Sony Open
Written by: Ian Robins
Review of Last Week:
It was a banner weekend for The Line Movers Network as Cameron Smith led from start to finish to win the first event in 2022. Smith took home the Sentry Tournament of Champions crown as he held off world number 1 Jon Rahm to claim the wire to wire victory and cash our 22-1 ticket. Smith, along with fellow Aussies Marc Leishman and Cam Davis finished inside the top 10 to cash those tickets as well. Our only prop market play was Bryson Dechambeau to score an eagle on day 1, which he did on the easy course, all in all turning in a fantastic weekend on the links.
Photo Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
The Course:
The tour stays in Hawaii this week for our first full field tournament of the calendar year with the Sony Open. The Sony Open will be played at Waialae Country Club. This course is a par 70, 7000 yard course that is one of the prototypical short courses on tour. The greens are Bermuda grass. The course sets up with the biggest defense being potential for wind on the coastal course. Weather forecasts and potential splits in tee times will be key to check.
With this course being a short course, we want to look at players who are accurate, but not necessarily long off the tee. We also want to put a heavy emphasis on approach play as players want to be precise with their irons to land on the smaller greens and closer to the pin. With the greens being a little bit smaller than average size as well, we will be looking for players who can get them out of trouble and scramble well.
Top tier:
My top 3 players to back this week will be the trio of Marc Leishman, Abraham Ancer, and Corey Conners. Leishman has been in stellar form recently picking up last week where he left off in the fall and finishing in the top 10 at the Tournament of Champions. Leishman is a great coastal player, with his control in the wind. He has also been a very strong January player, along with many Aussies as they prefer to play this time of year. Riding a great ball striker who has the ability to putt well. Corey Conners is the next top player in the field as he is the absolute best ball striker in this field. Conners is on the fringe of taking the next leap into the elite golfer company, just looking for that next breakthrough win. The weakness for Conners has always been his putting, however he is strongest on Bermuda grass and actually has a great putting history at the Sony. Abe Ancer is ready to take over the claim as best short course player that Webb Simpson has held for so many years. Ancer struggled with the big, long wide open course last week but his game is much better suited for this week. He is a great short iron approach player and very strong on the greens. Ancer can putt well as well and is looking to break out this year as an elite player on tour.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Mid-range:
A couple of younger players who started on the DP World Tour and are now full fledged members of the PGA Tour are Seamus Power and Christiaan Bezuidenhout. Both of these players are drastically improved and a little underpriced to where their talent is. Power is a strong ball striker and a great birdie maker. He has done his best work in weaker fields, but has been strong this fall and last week and looking to break through to another level. Bezuidenhout is a multiple winner on the World Tour and a top 50 player in the world. He is the top ranked putter on Bermuda greens and is a very good short course player. His skill around the greens and approach play line up well for this event.
Getty Images
Book A (Pay Ties in Full)
Both players get paid out in full
Leishman returns 2.2U profit on 1U bet
Davis returns 4U on 1U bet
A nice total return of 6.2U
Book B (Dead Heat Rules)
There is a tie for 10th, so the
dead heat rules come in to
place. Leishman and Davis
finish in 10th and and 11th
position, meaning there is 1
spot in the top 10 available
for the two players.
the dead heat equation would
be 1 spot divided 2 players.
Leishman +220/2 = +110 or
1.1U return.
Davis +400/2 = +200 or a 2U
return