The Range is a course breakdown for the upcoming PGA tournament with a DFS perspective. This week the tour stays in Hawaii as the players face off at the Sony Open.
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The Basics
Course: Wai’alae Country Club
Par: 70
Length: 7,044 Yards
Fairways: Bermuda
Greens: Bermuda
Architect: Seth Raynor (1927) with changes by Desmond Muirhead (1992)
For a hole by hole breakdown, please visit the PGA website here!
Before we dive into the Sony Open, I want to bring up a new rule for the 2020 season. In previous years, the qualifying line for the weekend was the top 70 plus ties. If there were 78 or more golfers that made it into the weekend, there would be a MDF (Made Cut Did Not Finish). When the MDF rule was applied, there would be another round of cuts on Saturday. This year the rule has changed to the top 65 and ties with no MDF. I just wanted to bring this to your attention so there was no confusion moving forward.
Course Breakdown
The Sony Open in Hawaii has seen scores vary over the years and it really depends on the wind. When the wind is blowing strong, up to 30+ mph gusts, scores tend to be lower. When the wind drops off scores have reached the mid-twenties. As of this writing, the wind seems to be a potential problem both Wednesday and Thursday, with the weekend calming down. Make sure to pay attention to the weather as we approach lock as there may be a potential wave advantage.
Along with the wind, the Wai’alae Country Club has narrow tree-lined fairways throughout the course. Coupled with the Bermuda greens that are surrounded by several bunkers on each hole, the course sets up to play average to above average in scoring. Below is a list of the top 10 golfers for Strokes Gained Total over the last 24 rounds played (2019) for average to score courses.
As mentioned above with the course layout, landing the ball off the tee into the fairway is troublesome at the Sony Open. Looking at golfers who perform well, hitting into tight fairways, should give us an advantage this week. Here are the top 10 golfers with such a skill set.
Just like the Sentry Tournament of Champions, golfers who perform well on Bermuda greens should have an advantage at the Sony Open. Illustrated in the table, are the top 10 over the last 24 rounds of 2019 and their Strokes gained putting.
With all of the course features combined, we can see who has performed well over last year. Now granted these are small sample sizes but here are the top 10 golfers in; average scoring courses, hard to hit fairways and Bermuda greens. Again this is from 2019 and is the last 24 rounds played.
Maybe it’s to no one’s surprise to see the reigning champ, Matt Kuchar, sitting at the top.
Player Fit – Back End Stats
Here is the scorecard for this week’s tournament at the SOH.
The two toughest holes are between 450 – 500 yards and they’re both Par 4s. Looking at golfers who perform well in this range with help with avoiding bogeys.
When it comes to the easiest holes or which holes can be birdied at the highest clips, are the two Par 5s and they’re between 500 – 550 yards. The Sony Open will not be a scorer’s paradise so being able to take advantage of these holes will be crucial.
Ball Striking (Off the Tee & Approach) should be critical to the golfers game. Being able to land on the fairway and avoiding the bunkers should help lead to a great week.
As always, players who put themselves in solid situations to score overall are big elements to a rostered golfer in a lineup. For this, we look at Opportunity Gained and BOB.
With all of these stats weighted evenly over the last 24 rounds of 2019, we’re presented with these top 10 golfers.
Final recap of the Sony Open in Hawaii
Remember to look at the weather as it may present a possible advantage come lock. Depending on said weather, you may want to increase your scoring stats with lesser wind and vice versa with more wind. The new cut rule begins this week at the SOH. Know that once your golfers have made the cut, they’re safe for the weekend. As always, I hope you have a thrilling sweat going come Friday evening.
Course Setup
Average to above-average difficulty in scoring
Hard to hit fairways
Bermuda greens
Player Efficiencies
Bogey Avoidance: Par 4 450 – 500 yards
Tee to Green: Par 4 400 – 450 yards
Birdie or Better: Par 5 500 – 550 yards
Ball Striking
Opportunity Gained
Thanks for reading and I hope this article is a great starting place for your DFS research. Look out for the Insight Sheet dropping Wednesday. It will include my personal player pool and reasoning why each golfer was chosen. Also Wednesday night you can find me in the Win Daily Discord helping members with their lineups and last-minute questions.
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Stats source: FantasyNational
