The PGA TOUR continues The Opening Drive in Hawaii with its second tournament in the Aloha State. After Hideki Matsuyama ($11,000) smashed the PGA TOUR record last week at Kapalua Resort on Maui, this week’s event should present a tougher test at Waialae Country Club on Oahu. Matsuyama will look to sweep the two season-opening tournaments and will likely be a popular play given his excellent form and good course history. In this post, I’ll be focused on a few more “under the radar” choices that you can use to help your lineup stand out. It’s always important to try to identify golfers who have the potential to outperform expectations and deliver good results at low ownership. This week, I like Russell Henley ($9,900), J.T. Poston ($8,900) and Nico Echavarria ($7,300) as my top-three pivot plays.
A “pivot play” is a golfer with a similar upside to a popular option available near the same salary. Sometimes, the golfer with lower expected ownership brings additional risk factors, but in order to differentiate your lineup, it’s worth the extra risk for the extra upside. Players with lower ownership can increase the chance of your entry finishing higher on the leaderboard. These pivot plays tend to be “boom-or-bust,” bringing high risk and high reward. They are NOT the safest plays in the price range, but they do have the potential to exceed expectations. These picks are ideal for GPP tournament contests where having a lineup that’s different is critical to finishing in the top spot.
They could be good plays in cash contests as well, but they come with extra risk, so make sure to consider that if you opt to roll with them in that format. Be sure to monitor how ownership projections shift leading up to tee time to see if these players remain under the radar compared to the players priced around them.
Last week, I went with Akshay Bhatia (T32), J.T. Poston (T40) and Harry Hall (T8) as my pivot picks. Hopefully this week, I can get more hits like Hall was last week. It’s a full field this week, so there will be more options to choose from and more variance in results with missed cuts back in play.
Here’s why I like each of my top-three pivot plays this week:
Russell Henley ($9,900)
At the top of the salary structure, “low ownership” is relative. Henley will probably be a fairly popular option overall this week, but he’s expected to have much lower ownership than Matsuyama and Corey Conners ($10,200), who are the only two players priced above him. He’s very close to Tom Kim ($9,800) in terms or ownership expectations at this point, but he comes with much better course history.
Henley didn’t win in 2024, but he did advance all the way to the TOUR Championship in the FedExCup Playoffs, and finished T4 in the playoff finale at East Lake. He looked a little rusty at the Hero World Challenge in December, but he shot progressively better rounds last week at The Sentry and ended up T30. His approach game was especially sharp on Sunday, when he gained over two full strokes on approach.
This course seems to be a much better fit for his game than Kapalua, and that fact has been demonstrated by his excellent track record at Waialae. Not only did he win here in 2013, Henley has also finished in the top-five in two of the last three years.
While he isn’t as scorching hot as Hideki or Conners, his previous success here makes him both a safe play as an alternative and gives him a high ceiling. Henley can either be paired with one of those bigger names in a “stars and scrubs” build, or you can use him instead of those stars to make your lineup stand out and also save you some salary. Even though his ownership is lower than the other players around him, it’s still a little bit higher than ideal for GPPs. You can compensate for that with other selections in this week’s field, though.
J.T. Poston ($8,900)
Around $9,000, the public seems to be focusing on Si Woo Kim ($9,000), who won this event in 2023 and Maverick McNealy ($9,200), who comes in hot after a big Fall and strong showing in Maui. Taylor Pendrith ($8,800) and Austin Eckroat ($8,700) are plays I like with lower ownership, but Poston’s ownership is expected to be even lower than Pendrith’s and Eckroat’s, which sets him up as a nice potential pivot play.
Last week, Poston was in my pivot picks, and he ended up as a decent value play at under $8,000 in the limited-field event. He opened the week with an ugly 74 but bounced back with a 64 in Round 2. It was his first tournament since November, so many he just needed to knock the rust off. He finished last season in good form, winning the Shriners Children’s Open in October and posting at T5 at The RSM Classic to finish the year with six top-tens and ten top-25s in his 25 events.
Poston finished sixth last year at Waialae, surging on Sunday with a closing 61 that including seven birdies, an eagle and no bogeys. He’ll look to pick up where he left off on this track, where he has had good success throughout his career. In his seven career trips to The Sony Open, he has five made cuts and three top-25s, including each of the last two years.
The strength of Poston’s game is his accuracy on approach and his good work around the greens. Over his last 16 rounds, he ranks ninth in the field in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and tenth in Strokes Gained: Approach. With the wind expected to kick up this week, those skills will be critical to climb the leaderboard.
Poston’s consistency makes him a strong pivot play again this week, and like Henley, he also brings relatively low risk for a low-ownership play due to his strong course history.
Nico Echavarria ($7,300)
If you’re looking for more of a longshot to pivot to, Echavarria is my top play near $7,000. Enny McCarthy ($7,600), Michael Thorbjornsen ($7,400) and Patrick Fishburn ($7,200) are getting much more attention in this salary range, but Echavarria showed some impressive upside throughout the fall and also has a good course history here.
Last Fall at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP, Echavarria bested a very strong field and claimed his second PGA TOUR career victory. He followed that up with a T6 at the World Wide Technology Championship and a T2 at The RSM Classic during the rest of the FedExCup Fall and climbed all the way into the AON next 10 to earn entry into upcoming Signature Events.
Echavarria has proven he can go low in island play since he won the Puerto Rico Open for his first PGA TOUR win and has played well in his past trips to Oahu, making the cut in both his appearances and finishing T12 in 2023 after back-to-back 65s. He fired seven rounds in the 60s in his last two tournaments here before fading in his final round last year.
Last week, he made his debut at Kapalua. He only finished T32 but did get stronger as the week went on. He had 71-71 to start the week and then 66-68 on the weekend.
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: PGA TOUR $500K Pitch + Putt [$100K to 1st] (PGA TOUR).
The Crown Is Yours: Sign up for DraftKings and experience the ultimate host for games and betting experiences!
For sports betting, head over to DraftKings Sportsbook or download the DK Sportsbook app.
I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is z.thompson) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.
