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Best Bets for the Sony Open in Hawaii (PGA Betting)

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Golf fans were treated to a three-way playoff in the first event of the 2020 calendar season last week on the PGA Tour. Justin Thomas, Patrick Reed, and Xander Schauffele all finished at 14-under par after 72 holes at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Thomas ended up taking home the hardware, as he beat Patrick Reed in the third hole of the playoff. Reed was featured in last week’s betting article and came very close to winning the event after shooting a 66 on the final day.

The PGA Tour will remain in Hawaii this week, as golfers tee it up for the annual Sony Open. This will be the first full-field event of 2020, as 144 golfers will be participating. Like a regular PGA cut event, the top 65 will make it to the weekend. Atop the betting board, we see Justin Thomas at +400, followed by Patrick Reed (+1400), Webb Simpson (+1400), and Hideki Matsuyama (+1800). Other notable golfers in the field include Sungjae Im, Marc Leishman, Charles Howell III, and Abraham Ancer.

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Course Preview

One of the shorter courses on Tour, the Waialae Country Club is a scorable par-70 track that is only 7,044 yards long. There will be only two par 5s on the scorecard this week, but golfers should still see themselves racking up plenty of birdies. The winners of this event usually shoot at least 20-under par for the tournament, so golfers will have to dial in both their approach game and putting. Fairways are more difficult than average to hit, and the greens are once again Bermuda.

Key Stats

  • Par 4 scoring
  • Birdie-or-better
  • Strokes gained: approach
  • Recent form

Best Bets to Win

Webb Simpson (+1400 on DraftKings Sportsbook)
In his last four appearances at the Sony Open, Simpson has never finished worse than 13th place. He finished fourth here his last time out in 2018. One of the best par-4 scorers on Tour, Simpson ranks number one in the field this week in that department.

Very accurate off the tee, Simpson should be able to plot his way around the course at will. He ranks first in the field in birdie-or-better, fourth in strokes gained: approach, and 14th in strokes gained: putting. Expect to see Simpson near the top of the leaderboard come Sunday.

Joaquin Niemann (+3500 on DraftKings Sportsbook)
Niemann was the first-round leader at the Tournament of Champions last week. He went on to finish T5 in a strong field. This week, the talent level has dropped, and the course gets slightly easier. Niemann has made incredible strides with his putter over the past year, and he has always been elite with his irons.

Though this will be his first time playing the event, Niemann sets up very well. The last six winners of this event all played the week before. Niemann is coming off a top-10 finish and is already acclimated with the climate in Hawaii. He shot an impressive round of three-under-par 70 in very windy conditions on Sunday, and he should experience more favorable conditions this time.

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Nic Turner is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Nic, check out his archive and follow him @sportzbandit.