Sony Open in Hawaii 2025 Tips: Tom Kim our headline pick

Week two of the PGA Tour’s 2025 campaign takes us to Waialae Country Club for the Sony Open, the second event of our traditional Hawaiian double-header that kicks off the new season.  

As always, here are our golf tipster Jamie Worsley's Sony Open 2025 tips, as well as his usual comprehensive preview. 

There is sure to be a poignant atmosphere, filled with quiet reflection, in the absence of last year’s winner, Grayson Murray, who tragically took his own life just four months later, in May 2024.

TOURNAMENT HISTORY

The Sony Open debuted on the PGA Tour as the Hawaiian Open in 1965 and has been a mainstay on the calendar since, taking place every year excluding 1970. Each renewal has been staged here at Waialae Country Club and it has held this spot on the schedule as the first full-field event of the year since 1999.

There have been five two-time winners of this event but as yet, nobody has landed a trio of Sony Open titles. Hubert Green was the first player to win twice, doing so with back-to-back victories in 1978 and 1979, and he has been followed by Corey Pavin (1986, 1987), Lanny Wadkins (1988, 1991), Ernie Els (2003, 2004) and Jimmy Walker (2014, 2015).

Last five winners:

• 2024 – Winner: Grayson Murray (-17, playoff)

    Runners-up: Byeong Hun An, Keegan Bradley (-17)

• 2023 – Winner: Si-woo Kim (-18)

       Runner-up: Hayden Buckley (-17)

• 2022 – Winner: Hideki Matsuyama (-23, playoff)

       Runner-up: Russell Henley (-23)

• 2021 – Winner: Kevin Na (-21)

    Runners-up: Joaquin Niemann, Chris Kirk (-20)

• 2020 – Winner: Cameron Smith (-11, playoff)

       Runner-up: Brendan Steele (-11)

THE COURSE

Waialae Country Club opened for play in 1927 and was originally designed by Seth Raynor. It has been renovated by several architects since, most recent of which was Tom Doak – who acts as a consultant at the club – in 2016, when he oversaw a project that aimed to restore many aspects of Raynor’s original design.

This par 70 measures 7044 yards and contains 4x par 3s (176-204 yards), 12x par 4s (351-480 yards) and 2x par 5s (506-551 yards).

Situated close to the coast, the elements can have a big say on how difficult Waialae Country Club plays. Although, it is reasonably simple if the wind doesn’t blow and possesses an average winning score of -19.9 across its last 10 editions.

This flat and predominantly tree-lined course requires somewhat of a strategic approach, with most of the holes doglegging. The average-width fairways can prove challenging to find and players will need to attack the putting surfaces from the correct angle to avoid their approaches being impeded.

That being said, the large and often receptive bermudagrass greens have ranked among the easiest to find on tour in recent years. This is contrasted by the fact that their subtle and hard-to-read breaks result in them posing a significant challenge to putt on, ranking inside the top 10 in putting difficulty on the PGA Tour in the last five years.

The greens are well bunkered and along with water coming into on five holes, form the primary defences at the course away from the weather.

Each of the two nines finish with a gettable par 5 and whilst the par 3s have some of the strongest bunkering on the course, they’re not especially dangerous. The 12 par 4s offer variety and require steady ball-striking to overcome, though birdie chances are easily orchestrated if keeping the ball in-play and it will likely take some adverse weather to stop the players going low at Waialae Country Club.

THE WEATHER

There is rain forecast in the days building up to the tournament, which could soften the course up. However, this should disperse for the event itself, with the players in for pleasantly warm, bright and dry playing conditions from Thursday to Sunday.

Wind does look set to be a factor, with general speeds of 12mph and gusts of up to 25mph forecast over the first three rounds. This may ramp up on Sunday, with 17mph winds and 32mph gusts potentially on the cards.

KEY STATS

• SG: Approach/Proximity 150-175 yards

With large and potentially receptive greens that are typically easy to find, quality approach players should thrive at Waialae Country Club this week.

