Sony Open in Hawaii 2026
- FTO
- Jan 14
- 5 min read
January 14, 2026
FTO is back! We honestly were not sure if we would ever say that, but four (collective) children later, and our doors are officially open again. We may have been less active on the content side of things, and when it comes to sleep, but have managed to not slow down when it comes to our fantasy and sports betting plays. More to come on that soon…
For our content relaunch, we could not think of a better time to jump in then at the start of the 2026 PGA season. Admittedly, the extra week created by the elimination of The Sentry helped us get this to you on time, but you can expect next week’s preview to come earlier in the week.
To say we are excited is an understatement. Keep an eye out for more PGA content as the season carries on, but with One-and-Done and Survivor Pools starting and DFS contests running, we wanted to discuss some important details and highlight some of our favorite golfers in the competition:
The Course
Since the PGA Tour’s first event in Honolulu, back in 1965, The Sony Open has been played at Waialae. If you played the Tiger Woods PGA Tour franchise from 1999-2014 (RIP), then you already have some course knowledge, but for our purposes today, it is safe to say a good portion of our field this week has experience on the course. Which is great news for us, since Waialae ranks second on the Tour, only behind the infamous Augusta National, for predictive results based on course history. Of note, eighteen of the last twenty champions had played Waialae multiple times before winning. As we breakdown our golfers below, we will take a close look at prior performances in this event.
Speaking to the course itself, Waialae is a short course relative to the other’s our golfers will play this season. With only two par-5s and five par-4s under 425 yards, there will not be much need to worry about distance off the tee. Instead, with Waialae’s difficult-to-hit fairways, large greens, and unpredictable wind conditions, we will focus more on approach and long putting metrics.
With respect to the weather, forecasts look clear and dry for all four tournament days, with highs in the mid-70s. We will be adjusting our projections accordingly.
The Purse
The total purse this week is $9.1M, with only $1.6M going to the winner, $992k to the runner-up, and $628k for third. Of course, these numbers are just a fraction of what we will see at later events on the Tour. For you One-and-Done enthusiasts, this creates the need to find the right balance while picking your golfers this week – you need to play to win, but should consider saving your better golfers for events with a larger purse. (Don’t worry, we will let you know when those events are happening.)
Looking Back
Last year’s winner, Nick Taylor, had played the event eight times prior to his win in 2025. In his winning effort, Taylor ranked 46th in the field in driving distance, but 4th in both strokes gained on approach and greens in regulation. JJ Spaun, a golfer we plan to speak of often this season, shared 3rd place in 2025 with Stephan Jaeger, after leading the field in both SG:A and GIR.
Our Favorite Golfers This Week (DraftKings pricing and odds)
Russell Henley ($10,300-DK; +1100 to win)
Henley is the top-ranked golfer in the field (5th in OWGR) and the top-priced option on DK. We mentioned earlier the importance of course history in this event and Henley’s certainly stands out: tied for 10th last year, 4th in 2024, and 2nd in 2022. Combining that with his recent success, Henley makes for a solid anchor in DFS this week and his $10k price tag is low enough to build a solid lineup behind him.
JJ Spaun ($9,500-DK; +1800 to win)
We don’t think it’s a hot take to say that Spaun is in line for a great season after his breakout in 2025. His elite SG:A should keep him in the mix this weekend. As we discussed above, Spaun finished tied for third here last season.
Keegan Bradley ($9,300-DK; +2200 to win)
Captain America appears to be a chalky One-and-Done pick this week. Nothing wrong with following that trend on the first week of the season. In his last six Sony entries, Bradley tied for 12th twice, was co-runner up in 2024, and tied for 6th in 2025.
Harry Hall ($9,100-DK; 3500 to win)
Hall might be priced too high to get to him on DK, but the Englishman is still worth noting. In 2025, he finished 3rd on the Tour in SG: Putting and 10th in SG: Around-the-Green. Hall tied for 10th at Waialae last season as well.
Chris Kirk ($8,800-DK; 4000 to win)
Kirk is a solid play for both One-and Done and DFS this week. He has ten made cuts in fifteen entries at Waialae, including two runner-up finishes, one 3rd, and five total top-10 finishes. While he isn’t the strongest putter, the larger greens and his above-average SG:A will provide Kirk with a realistic opportunity to win outright. Of note, Kirk is also +650 to finish top 5 and +320 to finish top 10.
Aaron Rai ($8,700-DK; +3500 to win)
Rai represents exactly the kind of golfer we want to use in One-and-Done pools this week. He’s solid enough to be one of the best in the field, but not so elite where we feel like we are really missing out on bigger purses by using him here.
Kinate Higa ($6,200-DK; +40000 to win)
Not really a One-and-Done pick that we will get behind, but Higa’s price on DK is way too cheap to not mention.
One-and Done Notes
Before we reveal our One-and-Done picks for this week, we really want to hammer home the importance of a good strategy and understanding of purse sizes. A perfect example of this is Russell Henley and JJ Spaun. After researching and writing our preview, we were tempted to use one of them here too. An argument can still be made to do so, however, we feel strongly that each will have an opportunity to earn more in a larger event as the season progresses.
We will discuss more on our strategies as we move forward, including when to consider fading the field or when it’s best to play chalk. If you don’t want to wait, feel free to reach out in the comments or over on X @FTO_picks. We are always happy to talk golf with you!
Our One-and-Done Picks
Collin – Chris Kirk
Frank – Keegan Bradley
That’s it for this week. Check back Tuesday for our American Express preview and follow us on our new X account @FTO_picks!
*This preview does not represent our final betting picks for this event. For our full set of picks, check out our Game Picks section!
**Odds accurate at time of posting.
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