Niall Lyons picks out four selections as we kick off the golf season at the Sony Open in Waialae Country Club, Hawaii.
Sony Open 2026
Waialae Country Club, Hawaii. A trip to Waialae is a welcome one for tipsters and punters alike as it's a venue we know extremely well and one where it's possible to find a few interesting outsiders.
Driving distance often doesn't matter an awful lot here and instead approach play along with a sharp short game is what's required here to score well.
Some really solid putters have thrived here down the years but there's s stark difference to the task at hand this week compared to previous years. Players who had played in the opener at Kapalua have always had an advantage here but with this now being the first event of the year there will be an ounce more guesswork.
A handful of winners here have also won at El Cameleon in Mexico so a nod to previous form there is advisable. Wind often plays its part here with it being a coastal layout so form shorter tracks near the sea, in particular Harbour Town are worth analysing.
Sony Open Player Stats
Sony Open 2026 Tips
- 2pts each-way C.Conners 35/1 (1/5 6) Spreadex, SportingIndex
- 1.5pts each-way J.Spieth 40/1 (1/5 8) Bet365 8 place market
- 1.5pts each-way C.Gotterup 45/1 (1/5 8) Bet365 8 place book
- 1pt each-way M.Brennan 66/1 (1/5 6) Spreadex, SportingIndex
Corey Connors at 35/1 (Six Places)
I backed Robert MacIntyre in last year's renewal but it was near double the price than what's on offer this time around. He could go well around here, especially given the way he strolled around the layout last year really impressively only to put in a stinker of a week with the putter.
Had there been a little more juice in the price he would have been top of my list. If Collin Morikawa has a good week on the greens then the fact he is third or fourth favourite may look a little silly come the weekend, but I feel his price is right, especially based on the evidence of recently priced events.
I'm a little surprised that Corey Conners hasn't taken up a little bit more of the market and he'll head my selections this week. The Canadian took a tri[p to Europe in September when missing the cut at Wentworth then finishing down the field in the Open de France.
Either side of that though he finished 4th in the season ending Tour Championship and then 7th in the Hero World Challenge beating the likes of Cam Young, Sam Burns and Robert MacIntyre.
Just like Morikawa, the task lies here with landing him on a good putting week which is a bit of a lottery. From 2018-2022 he putted really well on these greens but it has gone a bit south since. Nevertheless he's not far below tour average here on these greens throughout 7 visits which can be considered a positive.
He has missed the cut just once in all those tries going on a run of 3-12-11-12 from 2019 through to 2023. Given Conners was around a 45/1 shot for the Tour Championship with the strongest 30 on tour last season and finished 4th I think anything around 25/1 or north of that is worth taking here.
2pts each-way C.Conners 35/1 (1/5 6) Spreadex, SportingIndex
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Jordan Spieth at 45/1 (Eight Places)
I'd love to be able to talk myself out of backing Jordan Spieth this week but I simply can't at the odds on offer. Spieth was a lowly 19th last time out at the Hero World Challenge in December but he played solid enough golf for large parts of last season and maybe comes here a little underestimated.
The former world number one will be itching to get this season underway and a return to Birkdale later in the year for the Open is sure to get his backside into gear.
It didn't feel like Spieth had four top ten finishes and a further three top 20s last year seeing he didn't make a lot of headlines, but it certainly wasn't a disaster.
A trip to Waialae where he finished 3rd in 2017 should be a nice opener and given that he has a win and a runner up at Harbour Town as well as a win at runner up at Pebble suggests this course is as likely as any other on tour to grant him the opportunity of a victory.
With the big guns not taking part he should be licking his lips at this chance but it's the price that really convinces me of including him in the staking plan.
Two starts ago at the St Jude he went off a 45/1 shot with Scheffler, Schauffele, Fleetwood, Hovland, Thomas and Aberg heading that market.
Morikawa was a 33/1 shot that week and he halves in price for the Sony. With the credentials he has for a test like this he rates as one of the bets of the week in my eyes.
Chris Gotterup at 45/1 (Eight Places)
Chris Gotterup has produced many really fine efforts in the last 18 months or so, much more so than many above him in the market and he looks a nice play at the odds here this week.
His win at Myrtle Beach is relevant here given it was by the coast and you have to think that his victory in the Scottish Open last July backs that theory up.
He beat one of the strongest fields of the year that week at the Renaissance and the following week beat almost all of them once again when he finsihed 3rd at Portrush.
The purple patch didn't exactly end there with a 10th place coming at Twin Cities then another top ten notched at the main season ending Tour Championship at East Lake.
He missed the cut here on debut last year but was in a run of poor form which included an effort at Kapalua the week before where he finished well down the field.
This time he arrives a much more improved and accomplished golfer and I thought he'd more in the 33/1 bracket here this week.
Up to 50/1 and beyond on offer looks worthy of a wager for someone who may be ahead of the handicapper given he has already beaten a field much better than this and that his other victory was by a six shot margin.
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Michael Brennan at 66/1 (Six Places)
It will be fascinating to see what Michael Brennan gives us in the opening few months of this season and although maybe he's better left for a tournament like the AMEX in the Californian Desert I'm prepared to give him a chance here at anything around the 50/1 mark.
Brennan went from Sponsor's Invite to PGA Tour Champion at the Bank of Utah Championship last October and having only turned pro 18 months ago it has been a meteoric rise.
He is a monster hitter off the tee and although that doesn't quite translate to Waialae I believe it would be foolish to rule him out on that basis. He showed a great touch on and around the greens in Utah which will need to be on display once again this week at the season opener.
We saw him hit plenty of 3 woods successfully off the tee in Utah and that club should be used plenty here given it's not the longest of tracks. If anything could catch him out around here it may be his putter but there's a chance he could prove to us very soon that he doesn't really have a weakness.
Overall I believe the risk/reward ratio here is high and whilst he's in a field without the real big guns in the game and at this price I'm more than happy to get involved.
