If the golf scenery in Hawaii makes you happy while you sit inside with temperatures hovering just over freezing, you're in luck. We have another week of (really quality) PGA Tour golf from the island to consume. If it simply makes you angry that you're not there or not playing golf, fear not, the California swing is on deck (although the Pebble Beach views won't make you any less jealous).
Let's take a look at this week's contest.
Event information
What: Sony Open | Where: Honolulu, Hawaii | When: Jan. 11-14
Field and odds
- Jordan Spieth: 5-1
- Justin Thomas: 7-1
- Marc Leishman: 14-1
- Brian Harman: 18-1
- Kevin Kisner: 22-1
- Cameron Smith: 33-1
- Daniel Berger: 33-1
- Russell Henley: 33-1
- Tony Finau: 33-1
- Webb Simpson: 33-1
- Gary Woodland: 33-1
- Zach Johnson: 33-1
Field strength: B+
Any field with Thomas and Spieth is going to get nothing less than a B+, but the group behind those two is not necessarily great. There are interesting stories to watch (Tony Finau, Ollie Schniederjans and Peter Uihlein among them) but gone is the star power from last week with Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler and Jon Rahm.
Three stories to watch
1. Justin Thomas' defense: Title defenses are always intriguing, even more so when they involve the No. 4 player in the world. And even more so when that golfer is trying to defend with a new caddie -- Phil Mickelson's old looper, Jim "Bones" Mackay -- on the bag. Thomas did not play well at the Sentry Tournament of Champions last week in Maui so I'm intrigued to watch the rebound this week at the course where it felt like his outrageous 2017 was launched.
2. Kapalua boost? One interesting thing to note about this event is that 13 of the last 19 winners have also played at the Tournament of Champions the week before. That happening again would preclude all but a handful of golfers like Spieth, Thomas, Brian Harman, Daniel Berger and Marc Leishman from the title. Of the 34 that contended at the Tournament of Champions, only 20 are playing in this tournament, too.
3. Youth movement: We talk a lot about age at the top of the Official World Golf Rankings (the Jordan Spieths and Rickie Fowlers). What we don't talk about as much is the infiltration of youngsters in the tiers below them. This week's odds board is littered with fascinating (and potentially budding) young stars like Peter Uihlein, Ollie Schniederjans, Jamie Lovemark, Aaron Wise, Patrick Rodgers, Kyle Stanley and Austin Cook. Any one of them could win and insert themselves into that conversation with the upper crust, and it's going to be incredibly interesting to see who actually emerges from the heap.
Past winners
- 2017: Justin Thomas
- 2016: Fabian Gomez
- 2015: Jimmy Walker
- 2014: Jimmy Walker
- 2013: Russell Henley
A bizarre list, to be sure, but the unifying thread for all of those golfers is that they have strong short games. Waialae is not a course begging to be overpowered, but it can certainly be picked apart, hole by hole, to the tune of some outrageously low scores (like Thomas' 27-under 253 last year).
Sony Open picks
Winner: Tony Finau finished T20 last season, and I have already pushed all my chips to the middle of the table. It's not difficult to see him pulling a J.T. from last year and running the show for all four rounds in Honolulu as he embarks on a special 2018. Nine of his last 17 tournaments have ended with a top 20. Odds: 33-1
Top 10: Charles Howell III's Sony Open stats are staggering. He's finished in the top 10 nine times in 16 appearances here. Nine times! And somehow he hasn't won it. His most recent top 10 was a T8 in 2017. I see no reason why he won't at least match that in 2018. Odds: 35-1
Sleeper: Jason Dufner rocked a Notorious BIG hat during the Tournament of Champions last week, and he hit it beautifully. He finished T9 here two years ago, but the problem for him (as usual) is going to be putting well enough to keep up. His 40-1 odds are nice, though, and I'm more than willing to take a flyer. Odds: 40-1
