Geoff Ulrich gets you set for the Sony Open in Hawaii with winning trends and his picks for your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups.

The Cheat Sheet provides DraftKings fantasy golf players with course info, player history and the most noteworthy trends of the week to help them with their roster selections.

Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $500K Season Tee Off [$100K to 1st]

The Field

There will be 144 players in the event this week for our first full-field event of 2026. The tournament will feature the usual Friday cut line, which will see just the top 65 players and ties play the weekend. For DFS purposes, getting all six of your players through will be crucial for a chance at high finishes in large-field GPPs.

As has become customary with the Sony Open, the field is a mixed bag with some big-name players choosing to come over to Hawaii for the opening event and others choosing to stay on the mainland for an extra week of rest. This year, the event will be headlined by four top 10 players, including Russell Henley, who won this event in 2013, U.S. Open winner J.J. Spaun, Ben Griffin, and Robert MacIntyre. The field will also include Collin Morikawa, who is listed at +2000 on DraftKings Sportsbook

There are plenty of other solid names in the field, including former Sony Open winners like Hideki Matsuyama and Si Woo Kim. 

Overall, the more recent winners at the Sony Open tend to be a mixed bag. Young budding superstars like Justin Thomas and Cameron Smith have grabbed wins at this event, but veterans like Matt Kuchar and Kevin Na have also excelled. If the weather cooperates (see below), then expect lower scoring. However, wind can play a factor, as it did last year, when the winner only reached -16.

The Course

Waialae Country Club, Honolulu, Hawaii

Par-70, 7,044 yards; Greens: Bermudagrass

The Waialae Country Club is a traditional par-70 course that features trickier Bermuda greens and smaller, narrow fairways; in many ways, it’s the complete opposite in style to the venue we saw last week. Waialae is one of the oldest courses on the PGA TOUR and maintains a quaint charm, being a “classic track” that emphasizes tight driving chutes and strategy over daunting size. That said, the softer greens in play and lack of any penal rough often won’t allow the technical nature of this track to overcome the skill of the PGA TOUR pros. Winning scores at this venue have been as low as 21 under par or better in three of the past six years. The good news is that the hotter weather and winds can often dry this course out and make the greens extremely tough, which has kept scoring down in recent seasons, and likely will again in 2025 (see weather below).

Waialae has only two par 5s, making par-4 scoring more important. Five of the par 4 holes range from 450 to 500 yards, demanding longer irons for approach shots, especially if drives are not well-placed. Players have some chances to go for it off the tee, but accurate placement is crucial. The fairways are among the tightest on the PGA TOUR, with players averaging 52-54% accuracy in most seasons.

It’s not that Waialae has many penalty areas or trouble to get into, but players can cut themselves off from accessing the green on approach if they get too wild. And with smaller greens, having the best sightlines into the greens is vital — especially if you are not a great around-the-green player.

Accuracy off the tee is important, but traditionally, this is a course that favors players with great approach games who can get into a rhythm on these slower Bermuda greens. The 2018 winner, Patton Kizzire, ranked 67th in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee for the week but third in SG: Approach. Justin Thomas also didn’t rank in the top half of the field in accuracy off the tee the year he won — and he still won by seven strokes.

In 2019, Matt Kuchar gained +5.5 strokes on approaches and also gained over +7 strokes on the greens. In 2022, Hideki Matsuyama was solid in his ball striking but struck gold with his putter, gaining a career-best 7.3 strokes putting for the week. In 2023, Si Woo Kim put on a ball-striking clinic, gaining 8.2 strokes on approach (first in the field) but was barely positive putting (+0.9 strokes). Last year, Nick Taylor ranked 4th in SG: Approach stats. While he was 23rd in putting, Taylor’s superb iron play ultimately carried him most of the week. When it comes down to it, recent form in the major ball-striking categories is certainly a great start for success on Waialae, but the need to sink as many 5-15 footers as possible and be smooth around the greens is just as vital.

Veteran players with good recent form — who have experience on these slower Bermuda greens — should be given a solid look this week and can be great value options for DFS or betting options in the top 40 or top 20 markets. Otherwise, we’re playing the positive regression game and hoping our supreme ball-strikers can put in a decent week with the flat stick, much like Kim and Matsuyama have done the past few years.

2026 Weather Update: As of now, the forecast for this week looks warm and rain-free, but also windy. The first two rounds should see partly sunny skies for both days, with high temperatures around 73-75°F. There is only a slight chance of rain (10% on Thursday, 5% on Friday), but trade winds of approximately 16 mph (14 knots) are expected throughout the duration of play. Thursday morning may have the calmest conditions of the entire event, so early starters may gain a slight advantage on Day 1. Friday and Saturday have winds at 15+ mph all day, with the wind finally starting to die down on Sunday afternoon. If Thursday morning stays calmer, it may be worth wave stacking Thursday AM/Friday PM tee times.

