Sentry Tournament of Champions - Recap
That was a fun way to start 2023 calendar year! I can’t believe that comeback by Jon Rahm and collapse by Morikawa. Sadly, none of outright guys really contended and Xander didn’t have the common courtesy to withdraw prior to teeing off.
Scottie played well enough to secure the top 10 win and we unfortunately split our matchup wagers which did nothing but cost us a bit of money. A 1.7u loss in a week is nothing too bad at all.
Sony Open in Hawaii
The PGA Tour continues in Hawaii with a trip over to Honolulu and the Waialae Country Club for its first full-field event of the calendar year. This course plays to a par 70 across a stunning ~7,000 yards.
This event can trace its history back to 1965 when it was held in the fall and called the Hawaiian Open, and ever since it has been hosted at the Waialae Countr Club.
While this event may not always have the strength of the fields as the two events that sandwich it, the list of winners has been impressive (even if it includes LIV guys). The 2022 edition was won by Hideki Matsuyama in a playoff vs Russell Henley (both shot -23), the 2021 edition was won by Kevin Na (-21) who topped Chris Kirk and Joaquin Niemann by 1 stroke and 2020 saw Cam Smith win a playoff over Brendan Steele (both shot -11). The course record of 253 was shot by JT back in 2017 when he won the tournament by 7 strokes over Justin Rose.
Per Kenny Kim, there are some really interesting trends to take into account for the Sony Open:
Only 4 golfers in their 20s have won this event since 2000
17 of the last 24 winners played the ToC the week before
The last 12 winners had at least one Top 15 in their prior 3 events leading into the Sony win
Let’s get to this week’s card (about 7.6u of risk):
Outright:
0.5u on Brian Harman +2200
0.25u on Keegan Bradley +3500
0.25u on Andrew Putnam +5500
0.25u on Chris Kirk +10000
T10 (0.25u on each):
Brian Harman +235
Matt Kuchar +500
Chris Kirk +800
T20
1u on Brian Harman +120
0.6u on Sungjae Kim -120
0.5u on Matt Kuchar +235
0.25u on Andrew Putnam +220
0.25u on Chris Kirk +350
Matchups
1.44u on Sungjae Im over Jordan Spieth -144
0.635u on Ryan Palmer over Kevin Streeleman -127
0.62u on Brain Harman over Hideki Matsuyama -124
0.3175u on JT Poston over Gary Woodland -127
As always, I am using BetOnline and Bovada to pull these odds. I bet them as I write this so they are live within the 30 min or so of publication.
Daily Fantasy
Alright let’s take a small shot (about $30 worth of contests)
Harman 9,700
Montgomery 9,000
Putnam 8,000
Grillo 8,000
Kuchar 7,900
Kirk 7,400