The PGA TOUR remains in Hawaii for another week for the Sony Open. Waialae Country Club will be the host, and measures as a 7,044-yard par 70 with Bermudagrass greens.
After last week’s 60-man no-cut Signature Event, we are back to a standard full-field tournament this week, with 144 golfers and a 36-hole cut.
Below, I have outlined three of my favorite DraftKings plays for the week.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $500K Pitch + Putt [$100K to 1st]
Corey Conners ($10,200)
While obviously tempting to write up last week’s winner, and former Sony Open winner, Hideki Matsuyama, it felt a bit too easy, so we will go with arguably the best ball-striker in this field right now, Corey Conners. Conners has been on an absolute tear of late, posting a T5 last week at Kapalua, which was on the heels of a T6 at the Nedbank Golf Challenge (DP World Tour) and T7 at the Procore Championship.
The Canadian gained a whopping 7.4 strokes putting last week at The Sentry, which obviously was one of the best performances of his career. If this new putting stroke is going to be a trend, Conners is going to win multiple golf tournaments in 2025, as the flat stick has been the only thing holding him back from elite status.
Conners ranks fourth in this field in Total Strokes Gained over the past 48 rounds, behind only Taylor Pendrith, Davis Thompson and Matsuyama, while sitting sixth in SG: Ball-Striking in the same time frame. His history at Waialae is also quite strong, having never missed a cut here in six career starts, while posting a T3 and three additional top-12s.
Conners is one of the safest plays on the board, and has quite a bit of win equity in this spot.
Luke Clanton ($8,400)
Luke Clanton is still technically an amateur, but he certainly doesn’t play like one. Despite having less than 30 professional rounds of golf under his belt, the 21-year-old ranks No. 1 in this Sony Open field in SG: Ball-Striking, fifth in SG: Tee-to-Green and third in Total Strokes Gained.
Despite still being in college, Clanton is the 87th ranked golfer in the world, and already has a top-10 and three additional top-five finishes on the PGA TOUR. Two of those top-fives came at the Wyndham Championship and RSM Classic, both of which are short par 70s with Bermudagrass greens.
Clanton has already shown to be a marksman during his short stint on the PGA TOUR, hitting 77% of greens in regulation over his past 24 rounds, which ranks him seventh in the field, while also sitting 16th in driving accuracy during that stretch.
He’s obviously never played Waialae before, but there is nothing overly difficult about this course, and he’s already handled everything thrown his way over his first eight starts. You’re going to want to take advantage of this price tag while we have it, because he’s going to be north of $9,500 for years to come.
Matt Kuchar ($7,200)
Kuch has been feast or famine at Waialae over the past six years, posting a win, two T7s and three missed cuts. Going back further, he finished T13 and T3 in 2016 and 2015, respectively, so the totality of his results in Honolulu have been quite strong.
The good thing is, he’s coming into 2025 fresh off a resurgent season, including a really strong stretch to close out the year. Kuchar posted four top-14 finishes over his final 10 starts in 2024, including a T3 at the 3M Open. During this run, he ranks ninth in this field in SG: Tee-to-Green and 10th in Total Strokes gained.
With his strong history at this course, combined with his recent form, Kuch is a bargain this week at $7,200.
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and customer (my username is Lan1228) 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.