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It is a new year but some things never change. Jordan Spieth kicked off the 2016 season shooting a -30 en route to a 8 stroke win over defending champion Patrick Reed. In an interview Tuesday before the tournament he was asked what he is going to do for an encore this year?
"Doesn't an encore mean that the show is then over?" Spieth replied.
Then he went out and delivered a dominating performance as he did so many times last season. If this is foreshadowing for the future and what we should expect for the 2016 season, we are in store for a great year.
For a second straight week we will be enjoying the PGA Tour from the beautiful islands of Hawaii. This week is the Sony Open at the Waialae Country Club in Honolulu, Hawaii. We are back to a full field event this week with 140 golfers and a Friday cut seeing the Top 70 golfers and ties make it to the weekend. Jimmy Walker is the two time defending champion and will look to make it three in a row this weekend. No one has won the same event three years in a row since Steve Stricker took down three John Deere Classic's from 2009-2011.
Waialae Country Club is a Par 70 that measures 7,044 yards. The course is set on the east coast of the island and can be affected by the trade winds off the sea. The fairways are forgiving but with the strategically placed trees and bunkers it does require an accurate placement of the drive to be in position to attack the pin and make birdies. There are five Par 4's that are 450+ yards so distance can be an advantage this week. We will also want players who hit greens in regulation and good putters always benefit no matter what course.
This week I went back through the last five years and looked at the players with multiple Top 10 finishes and looked at their scoring on the Par 3's, 4's, and 5's. I have included this tab on the cheatsheet showing each players scoring in each year they scored a Top 10. Here are the players with multiple Top 10 finishes:
Below is a list of all the featured stats being used this week. There are a few extra stats this week as there have been a wide variety of player types who have had success here.
**Stats for the first month of the season will be pulled from the 2015 rankings**
Jimmy Walker
Vegas Odds - 14/1
Draftkings - $12,200
Fantasy Feud - $193,000
Fantasy Aces - $6,200
The favorite to win and highest priced player on DraftKings this week. Waialae is a course where a collection of the same players keep showing up on the leaderboards. Right at the top of that list is Walker who has won this tournament the last two years. During the past two years he has played the Par 3's with a total score of +1, crushed the Par 4's to the tune of -26 and has also torched the Par 5's going -15 to par. He is long off the tee and makes up for the low rank in accuracy stats by being an elite putter. Walker always seems to be at his best in Hawaii and is coming off a T10 in last weekends Tournament of Champions.
Matt Kuchar
Vegas Odds - 22/1
Draftkings - $11,500
Fantasy Feud - $172,000
Fantasy Aces - $6,100
When looking at the previous five years at the Sony Open your #1 horse for the course has been Matt Kuchar. No he hasn't won a tournament but has played here four times in five years and finished 5th, 5th, 8th, and 3rd last year. He is a top player Tee to Green and exceeds on both Par 4's and Par 5's and it has showed in his four Top 10 finishes in the last five years. He has scored a total of -9 on the Par 4's and a total of -13 o the Par 5's. Another Top 10 should be in the mix for Kuchar and the forecast for smiles 100% guaranteed.
Justin Thomas
Vegas Odds - 22/1
Draftkings - $10,800
Fantasy Feud - $158,000
Fantasy Aces - $5,350
Coming off a terrific rookie season on the PGA Tour, Thomas got his break through win at the CIMB Classic in November. It could very well be the first win of many for the young star. He ranked highly in a ton stats highlighted by a #1 ranking in Par 5 Performance, 17th in SG:T2G, 15th in Driving Distance, and 37th in GIR. His weakness lies with accuracy and putting and is something can be worked on over time. He finished 6th here last year in his first trip to Hawaii and should enjoy similar success this time around. He is a safe pick in any format. He should be lower owned in tournaments as his price has sky rocketed from last week where he finished 21st of 32 golfers at the Tournament of Champions.
Charles Howell III
Vegas Odds - 33/1
Draftkings - $9,700
Fantasy Feud - $123,000
Fantasy Aces - $4,850
Mr. Consistency on the PGA Tour hasn't missed a cut since July last year at the Greenbrier. Add to it his track record here at Waialae and you have a terrific pick this week. He has played here in each of the last five years and hasn't missed a cut and has recorded three Top 10's(14', 13', 12') and finished 26th here last year. In those three straight years with Top 10's he has been very balanced across Par 3's(-7), Par 4's(-15) and Par 5's(-16). He is an extremely safe pick for cash games and has the course history to be considered in tournaments.
Tony Finau
Vegas Odds - 50/1
Draftkings - $8,300
Fantasy Feud - $109,000
Fantasy Aces - $4,500
A great tournament play this week that should come in low owned if people look at his results here last year. He missed the cut which was mainly due to awful putting display which resulted in him shooting even on the Par 4's. I don't see that happening this time around as he ranked 21st on tour by years end in Par 4 Birdie or Better %. He played three events during the wrap around portion of the new season and finished 32nd at the FRYS.com Open, T16 at the Shriners Open, and 9th at the CIMB Classic. Look for him to make some more noise this week at the Sony Open.
David Hearn
Vegas Odds - 80/1
Draftkings - $7,000
Fantasy Feud - $88,000
Fantasy Aces - $3,900
The floor is high as he hasn't missed a cut here in five straight years making him a great cash game play for the price. He isn't going to contend for the win but is extremely consistent here due to his strong play on Par 4's, highly ranked GIR, and he is also a great putter. After missing the cut at the FRYS.com Open in October he has reeled off four straight cuts made including a Top 10 at the RSM Classic.
Pat Perez
Vegas Odds - 125/1
Draftkings - $6,500
Fantasy Feud - $74,000
Fantasy Aces - $4,000
A terrific low end option for tournaments who has a terrific track here at Waialae Country Club. He hasn't missed a cut here in six years and has really enjoyed success the previous three years(T17, T8, T9). He is very much boom or bust almost anywhere else but he seems very comfortable here in Hawaii.
Shawn Stefani
Vegas Odds - 100/1
Draftkings - $6,400
Fantasy Feud - $67,000
Fantasy Aces - $3,600
He has played here twice in the last five years with a 59th in 2013 and a T6 last year. When looking at the feature stats for this course setup Stefani ranks right at the top. He has a long drive, hits a ton of greens in regulation and crushes the Par 4's and 5's. He has been inconsistent since the end of the 2015 season but only missed five cuts in 26 starts last year. Great low end value play for tournaments that I will even give cash game consideration to this week.
Want to see how these picks and more fit into lineups for Sony Open in Hawaii? Chris is selling lineups for only $5. He covers DraftKings Cash Games & Tournaments. Fill out the form below or click here to purchase using PayPal. This is a separate service than our traditional monthly membership.
Sony Open in Hawaii
Chris Durell has been playing Daily Fantasy Sports for three years and fantasy in general for more than a decade. He is active player in college football, NFL, NBA and of course PGA. He lives in Saskatchewan, Canada with his wife and two daughters. You can follow him on Twitter at @jager_bombs9 for advice, strategy, answers to any PGA questions and how he copes with the winters up north.
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