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PGA DraftKings and FanDuel DFS Primer: Sony Open (2025)

The PGA Tour stays in Hawaii but moves from the island of Maui to Oahu for the 60th edition of the Sony Open on Thursday afternoon. 144 golfers are set to tee off on this par 70 track, won by the late Grayson Murray in a three-man playoff against Byeong Hun An and Keegan Bradley in January 2024.

Waialae Country Club is a much different course compared to Kapalua last week but there should still be plenty of red filling players’ scorecards in the first full field event of the 2025 PGA Tour season. A 36-hole cut line will be enforced and 2022 Sony Open winner, Hideki Matsuyama, fresh off of a -35-under-par win at The Sentry, is the betting favorite at +900.

My Sentry DFS picks were a mixture of good and bad recommendations last week. The good came with Sungjae Im, carding a solo third-place finish at -29-under-par, including 11-under-par in Round 3, available at $9.5K on DraftKings. Austin Eckroat was the other quality add, logging a T15 finish at $8.4K on FanDuel, playing well during his debut at Kapalua. Nick Dunlap and Jake Knapp both busted lineups, unfortunately, as they turned in finishes of 55th and 56th in a 60-player field during the first Signature Event of 2025.

It’s a new week and we now have close to triple the number of prospects to target in our DraftKings and FanDuel DFS lineups at the Sony Open. Follow me on X at Matt_MacKay_ for more DFS PGA and weekly golf analysis.

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2025 Sony Open DraftKings and FanDuel DFS Primer

Previous Winners

  • 2024 – Grayson Murray (-17)
  • 2023 – Si Woo Kim (-18)
  • 2022 – Hideki Matsuyama (-23)
  • 2021 – Kevin Na (-21)

Relevant Betting Stats

  • Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee
  • Driving Accuracy
  • Strokes Gained: Approach
  • Strokes Gained: Putting

Course Overview

Waialae Country Club plays as a par 70 with Bermudagrass surfaces on the fairways, rough, and greens. Narrow, doglegged fairways lined with trees are consistently a theme, much different from the wide and expansive fairways at Kapalua.

Running only 7,044 yards as a par 70, coastal winds in Honolulu will be the predominant obstacle this week. Rough stands at 3.5 inches but there are hardly any water hazards, so golfers who can maintain accuracy off-the-tee and tee-to-green should have plenty of success.

The Bermudagrass greens are on the smaller side and flanked by at least three or more bunkers on half of the holes at Waialae. Two par 5s and four par 3s means that there won’t be nearly as many birdie opportunities compared to what we just watched at Kapalua. However, most of these par 4s run between 450 and 460 yards, allowing ball-strikers and accurate drivers to climb the leaderboard.

Past winning scored at Waialae are -17, -18, -23, and -21.

Recommended Plays: DraftKings

DraftKings maximum salary is set at $50,000

Taylor Pendrith: $8,800

Taylor Pendrith stands out to me at $8,800, coming off of a T13 finish at Kapalua last weekend. The Canadian won his first PGA Tour event in 2024 and recorded six top-five finishes to close out last season.

Pendrith is a phenomenal putter and has improved his ball-striking quite a bit. He also has a quality driver and placed T10 at Waialae last season. Make sure to grab Pendrith and insert him into DraftKings lineups as a quality prospect who can deliver a strong finish in this full field.

Luke Clanton: $8,400

Luke Clanton is a rising star at 21 years old, contending at several PGA Tour events as an amateur in 2024. Clanton will make his debut at Waialae and should be a quick study, following three top-five finishes in only eight events last season.

Clanton is a great ball-striker and can generate plenty of power off-the-tee, so I expect a strong showing during his first Sony Open event. His price has been inflated considerably since last season, sitting at $8,400, but it’s still a decent value compared to other favorites like Hideki Matsuyama, Corey Conners, and Tom Kim.

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Recommended Plays: FanDuel

FanDuel maximum salary is set at $60,000

Andrew Novak: $9,200

Andrew Novak missed the cut at Waialae in 2024 but he previously recorded a T12 at the Sony Open in 2023. Novak finished 2024 ranked 24th in total strokes gained, including 23rd on approach, 25th in proximity, and 34th in putting average.

Novak is a quality scrambler and ranked 14th on par 4s, which there will be an abundance of at Waialae this week. The North Carolina native was fourth in scoring average, 13th for greens in regulation rate, and recorded five top-10 finishes last season.

At $9,200, Novak is a solid acquisition to insert into FanDuel lineups ahead of Thursday’s opening round from Waialae.

Adam Hadwin: $8,400

Canadian golfer, Adam Hadwin, missed the cut at Waialae in 2024. His last two appearances haven’t been memorable, however, Hadwin finished 2024 with five top-tens and ranked 17th in strokes gained: off-the-tee.

Hadwin’s driver will be very helpful in this spot, while he is a fantastic putter, ranking 10th SG: putting a year ago. 18th in total driving, including 13th for driver accuracy, and 28th in par 4 scoring are additional metrics that suggest Hadwin could finally be set up for a good showing at Waialae.

He logged a 29th-place finish at Kapalua a week ago in a field of only 60 golfers. Hadwin’s approach shots will determine whether this is a good or bad investment, but I believe in his driver and putter enough to warrant adding him into FanDuel lineups at $8,400.

Try Daily Fantasy Golf at FanDuel now

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

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