Welcome to 2014 on the PGA Tour and the first full-field tournament of the year. We find ourselves in Hawaii for the Sony Open that is being played at the Waialae Country Club which is located on the east side of Honolulu.
The Course is a Par 70 and measures 7,068 yards with the fairways and greens being Bermudagrass. There are plenty of palms and tropical vegetation scattered around the course. There is usually a steady breeze blowing off the bay which can produce high winds at times causing plenty of issues for the players.
This tournament has thrown up a few surprise winners in the last few years such as 2013 winner Russell Henley, 2012 Johnson Wagner, 2011 Mark Wilson and 2010 Ryan Palmer. In 2009 Zach Johnson came out on top. Interesting he won last week at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions.
The Bookies Top 5 this week are $9 Adam Scott, $13 Zach Johnson, $15 Matt Kuchar, $17 Jordan Spieth and $21 Charles Howell III.
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The two players to follow this week-
Tim Clark $23 at www.sportsbet.com.au
The diminutive South African had a steady season on tour last year with 12 made cuts from 20 starts. This included three Top 10’s. 2nd Sony Open, T9th WGC Accenture Match Play and T7th Crowne Plaza Invitational.
Clark finished off 2013 with a T2nd The McGladrey Classic and T36th OHL Classic at Mayakoba.
When it comes to the Sony Open it is very hard to look past Tim. From four starts he has never finished outside the Top 25. T12th in 2009, T25th in 2010, T2nd in 2011 and 2nd last year.
Last year he was 10 under par on the Par 4’s and 9 under par on the Par 5’s hitting 73% of greens in regulation. It was much the same in 2011 with -5 on Par 4’s and -6 on Par 5’s with 77% of GIR’s.
At 22/1 Clark represents a great each way selection on a course where he appears to play well.
Charles Howell III $21 at www.sportsbet.com.au
When it comes to horses for courses then there is only one player to follow this week. Charles has played this tournament for the last 12 years. In that time he has finished in the Top 5 a remarkable seven times! Those are some great numbers.
It is also worth noting that Howell III plays well in the month of January. In the last 12 seasons on the PGA Tour he has played in 31 tournaments and finished in the Top 10 on 14 occasions.
Last year Charles made 19 cuts from 26 starts which included five Top 10 finishes. Three of those were in January. T3rd Sony Open, P2nd Humana Challenge and T9th Farmers Insurance. The other two were T10th Shell Houston Open and T10th Wells Fargo Championship.
Considering his fantastic record in the Sony Open it was a real surprise to see the bookies offering 20/1 this week. That has ‘back me’ written all over it!
Here’s to a profitable 2014. Good luck and good punting.