The US Tour stays in Hawaii for the Sony Open, which gets under way on Thursday at it's traditional venue, the Waialee Country Club in Honolulu.
Last week's winner Steve Stricker makes the short hop from Kapalua and his near faultless display has earned him the right to go off favourite this week, with bet365's 15/2 the best quote on offer. Other players making the trip are Webb Simpson and Jonathan Byrd, who shared third place behind Stricker, Keegan Bradley, K.J. Choi, Chris Kirk, Kevin Na, Sean O'Hair, Rory Sabbatini, Scott Stallings, David Toms, Michael Bradley, Jhonnattan Vegas, Johnson Wagner, Harrison Frazer, D.A. Points and Mark Wilson, who is defending.
They will face a far different terrain, however, as Kapalua and Waialee are like chalk and cheese, with the latter's narrow fairways and small greens placing a greater emphasis on accuracy. Still, even at just over 7,000 yards, this is not a course to be taken lightly and the winning score has been either 14 or 15 under .The most difficult holes are the 488-yard par-4 first, the tricky 423-yard second and the 478-yard par-4 13th. The course's biggest defence, though is the steady breeze blows across it and is forecast to be moderate this week.
My Three Against the Tee:-
K.J. Choi @ 16/1 Coral
Stricker fully deserves to be favourite this week as he's nearly always a contender here (three top four finishes in his last five starts), but whether he should be half the odds of Choi is another matter. The stocky Korean is a past winner here in 2008 and can also boast 4th, 12th and 13th place finishes. He's also missed the cut twice but both times were on his seasonal debut, having not qualified for the previous week's 'champions' event, so we can expect him to again put up a good showing after his eye-catching final round 65 in Kapalua, which hoisted him up to fifth place. Granted, he's priced up accordingly but, as a multiple winner on Tour (eight wins and counting), he's got every right to be amongst the market leaders.
Charles Howell III @ 28/1 @ Stan James
If there's one player that owes me a fortune it's the 32-year-old American, who so often flatters to deceive and is a past master at finishing sixth, killing off no end of each-way bets in the process. All that said, he's normally fast out of the blocks and is nearly always a contender here, with five top-10s and no missed cuts in his last 10 trips. That's hardly surprising as he's a master at drilling low iron shots through the wind and his strong scrambling skills (inside the top seven on Tour for the past two seasons) are also rewarded here. Last season was hardly a disaster either with an impressive 13 top-10 finishes and he should be reaching his peak now. Come on Charlie, you owe me one!
Kevin Na @ 33/1 Totesport
The same comment applies to Na, who finally came on good on Tour last season in the Justin Timberlake Open last autumn and could be ready to kick on with that monkey off his back. Like Howell, he's a good wind player and a master scrambler (inside the top 15 in each of his eight years on Tour), which helps account for his brace of top fives here (2008 & 2009), and his tied-12th place finish at Kapulua, which featured a second-round 64, will have blown any cobwebs away.
Recommended Bets:
K.J. Choi 2pts each-way @ 16/1 Coral
Charles Howell 1pt each-way @ 28/1 Stan James
Kevin Na 1pt each-way @ 33/1 Totesport
