2023 Sony Open First-Round Leader Picks & Predictions: Can Corey Conners Get Off to a Hot Start?
The Sony Open has been an annual event on the PGA Tour since 1965. Johnny Covers takes a closer look at a few guys that could get off to a hot start on Thursday.
Johnny Covers - January 10, 2023, 9:54 AM EST
5 min2023 Sony Open First-Round Leader Picks & Predictions: Can Corey Conners Get Off to a Hot Start?
The Sony Open has been an annual event on the PGA Tour since 1965, leaving plenty of course history to draw on. It's also the first full-field event of calendar 2023, and for those who didn't participate in the two most recent limited field events, the Sentry Tournament of Champions last week and the Hero World Challenge in December, it's their first opportunity to play in a tournament since the RSM Classic in November.
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Unlike last week at Kapalua, Waialae is a short course with modest Bermuda Greens that is wind-affected and tree-lined. Only three holes have water in play, and the greens typically start at about 11.
Let’s take a closer look at a few guys who could get off to a hot start on Thursday.
Sony Open First-Round Leader Predictions
Russell Henley (+3500) Bet $100 to collect $3,600 DraftKings has the best odds, click here to bet
One of the top-ranked guys in this week’s field, Henley enters the week as No. 31 in the OWGR and No. 10 in the FedEx Cup rankings. He also enters the week likely motivated by the fact he had all but won this event last year before Hideki Matsuyama shot a 31 on the back-nine Sunday to force a playoff and take this win in the process.
The second-place finish was, however, the second-best of his career here, winning the event in 2013 and finishing T11 in 2021. One of the biggest factors in Henley’s success at this course is his accuracy off the tee. Coming into this year’s event, Henley is once again dialed, ranking No. 1 in terms of driving accuracy on Tour at 76.55%.
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Corey Conners (+4000) Bet $100 to collect $4,100 DraftKings has the best odds, click here to bet
Sitting atop the field in True: Strokes Gained at Waialae, Conners has dominated this course in his 16 rounds here. In his last three outings, he has top 15 finishes, including a T3 in 2019 in which he was in the mix throughout the event.
Slowly turning into one of the best iron players and ball strikers on Tour, Conners also comes in warm having played last week in Maui. With just one of those four days above 68, Conner’s form is ripe for another high finish here.
Keith Mitchell (+5000) Bet $100 to collect $5,100 DraftKings has the best odds, click here to bet
Relatively quiet since his 2018-19 win on Tour, Mitchel has been putting together a strong season already in 2022-23, with four top 40s in six events started, including a T9 at the Houston Open in November. Though he didn’t tee it up last week in the abbreviated field, Mitchell does have the advantage of 18 rounds played here at Waialae.
They weren’t just passive laps either, as his True: Strokes Gained here ranks second to only Corey Conners amongst players with more than four rounds. In his last four outings here, Mitchell has three top 20s including a career-best T7 last year.
While it’s a long shot as the odds suggest, I think there’s some value on a hot start from Mitchell.
Sony Open First-Round Leader Picks
Summary of my first-round leader picks for the Sony Open:
- Russell Henley (+3500) Bet $100 to collect $3,600 DraftKings has the best odds, click here to bet
- Corey Conners (+4000) Bet $100 to collect $4,100 DraftKings has the best odds, click here to bet
- Keith Mitchell (+5000) Bet $100 to collect $5,100 DraftKings has the best odds, click here to bet
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