Last 5 winners

2025–Nick Taylor -16 (playoff over Nicolas Echavarria)

2024–Grayson Murray -17 (playoff, Byeong Hun An and Keegan Bradley)

2023—Si Woo Kim -18 (over Hayden Buckley -17)

2022—Hideki Matsuyama -23 (over Russell Henley playoff)

2021—Kevin Na -21 (over Chris Kirk -20)

Winning Trends

12 of the past 15 winners of this event had a T8 or better finish in one of their last four starts prior to their Sony Open win.

Nine of the past 15 winners of this event ranked inside the top 50 on the PGA TOUR in Strokes Gained: Putting for the year in which they won.

Winners Stats and Course Highlights

Nick Taylor (2025 winner, 16-under-par)

2024 lead-in form (T48-MC-T33-T54-T25)

SG: OTT—+0.87

SG: APP—+5.86

SG: TTG— ranked 1st

SG: ATG—+1.51

SG: PUTT—+2.46

In 2023, Si Woo Kim didn’t play in the Sentry TOC event the week prior in Maui but he had played a lot over the fall in 2022 and landed a T8 in one of his previous four starts at the Shriners.

Murray took a similar path to victory in 2024. He played a lighter schedule over the fall but rode some decent late-summer form into an improbable playoff win.

Kim excelled on approach, to the point that he could afford to miss some shorter putts. Kim gained the lowest number of strokes putting (+0.9 strokes) of any event winner over the past decade.

In 2024, Murray gained over 4.0 strokes around the green and putting combined. That’s been a more regular route to winning for champions at this event. 2025 winner Nick Taylor was also very positive in this area, gaining 4.0 strokes PUTT + ATG, but Taylor also gained over 5.8 strokes on approach. 

2022 winner Hideki Matsuyama gained 7.3 strokes putting when he won, and 2021 winner Kevin Na gained over 5.0 strokes putting + ATG combined.

Waialae has some of the hardest-to-hit fairways on the PGA TOUR — the field averages around 52-54% of fairways hit — and even the most accurate players off the tee will miss a fair number of fairways. 

Placement OTT is key, though. If you are stuck between two players, going with the more consistent off-the-tee player (the one who will find more fairways) will likely mean a few more birdie looks — Matsuyama was 20th in accuracy OTT in 2022 and fifth in SG: OTT stats. 2023 winner Si Woo Kim was T13 in accuracy.

Finding Values on DraftKings Sportsbook

Odds to win are one factor to think about when picking players (but not the only thing, so be careful putting too much weight on them). This section is going to detail a few of the players who have the best fantasy value compared to their DraftKings Sportsbook odds of winning this week.

Comparable:

Daniel Berger +6000 and $7,500

Matt McCarty +6000 and $7,500

Mac Meissner +6000 and $7,500

Comparable:

Jordan Spieth +3500 and $8,300

Adam Scott +4000 and $8,400

All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.

HORSES FOR COURSES

(These players have had a lot of success at this event over their career.)

1. Russell Henley ($10,300; best finishes: 2nd-2022, win-2014): Henley has blitzed Waialae multiple times in his career. He famously blew a five-shot lead at this event in 2022 on the back nine on Sunday, but was also one of only two players that year to get to 23-under par. A winner here in 2014 (his first-ever PGA TOUR start), he also finished T4 at this event in 2024.

2. Chris Kirk ($8,800; best finishes: T2-2022, T3-2023): Kirk has played this event a ton over his career and likes the flow of holes and setup at Waialae. He’s finished in the top five at the Sony four times in his career and was also T18 here in 2024. He’s only finished outside the top 20 once at this venue over the last four seasons.

3. Corey Conners ($8,600; best finishes: third-2019, T11-2022): Conners is one of the most consistent iron players in the game, so it’s not shocking he’s done great on this target-to-target setup where power gets somewhat deemphasized. He was third here in 2019 and finished T12 or better at this venue three times between 2020 and 2023. He’s made the cut here 5+ seasons in a row. 

4. Nick Taylor ($9,000; best finishes: T7 in 2023 and 2024; win in 2025): Taylor has finished top 10 at this event in each of the past three seasons and won the event last year. The veteran has performed well at these sorts of shorter seaside venues over his career, having also won at Pebble Beach. The tougher windy conditions should suit him just like they did last year when he won at -16.

5. Si Woo Kim ($9,400; best finishes: win -2023; T25 – 2021): Kim has been a bit up and down at this event, but he’s made the cut here four times in a row now and broke through for a huge win in 2023. He’s excelled with his irons here in the past, so even an average putting week could see him push for another top 10 finish.

