Wai’alae Country Club, HI

I’m posting this just a few moments before the first player tees off this morning. The field is certainly not as strong as last week’s Tournament of Champions but there are a few holdovers. Most notably, the TOC winner Cameron Smith. Smith played arguably his best golf ever last season as he seemed to be in contention weekly. Taking a quick look at the final results of the last five Sony Opens reveals an idea of who may be in the hunt this week.

Who should win? – Webb Simpson (16/1)

Simpson has not yet won the Sony Open but – with one exception – has been in the top 5 in this tournament whenever he has played. He is due to close one out.

Who could win? – Corey Conners (25/1), Marc Leishman (20/1)

Conners has been a top 20 machine over the past two seasons and has had some good results here including a T3. With these odds, he is worth putting down a few dollars to win outright. Leishman always seems to make my “could win” category. That’s because he tends to rack up a lot of top 5’s during the year. He has had difficulty closing out tournaments of late but has been good on this track.

Who will win? – Cameron Smith (10/1)

It’s hard to win back to back for anyone on Tour, but for a player of Smith’s caliber, I will make an exception. He comes into this tournament having beaten a very strong field, he’s won on this course before and he’s on form. He is the odds-on favorite for a reason.