PGA Odds: Jimmy Walker and Jason Day are favored at the Sony Open in Hawaii. Walker was in action last week at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions and he is the defending champion of this event while Day comes into this tournament ranked eighth in the world. Twenty-four of the 34 players from last week’s Tournament of Champions are expected to be in the field this week at the Waialae Country Club on the island of Oahu. Here is a look at the tournament and PGA picks.
Sony Open in Hawaii Odds
- Jimmy Walker 12-1
- Jason Day 12-1
- Matt Kuchar 13-1
- Zach Johnson 13-1
- Hideki Matsuyama 15-1
- Chris Kirk 15-1
- Luke Donald 20-1
- Russell Henley 25-1
- Webb Simpson 25-1
- Sang-Moon Bae 25-1
The main contenders to win the Sony Open in Hawaii played last week in Maui. The one big exception to that is Day who had the week off. Day is listed as a co-favorite along with Walker. This event will be the first full field event of 2015 since last week’s tournament was a winner’s only event and only had 34 players in the field. Walker is the defending champion and he played well in Maui so it is no surprise that he is a contender. The field for this event at the Waialae Country Club is a good one and nine of the last ten winners of this event are expected to play. No player has defended their title since Ernie Els in 2003 and 2004 but Walker would definitely be a good candidate to repeat. Walker finished a shot ahead of Chris Kirk in last year’s tournament while Jerry Kelly was two shots back.
PGA Picks
You can make a strong case for taking Walker at PGA odds of 12-1 so if he wins it would not be a surprise. I don’t know that Day has the same value simply because he hasn’t done much in recent years in Hawaii. Kirk has played well in this event in the past and he may have more value with odds of about 20-1.
There are some players to consider as value picks this week. Marc Leishman has a lot of value as he is listed at 35-1 in golf betting odds. He was 5th last year in this event and he has made the cut in all five of his previous appearances. Charles Howell III always seems to play well in this tournament. He would seemingly be overdue to finally win this event and we get him at PGA odds of about 30-1.
