2023 Sony Open.

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Previous Winners

2022 – Hideki Matsuyama (-23)
2021 – Kevin Na (-21)
2020 – Cameron Smith (-11)
2019 – Matt Kuchar (-22)
2018 – Patton Kizzire (-17)

Relevant Betting Stats

Greens in Regulation percentage
Strokes Gained Off-the-Tee
Strokes Gained Tee-to-Green
Sand save percentage
Driver Accuracy

Course Overview

Waialae Country Club was designed by Seth Raynor back in the 1960s and has been the site for every Sony Open since the tournament began. This year marks the 58th event played at Waialae, playing as a par 70 that tips to 7.044 yards. It’s notably shorter than the Plantation Course at Kapalua last week, but there is still plenty of coastal winds to challenge ball strikers if the weather doesn’t cooperate. There are only two par 5s and four par 3s at Waialae, reducing the number of easy birdie opportunities that players were afforded on several par 5 holes last weekend. However, there are a couple of par 4 holes that run shy of 400 yards, creating two additional birdie opportunities on the back-nine.

It’s a scenic course that has its back-nine and front-nine play reversed to provide a more pleasurable viewing experience on television, capturing the sun setting west over the Pacific Ocean. Renovations were made to the course in 1999 and we’ve seen quite a few red scorecards due to the Bermuda greens that measure 12 feet via the Stimpmeter, which is a foot faster in terms of putting velocity. As long as players have strong tee shots and approach shots, there should be quite a few eagles and birdies to go around in a field four times bigger than last week’s Sentry Tournament of Champions event.

Recommended Plays: DraftKings

DraftKings maximum salary is set at $50,000

Tom Kim: $10,500
There has only been one outright winner at the Sony Open in his debut, which is what 20-year-old phenom Tom Kim is attempting to replicate at Waialae this weekend. Kim is the betting favorite to win outright at 11/1 odds and is fresh off of a T5 at Kapalua, leading all players in strokes gained tee-to-green and par-5 scoring. He’s as pure of a ball striker as you’ll find on the PGA Tour, so despite the high salary, I’m going chalky and locking Kim into as many DFS lineups as possible.

Brian Harman: $9,700
Brian Harman has been playing excellent golf this season, stringing together a T16 (-18) finish at Sentry, while previously recording a pair of T2 finishes at Mayakoba and the RSM Classic earlier in the Fall. Harman has had a lot of success at Waialae historically, but he hasn’t hit a T10 finish since logging a T4 finish in 2017. He’s had several T25 finishes here and due to the 75 percent greens in regulation conversion rate he possesses, paired with the fifth-most accurate driver, Harman is a solid value to acquire at $9,700 on DraftKings.

Matt Kuchar: $7,900
42-year-old veteran Matt Kuchar won the 2019 Sony Open outright, so at an incredibly low salary, I’m willing to invest in his upside. Kuchar did not compete at Sentry last weekend but he does have finishes of T12, T29, and T27 in his last three solo events played in the Fall. Kuchar tends to have a shaky putter but he’s ranked 11th in strokes gained tee-to-green and 27th in strokes gained approaching the green, displaying his finesse and accuracy around the hole and on par 3s. It’s a course that fits Kuchar, who logged a T7 (-17) finish in 2022 at Waialae, so take the value and watch the points pile up in your DraftKings lineups.

Recommended Plays: FanDuel

FanDuel maximum salary is set at $60,000

Russell Henley: $11,300
We’re being forced to pay top dollar for Russell Henley due to his extraordinary outright win back in 2013. While he has been the only player thus far to defy the trends and win at Waialae in his debut, the 33-year-old American nearly pulled off his second outright win in 2022 but fell victim to Hideki Matsuyama’s clutch approach shot in a one-hole playoff. Henley already has a win under his belt this season at Mayakoba and logged a T30 at Sentry last week, but he’s had two consecutive T12 finishes at Waialae, so invest in his accurate driver and ability to hit greens in regulation with consistency ahead of Thursday’s opening round.

J.J. Spaun: $9,900
The emergence of J.J. Spaun is underway. The 32-year-old native of Los Angeles, California had a strong showing at Sentry to add to his impressive finishes to begin the 2023 PGA season. Spaun opened last week’s event with an opening round of nine-under-par and wound up logging a T5 (-22) finish, making it his fifth T25 finish in seven events played. Spaun converts over 73 percent of his greens in regulation and averages 4.3 birdies per round, so he’s going to return a lot of value at under $10,000 on FanDuel. Admittedly, it’s a risky endeavor since he’s missed the cut at Sony in three consecutive previous appearances, but he’s playing his best golf right now and should be able to advance and log his sixth T25 finish of the year once Sunday concludes.

Greyson Sigg: $8,500
Digging deep into the value plays, I found Greyson Sigg. The 27-year-old native of Georgia hasn’t played since the RSM Classic in November, where he finished T15 (-13) with a strong closing round. Sigg has three T25 finishes in six events this season and has yet to miss a cut line, providing stability as a floor play in DFS lineups. His only previous appearance at the Sony Open in 2022 netted a T42 finish, so let’s hope he continues his ascent, since he is the 14th-ranked strokes gained putter on the PGA Tour, which will be an asset on the fast Bermuda green surfaces at Waialae this weekend.

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Matthew MacKay is a featured writer for FantasyPros. For more from Matthew, check out his archive and follow him @Matt_MacKay_.