Recent Form

1. Hideki Matsuyama ($9,700, Recent finishes: win-T7): Matsuyama won his last start out at the Hero World Challenge and comes into this event in solid form, having also finished T7 in his start prior. When the 2021 Sony Open champion is hitting his irons well, he’s always a threat on a course like Waialae. 

2. Ben Griffin ($10,100, Recent finishes: win-T32-T2): Griffin is coming off a dream year that saw him bag his second win over the fall at the WWT Championship. He’s a danger to win every time he starts on a short par 70. 

3. Rico Hoey ($8,100, Recent finishes: T7-T22-T20): Hoey’s elite ball-striking has carried him to some big finishes of late, and he comes in off a T7 at the RSM Classic in his last start. If he can find the range with his putter this week, he could be a threat to notch win number one. 

4. Matt McCarty ($7,500, Recent finishes: T3-T14): McCarty had an eventful fall, which saw him bag a round of 60 in Utah, where he finished T3. His recent results suggest he may start hot in 2026.

5. Si Woo Kim ($9,400, Recent finishes: T4-T21-T20): Kim played well over the fall and ended his season with a T4 finish at the RSM. He’s struggled with the putter for a while now, but is striking it well enough to compete every week on these short par-70 venues.

DRAFTKINGS DFS STRATEGY

Big Field Punt plays:

Seonghyeon Kim ($6,600): Kim battled his way back on Tour after a great season on the Korn Ferry Tour got him his PGA card back. He’s played well at the Sony before and finished T12 here back in 2023. 

David Ford ($6,700): Ford is a player I’ll be getting exposure to almost every week he’s on the start list. The American is a great talent and landed a T3 finish over the fall in Utah. Waialae is a tough venue for a rookie, but he’s still a name to consider at under 7k. 

Adam Schenk ($6,400): Schenk ended his season with a win in Bermuda at another shorter seaside venue, so his price this week is somewhat suspicious. He’s a very up-and-down player, but from an upside perspective, he’s got just as much top-5 equity as many players in the 7k range, making him a great value to GPP lineups. 

Core plays:

Collin Morikawa ($9,800) – see below

Rico Hoey ($8,100) – If the high wind persists all week, it should play into the hands of the elite ball-strikers like Hoey, who would likely be happy if the conditions were a little tougher. Overall, I’m happy to buy into a player like Hoey on this venue, as even an average putting week could lead to a ceiling-type finish. 

Contrarian click: Kurt Kitayama ($8,900) – Kitayama is more of an off-the-tee maestro, so I expect he’ll be lower-owned this week as a result of the course not favoring bombers. Still, the American has shot some low scores at this week’s venue before and did finish T24 here in 2023. With tougher conditions expected, it could favor more elite ball-strikers, who, like Hoey, would work in his favor. I’d be in if he’s projecting with lower-ownership later in the week.

MY PICK: Collin Morikawa ($9,800)

I’m not sure if we’ll get a return of ‘peak’ Morikawa in the first event of 2026, but I do know that we are getting some pretty solid value on him compared to other names in this medium-strength field. As of writing, Morikawa’s +2000 odds in the betting market are just fifth-best, and his sub-10k salary for DFS also sticks out given that he’s a great course fit for this event and there is no Rory, Scottie, or Xander in this field at the head of the market. 

As mentioned before, Morikawa’s accuracy off the tee and with his irons should really play well at Waialae, and his past two visits to this venue in 2020 and 2021 were fruitful. He finished T21 in 2020 and landed a T7 in 2021, while gaining 8+ strokes on approach and 3.2 strokes putting. Overall, he’s a two-time major winner and is likely the most talented player in this field, regardless of what the odds say, and with him coming in healthy and off a nice break, I don’t see much reason not to be overweight on him this week at these values.  

For betting, I’m also fine taking the +2000 outright number on him at DraftKings Sportsbook if you want more exposure.

MY SLEEPER: Michael Kim ($7,300)

Kim comes into this weekend off a great fall/winter, which saw him bag a win over a quality field on the DP World Tour in France. The 32-year-old played in five events on the alternate Tour and cut all five, posting a top 10 in India to go along with his win. 

From a course fit standpoint, Kim also sets up well. He posted top-six finishes last season at TPC Scottsdale, PGA National, and Bay Hill, all of which are considered accuracy-driven courses where the best iron players often prevail. While he’s been up and down at Waialae, he did finish T20 at this event way back in 2017, and gained over 4.0 strokes on the greens here in 2024. Overall, he’s a player who has more upside at this venue than he’s shown in the past, and with his form in good shape after the winter break, he’s at a pricepoint where he makes sense to be overweight on as a value play in DFS. 

For betting, you can also look to get some exposure to his upside on the DraftKings Sportsbook, where he’s +500 in the top-10 and ties market and makes as a longshot outright bet as well at +7500.