Sony Open in Hawaii
Courses: Waialae Country Club (7,044 yards, par 70)
Purse: $9,100,000
Winner: $1,638,000 and 500 FedExCup Points
Tournament Preview
There's a different vibe going into this season. Typically the PGA Tour season starts the first week in January and it's a limited field at Kapalua. With concerns about the drought in Maui last fall causing the Tour to cancel The Sentry, 2026 will see the season begin with a full-field event. While Kapalua will certainly be missed, there's a bit of a charm with every player on the PGA Tour with full status being able to tee it up in the opening event. This type of event is really the heartbeat of the PGA Tour featuring a regular 36-hole cut as well.
Major headlines were made this week with the PGA Tour announcing a way for players to return from LIV Golf. New CEO Brian Rolapp introduced the Returning Member Program, which will allow players who have won a major or THE PLAYERS from 2022-25 to return to the PGA Tour. The only penalties will be that they will not be eligible to take part in the Player Equity Program for five years and they will not be eligible to take a sponsors exemption into the Signature Events. Brooks Koepka was the first to take advantage of this after he negotiated his way out of the final year of his contract with LIV Golf last month. Koepka was looking for how he could be reinstated to the PGA Tour, and Rolapp made it happen. Now the Tour waits to see if Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Smith, the only other eligible players, decide to take advantage of this new program. They will have until Feb. 2, which is the week of the first LIV Golf event in 2026, to make their decision.
Okay now back to what is at hand this week. The Sony Open in Hawaii dates back to 1965 and every edition has taken place at Waialae Country Club. It trails only Colonial Country Club and Pebble Beach Golf Links for the most continuously used venue on the PGA Tour. That said, there's a chance that 2026 could be the last edition of the Sony Open at Waialae Country Club. New PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp has been open about bringing "scarcity" to the PGA Tour, which puts many events like this with significant questions about their future. It has been heavily rumored that the 2027 PGA Tour season will not begin until after the Super Bowl. That certainly leaves things in doubt for both Hawaii events and many West Coast events.
If this is really it, there's a chance this Sony Open could go down as one of the most exciting. There's a lot of hype with this being the season-opening event and it features one of the best fields Waialae has had in recent memory. Four top-10 ranked players and 10 in the top 30 of the OWGR will be in Honolulu. No. 5 ranked Russell Henley leads the way after a career season in 2025 that saw him close the year with eight straight top-20 finishes. Ben Griffin is in the field after winning three times in 2025 along with reigning U.S. Open champion J.J. Spaun. Hideki Matsuyama is a former Sony Open champion and defending winner at Kapalua. He will be searching for his first top-10 finish on the PGA Tour since that season-opening victory last year.
The Sony Open will be broadcasted in primetime for most of the U.S. population. It certainly will make those of us who have been bundled up in winter coats for the last two months quite jealous. Temperatures in Honolulu will extend into the upper-70s and rain is expected to stay away for the most part. One things to watch, however, is the wind. Each of the four rounds are projecting gusts near 30 mph. That will certainly make things tricky on a tight course that is already pretty exposed as it is. We've seen some really low scores at Waialae over the years, but given the wind conditions it would be hard to see the winning score getting too far past 15-under-par.
Recent Champions
2025 - Nick Taylor (-16)
2024 - Grayson Murray (-17)
2023 - Si Woo Kim (-18)
2022 - Hideki Matsuyama (-23)
2021 - Kevin Na (-21)
2020 - Cameron Smith (-11)
2019 - Matt Kuchar (-22)
2018 - Patton Kizzire (-17)
2017 - Justin Thomas (-27)
2016 - Fabian Gomez (-20)
Key Stats to Victory
- SG: Approach/Proximity 50-125 Yards
- SG: Putting/One-Putt Percentage
- SG: Off-the-Tee/Driving Accuracy
- Proximity 150-175 Yards/Par 4 Scoring
Champion's Profile
Waialae Country Club is a shot-maker's course. There are a ton of doglegs at this course and players will have to be able to work the ball in both directions to be able to hold the fairways. It's a short course at just over 7,000 yards, so players can typically use whatever club feels comfortable to them off the tee, although taking driver up over some of the trees and cutting the doglegs has become more normal here over the last decade.
As it always is on the PGA Tour, approach play is very important. While these greens are spacious, the high wind gusts are really going to make it a challenge for players to get close to the hole. You will see a lot of flighted down short irons trying to take spin off the ball. That further plays into the theme of Waialae being a shot-maker's course. Players who rank high in the 50-125 yard category are likely to have a good week.
Lastly, putting has been one of the most highly correlated stats at the Sony Open. With the average GIR percentage being quite high at this course, players will be able to create the most separation from sinking mid-to-long-range putts. There's a number of different putting range buckets you could look at, but SG: Putting and one-putt percentage will really simplify things. Don't be surprised if short putts become a little trickier than usual given the high wind gusts.
