2022 Sony Open in Hawaii Sleepers and Longshot Picks

• The 2022 Sony Open  from Waialae Country Club in Honolulu, Hawaii tees off Thursday, January 13th
•  Kevin Kisner has finished T5 or better at this tournament three times since 2014
• Read below for our favorite sleepers and longshots in the outright, T10 and T20 markets

Full field golf is back. From now until the end of August, the best players in the world will be on your TV screen every weekend providing hundreds of hours of gambling entertaiment.

This week, the PGA Tour moves over to Honolulu, Hawaii for the Sony Open, the second leg of the Hawaii swing. Cam Smith, the 2020 Sony Open champion, was victorious in the first event of the calendar year last week at the Tournament of Champions, and headlines the odds board.

A little further down the board we’ll find Kevin Kisner, who is the first target on our sleepers and longshots betting card.

2022 Sony Open Odds

Odds as of Jan. 10th at DraftKings and FanDuel.

Kisner was rock solid last week at the Tournament of Champions, and fits a bevy of previous Sony Open winner trends.

Kisner Made For These Types of Tracks

The 37-year-old fits eight trends of previous winners, but instead of listing them all, let’s just focus on the ones that have been the most predictive.

Each of the past 12 winners had at least two previous career victories before winning at Waialae Country Club, while 24 of the past 26 winners played in at least two previous Sony Opens. Nine of the last 10 winners finished the previous year ranked inside the top-50 in strokes gained putting, while 21 of the past 24 winners were at least 31 years old. Finally, eight of the last 10 winners played the week before at the TOC.

🤏🏻 @Sentry_TOC pic.twitter.com/lrnTLrQ92I

— Kevin Kisner (@K_Kisner) January 8, 2022

Kisner, a four-time winner on Tour, has played this tournament every year since 2014 finishing T5 or better three times. Year after year he excels on the greens, ranking 36th this season in strokes gained putting, after finishing 32nd last season. He enters this week in solid form, finishing eighth at the TOC last week thanks a hot week with his irons and putter. Kisner gained 2.7 strokes on approach and 5.4 strokes on the greens.

New year, same drip drip @Sentry_TOC pic.twitter.com/lFAUfQRyId

— Kevin Kisner (@K_Kisner) January 9, 2022

Furthermore, Kisner has been adamant that there’s only a handful of courses on Tour every year where he feels like he can compete for the title due to his lack of distance. Waialae Country Club is definitely one of those tracks, as evident by his recent results. Success here relies much more heavily on strong iron and short game play, which is Kisner’s bread and butter.

Pick: Kevin Kisner to Win Outright (+3500)

Hone In On Horschel

Another player who fits an overwhelming amount of winning Sony Open trends is 35-year-old Billy Horschel. The six-time Tour winner knocked off the rust last week at the TOC, and will be looking to improve on his seventh place finish here last year.

Billy Horschel and Si Woo Kim each shot 17 under this week at #SentryTOC…

They tied for 23rd and got doubled up by winner Cam Smith (-34). Insane.

— Brentley Romine (@BrentleyGC) January 10, 2022

Waialae Country Club features Bermuda greens, which just happen to be Horschel’s speciality. He averages 0.3 strokes gained putting on the field on that surface per round, and has an excellent track record at Sedgefield Country Club, which is one of the strongest comp courses on Tour to Waialae. Sedgefield hosts the Wyndham Championship every year, a tournament Kisner won last August, and one that Horschel has finished T6 or better at in three of his past five starts.

Pick: Billy Horschel to Win Outright (+4500), Top-10 Finish (+400)

Top-20 Value Picks

1. Brendan Steele (+330): The 38-year-old and three-time Tour winner didn’t tee it up last week, but has been a course horse at the event recently. He’s finished T4 and T2 in consecutive years, and is just two starts removed from another runner-up at finish at the ZOZO Championship. He isn’t one of the games best putters, but Bermuda is his best surface and when he gets the flat stick rolling look out. Steele gained 4.8 strokes on the greens at the Sony Open last year, one of four times in 2021 he gained at least 4.1 strokes with his putter.
2. Patton Kizzire (+350): Another corse horse to back in the T20 market is Patton Kizzire. The 2018 champ has three T20 finishes at this event in the past four years, and over his last 100 rounds ranks 17th in strokes gained putting and 14th in scoring.