2024 PGA Sony Open Predictions & Preview

We head into the second tournament of the year on the 2024 PGA Tour calendar this week and Sports Hub is ready to provide you with Sony Open predictions. 

500 FedEx Cup points are on offer as names such as Ludvig Aberg, Tyrrell Hatton and Russell Henley battle it out at Waialae Country Club, Honolulu, Hawaii. 

Chris Kirk won the first event on the new PGA Tour last week in The Sentry. Will he be able to win back-to-back events? How about reigning champion Si Woo Kim? The odds are suggesting that Kim is an outsider this time around. Check out my thoughts with Sony Open predictions below!

2024 PGA The Sentry Results 

The first tournament of the 2024 PGA Tour season produced a surprise winner as Kirk was crowned the champion, shooting 29-under to beat Sahith Theegala by just one stroke. 

Sadly, I wasn’t able to identify the winner last week with my Sentry predictions. Neither of my two picks for a top 5 finish landed, either, so I am extremely keen for a bounce-back week with my Sony Open predictions!

Be sure to head on over to my handicapper page, Ashlee Kiddell, in order to gain access to all of my picks for Sony Open predictions this week. Let’s find a winner in the second tournament of the 2024 PGA Tour season. 

2024 PGA Sony Open Preview

When: Thursday, January 11th – Sunday, January 14th, 2024

Where: Waialae Country Club, Honolulu, Hawaii

TV: Golf Channel / NBC / Peacock

Field: 144 Golfers

Purse: $8,300,000 (Winner gets $1,494,000)

Si-Woo Kim is the reigning champion after he shot 18-under to beat Hayden Buckley to the trophy in 2023. He is priced at +3500 to win the event again this year so is one of the longer odds selections. 

The event began in 1965 and was named the Hawaiian Open. Gay Brewer was the inaugural champion, defeating Bob Goalby via a playoff. Justin Thomas shot the tournament record of 253 back in 2017, beating Justin Rose by seven strokes. 

After Kim’s victory last year, the tournament has seen successive winners come from Asia, since Hideki Matsyuama was victorious in the 2022 edition. One of the market leaders this time around in Henley (+1750) was beaten in a playoff by Matsuyama. Will he be able to go one step further this time? 

Waialae Country Club Course Information

Par: 70  / Yards: 7,044

Greens: Bermudagrass

Par 3s: 4 / Par 4s: 12  / Par 5s: 2

Similar to the Plantation Course at The Sentry, Waialae will be influenced by the weather, especially the wind. Expectations are that winners will be good off the tee with the driver so driving accuracy could be an important statistic to look at when considering Sony Open predictions. 

However, accuracy with the driver is not the only metric that we need to consider. In fact, recent winners appear to have been performing incredibly well with the flat stick. That would suggest that putting should be the most significant factor. 

Other courses play pretty similarly to Waialae and so we can examine performances at tournaments such as the RSM Classic, WWT Championship (prior to the move to El Cardonal) and The Sentry when trying to identify a winner this week.

Expert PGA Sony Open Predictions for 2024

It’s hard to ignore last week’s Sentry champion Kirk (+2000). He finished in third-place in last year’s Sony Open so he clearly loves playing in Hawaii, especially since he finished as runner-up in the 2014 and 2021 versions as well. 

When looking at Kirk’s performances on other courses similar to Waialae, he finished T28 in the RSM Classic last year. He ranked 11th in SG: Putting last week which could help him here, but his T64 finish at El Camaleon in the 2022 WWT Championship doesn’t make for the best of reading. 

A number of golfers have won both the WWT Championship and the Sony Open in the past and so looking at the form at El Camaleon is important to inspect. Matt Kuchar (+4500) finished T2 in Mexico last November, but it’s important to bear in mind that the tournament switched from El Camaleon to El Cardonal. Kuchar won the 2018 edition of the WWT Championship, though, and the 2019 Sony Open. He finished in T7 in last year’s competition at Waialae so is showing a lot of consistency on these types of courses. 

Harris English (+2800) is another player who has performed well at the Sony Open in the past. Despite finishing T73 and T55 in the 2023 and 2022 Sony Open respectively, he was able to secure a fourth-place and T3 finish in the 2014 and 2015 editions. He also won the 2013 WWT Championship. English finished T14 in The Sentry last week so will be looking to crack the top-ten in the 2024 Sony Open. 

Top Contenders to Win the 2024 PGA Sony Open

Aberg (+1550) currently leads the market and will be very popular amongst Sony Open predictions. The Swede caught the eye of many on last season’s PGA Tour and his maiden victory in the RSM Classic will bode well for him here. He finished T47 in The Sentry last week, though, and also ranked 49th in SG: Putting which means he doesn’t necessarily represent the best value for this one. 

Current champion Kim (+3500) had a respectable finish in The Sentry last week as he finished T25. Considering he won at Waialae last year, he has enticing odds for 2024. However, he failed to finish inside the top ten in the most recent edition of the RSM Classic so he doesn’t seem to be in the best of form. 

Hatton (+1750) and Henley (+1750) are the two other market leaders alongside Aberg. The former put in a respectable T14 finish at The Sentry last week, whilst the latter underwhelmed in T52. The reason why Henley is one of the favorites, however, is the fact that he has performed well in this competition in the past. He won the 2013 edition and was a runner-up in 2022. He also won the WWT Championship in 2022 as well when the tournament was last held at El Camaleon. 

Longshots to Win the 2024 PGA Sony Open

Sitting outside the top-30 contenders, Camilo Villegas is as long as +12500 to win the tournament. The Colombian veteran was a surprise winner of the Butterfield Bermuda Championship in November (his first win on the PGA Tour since 2014) and he also finished T2 at the WWT Championship a couple of weeks earlier. It’s his inconsistency that makes him a longshot for 2024 Sony Open predictions. 

Matsuyama (+5000) is another longshot candidate here. He won the tournament in 2022 which was his last victory on the PGA Tour. Nevertheless, he hasn’t been in the best of form of late and finished T51 at the ZOZO Championship and 58th in The Sentry last week (his most recent appearances). 

Another young prospect who has a bright future in Akshay Bhatia (+6000) put in a solid display at The Sentry last week after finishing T14. The 21-year-old picked up his first triumph on the PGA Tour in the Barracuda Championship last July and is showing good value for Sony Open predictions. Ranking in third in SG: Putting last week, his good form with the flat stick could see him succeed at Waialae. 

2024 PGA Sony Open Predictions – Outright Winner

I have locked in three candidates to win the tournament outright for my 2024 Sony Open predictions. All three are showing good value, whilst also having the statistics to back it up. 

Make sure that you take a look at my handicapper page, Ashlee Kiddell, in order to gain full access to my Sony Open picks. 

As always, I have also made a further two picks to secure a top-5 finish. Continue reading to find out my two selections!

Best Bet: SIGN IN TO ACCESS PICK

2024 PGA Sony Open Predictions – Top 5 Finish

2024 Sony Open predictions will conclude by selecting Bhatia (+950) and English (+700) to finish inside the top 5. Both players finished T14 in The Sentry last week and I’m backing them to improve this time around. 

Bhatia’s putting is looking excellent at the moment and that should help him in the Sony Open here. Meanwhile, English’s past success in this tournament, as well as at the WWT Championship, indicates he has a good chance at performing well this time around. 

Both golfers are representing good value, too, to finish inside the top 5 so I am feeling confident with these selections. 

Best Bet: Akshay Bhatia (+950) & Harris English (+700)

2024 PGA Sony Open Odds

Here are the odds for the top 30 golfers at the 2024 PGA Sony Open (subject to change):