Here's everything you need to know about the 2024 Sony Open in Hawaii PrizePicks for Thursday — our expert first-round plays for the PGA Tour's first full-field event of 2024.
With The Sentry in the rear-view mirror, we now look forward to this week's Sony Open in Hawaii. Waialae Country Club hosts the Sony Open in Hawaii once again this week and has been the host course of the event since 1965.
Waialae is a par-70 at 7,044-yards designed by Seth Raynor and renovated by Tom Doak which features a narrow layout with tree-lined fairways and Bermudagrass greens. The primary way to win at this venue is with strong approach shots to get off the greens quickly.
Below, I give out my 2024 Sony Open in Hawaii PrizePicks for Thursday, when the first round begins at Waialae.
2024 Sony Open in Hawaii PrizePicks Thursday Plays
Hideki Matsuyama: More Than 0 Birdies or Better vs Adam Svensson
Just to clarify PrizePicks' wording here: this entry goes green if Matsuyama finishes with the same amount of birdies as Svensson, and obviously if he finishes with more as well. Neither golfer played particularly well last week, with Svensson finishing T33 and Matsuyama beating only one golfer last week with his 58th-place finish.
However, that is why we are catching this entry, and I am simply going to take the better golfer. Simply put, Matsuyama is on a higher level than Svensson, although both golfers are very talented.
Matsuyama has the advantage of playing at a course he is very comfortable with, considering he has not missed a cut here in each of his past seven appearances. Over that span, he boasts three top-20 finishes, including his victory at Waialae in 2022.
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Svensson finished T7 that year, but he has still only played here three times in his career and failed to finish inside the top 40 in each of the other two appearances. It makes sense that Matsuyama's track record here is stronger, given he is the better approach player.
He finished 12th in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green last season on Tour while Svensson finished 50th in the same category.
Corey Conners: Less Than 68 Strokes
Corey Conners, who is coming off his T33 performance at The Sentry last week, is another golfer to target this week. He did not start the week very strong, but some rust was expected following the short offseason.
Conners found his form over the weekend, shooting 68 and 67 over the final two rounds. I expect this momentum to carry into the first round of this week's event at Waialae, as he has thrived at this venue.
He has never missed a cut here and has finished inside the top 12 in each of his past four appearances. Over those 16 rounds, Conners has shot a 68 or lower 12 times.
This success makes sense considering he is one of the best approach players on the PGA Tour, ranking 21st last season in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green.
Chris Kirk: Less Than 67.5 Strokes
I gave out two picks for first-round leader in my other article for this week, and if I think Chris Kirk has a shot to lead after Thursday, then it is safe to say that I like him to go "Less Than" in his PrizePicks entry.
It's always better to tee off earlier in the day when the greens are softer and more receptive, especially on Thursday as the wind is scheduled to pick up throughout the day in Hawaii. Kirk tees off in the sixth of the scheduled 24 groupings on Thursday morning.
Nobody enters this week in better form as Kirk is coming off his win at The Sentry on Sunday at Kapalua. Having already beaten an elite PGA Tour field in a tournament where he had to go low to win at 29-under, he should have no problem going low at Waialae against a less talented field.
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Given his confidence and recent strong approach performance at The Sentry, I expect a strong start from Kirk following that victory at Kapalua. He has now gained True Strokes on approach in each of his past five tournaments.
Kirk has thrived at this venue, which shouldn't be surprising given his great approach game, especially with wedges and short irons as about 65% of approaches at Waialae are from 125-200 yards. He finished in third place here last year, second in both 2021 and 2014 and T5 in 2013.
Finally, Kirk has shot a 67 or lower in five of his past six rounds on Tour and in nine of his past 12 rounds at Waialae.
