The PGA Tour stays in Hawaii this week, with the Waialae Country Club hosting the Sony Open.
In contrast to last week’s course, Waialae contains a short layout, it’s a positional course not favouring big hitters but those who find fairways and greens, and putt well.
With this in mind, we’re going to side with Sungjae Im. The Korean finished fifth last week at Kapalua and comes off his second place at the Masters in Augusta late last year. Those two courses tend to favour players with previous experience, something that Im didn’t really have, and he now plays a course which he has been around on two previous occasions.
He finished 16th on debut and 21st on his second visit, and can be expected to improve on those outings given his current form. Im plays well on Bermuda greens and in the wind, and at 16/1 he offers value.
Our second selection is Brendon Todd. The American is usually an excellent putter, and some find this course more to his liking than the long, rolling terrain of last week. Even then, he finished 13th, not far away from the leaders, and this follows his eighth place in the Mayakoba Classic on his final start of 2020. He has a solid record in this tournament, and has shown form in the wind previously, given he won the 2019 Bermuda Championship.
Recommendations:
Im to win, 1 pt, at 16/1, widely available
Todd 0.5 pts each way at 40/1, 1/5 the odds for first 8 places, SkyBet