FanDuel Value Picks
The Chalk
Russell Henley ($12,000)
Henley burst on the scene back in 2013 here at Waialae with a sensational back-nine to win early in his rookie season. He has return to Honolulu every year since and continued to post great results. Henley has finished T11 or better in four of the last five years at Waialae. There's no weaknesses in his game. Henley drives is straight, is an elite iron player, has a very consistent short game and can fill it up on the greens with the best of them. He's got a great chance to kick off the season win a victory.
J.J. Spaun ($11,400)
Spaun is coming off a career-season in which he posted eight top-six finishes, including that win at the U.S. Open at Oakmont. Spaun was actually unlucky to only win once and one of his near misses came at the Sony Open last year when he missed the playoff by one shot after leading the field in SG: Approach. Spaun is a tremendous ball striker ranking 25th in total driving, fifth in SG: Approach and 21st in proximity. Waialae fits his game perfectly and the windy conditions should only give him a bigger advantage.
Harry Hall ($10,600)
Hall isn't the same ball striker as the first two guys, but he is arguably the best putter on the PGA Tour. He ranked third in SG: Putting, first in putts per GIR and second in one-putt percentage a season ago. That's a huge reason why he ranked second in scoring average and third in birdie average on the PGA Tour last year. That type of player is great for DFS lineups. Hall finished out the 2025 season with 17 straight made cuts and top-20 finishes in nine of his final 12 starts. The Englishman finished inside the top 10 last year at Waialae.
The Middle Tier
Rico Hoey ($9,700)
Hoey had a tremendous fall that included four top-10s and six top-25s in seven starts. He's a player that many are high on entering 2026 given his incredible ball-striking talents. Hoey was basically the best ball striker on the PGA Tour not named Scottie Scheffler last year. He ranked third in SG: Off-the-Tee, second in total driving, eighth in SG: Approach, second in GIR percentage and sixth in proximity. That will play in these conditions at Waialae and Hoey should have a lot of confidence given his play over the last few months.
Nico Echavarria ($9,500)
Another man coming off a strong fall, Echavarria finished top 15 in three of his final four starts in 2025. Echavarria has been a standout with the putter, as he gained the fifth-most strokes per round last season on the greens. He's also showed the ability at times to be strong on approach, particularly in the 150-175 range, an area which could prove big this week. Echavarria fell in a playoff a year ago to Nick Taylor at Waialae and also has a T12 in 2023.
Daniel Berger ($9,200)
Berger is built for Waialae. He is a great shot-maker who ranked top 30 last season in SG: Off-the-Tee, total driving and SG: Approach. Berger was also 18th in proximity from 50-125 yards, which speaks to how great his touch is. Last year the 32-year-old came out of the gates strong with top-25 finishes in nine of his first 12 starts. He definitely lost some steam the second half of the year, but I think a lot of time off will help him get back to that strong play a year ago. Berger has missed just one cut in seven starts to go along with a three top-15 finishes at Waialae.
The Long Shots
Vince Whaley ($8,700)
Whaley comes into the week 61st in the DataGolf rankings, which is quite a bit higher than most of the players around him on the salary board. Whaley is coming off a strong fall portion of the schedule where he had a pair of T3 finishes. He also has not missed a cut in his last 19 starts. The ball striking can bit hit or miss at times, but he is very strong both on and around the greens. Whaley was T17 at Waialae back in 2022.
Haotong Li ($8,600)
Li will be a rookie on the PGA Tour this year, but he has played all over the world, included a number of PGA Tour events. Li actually has a T12 finish at Waialae back in 2022. The 30-year-old is a great ball striker who ranked top 20 in SG: Off-the-Tee, SG: Approach, SG: Tee-to-Green and GIR percentage last season on the DP World Tour. Those numbers should serve Li well this week. He comes into Honolulu in good form off back-to-back top-10s to close 2025.
Daniel Brown ($8,200)
Brown is another PGA Tour rookie who comes in after a strong 2025 on the DP World Tour which included six top-10s and ten top-20 finishes. Brown gained strokes across the board for the season, but really shined on approach the second half of the year. Waialae should be a good fit for him, especially if the wind kicks up.
Strategy Tips This Week
Based on a Standard $60K Salary Cap
The first week of the season can always be a bit tricky from a DFS standpoint. You've got a lot of different players who have had a wide variety of competitive reps since the end of the FedExCup Playoffs in August. When that happens I tend to look for traits and course history. If a player has excelled recently on approach or with the putter they will likely find success at Waialae. It's not a course you really want to try and overpower, but shot-making and making mid-range putts will certainly pay off.
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