Although it wasn’t particularly prevalent among leading contenders in 2024, it has been a key statistic in past renewals. Si Woo Kim led the field in approach on his way to taking the title in 2023 and Russell Henley also relied on his irons when runner-up in 2022, ranking 2^nd.

Each of the top 3 in 2021 ranked no worse than 11^th in approach, including winner, Kevin Na ranking 5^th; 2020 runner-up Brendan Steele ranked 2^nd in approach; six of the top 12 ranked inside the top 10 in this area in 2019; whilst every winner from 2016-18 was among the top 5 iron players in the field.

In addition, the wedges and mid irons are vital here, with that 150-175yd range rating as the most common since 2016.

• SG: Putting (bermudagrass)

Getting a handle of these tricky bermudagrass has regularly been a recipe for success in the Sony Open.

Each of 2022 champion, Hideki Matsuyama and 2020 winner, Cam Smith ranked 1^st in putting when claiming the title. Whilst prior to Smith’s victory, every winner from Jimmy Walker in 2015 to Matt Kuchar in 2019 ranked inside the top 6.

• Scrambling

The need for strong scrambling is generally dependent on conditions and with moderate winds set to be a constant throughout the week, players may find their scrambling skills tested a little more than usual. Especially on Sunday if those strongest winds arrive.

Every winner since 2016 has ranked inside the top 25 in scrambling and six of them in the top 6. This includes Hideki Matsuyama ranking 1^st in 2022.

• Par 4 Scoring

Lastly, par 4s make up two thirds of the holes at the course and those who excel on these holes will have an advantage over the field.

CORRELATING EVENTS (COURSES)

RSM Classic (Sea Island Resort)

As a flat, coastal venue with large bermudagrass greens, Sea Island and the RSM Classic look a strong comp for the Sony Open. The short game challenge at the two events compares closely; as does the challenge on approach, with greens-in-regulation percentages similar and approaches between 150-175yds highly common.

Notable correlating form:

Russell Henley:

Sony Open (1^st, 2^nd) / RSM (4^th, 6^th)

Charles Howell III:

Sony Open (2^nd, 2^nd, 3^rd, 3^rd) / RSM (1^st)

Chris Kirk:

Sony Open (2^nd, 2^nd, 3^rd) / RSM (1^st)

Kevin Kisner:

Sony Open (3^rd, 4^th, 4^th) / RSM (1^st, 2^nd)

Webb Simpson:

Sony Open (3^rd, 4^th, 4^th) / RSM (2^nd, 2^nd)

Tom Hoge:

Sony Open (3^rd) / RSM (4^th)

Seamus Power:

Sony Open (3^rd) / RSM (4^th, 5^th)

Brian Harman:

Sony Open (4^th) / RSM (2^nd, 4^th)

Jamie Lovemark:

Sony Open (4^th, 7^th) / RSM (6^th, 9^th)

Michael Thompson:

Sony Open (5^th, 6^th) / RSM (3^rd)

Brian Gay:

Sony Open (5^th, 6^th) / RSM (3^rd)

Cognizant Classic (PGA National)

PGA National ticks many of the same boxes as above. It’s a flat course with large bermudagrass greens and situated on the coast, it can be heavily impacted by windy conditions. The short game demands are of a similar level, and it also possesses comparable averages in driving accuracy.

Notable correlating form:

Russell Henley:

Sony Open (1^st, 2^nd) / Cognizant (1^st, 3^rd)

Mark Wilson:

Sony Open (1^st) / Cognizant (1^st)

Ryan Palmer:

Sony Open (1^st, 4^th) / Cognizant (2^nd, 4^th)

Chris Kirk:

Sony Open (2^nd, 2^nd, 3^rd) / Cognizant (1^st)

Rory Sabbatini:

Sony Open (2^nd, 2^nd) / Cognizant (1^st)

Brendan Steele:

Sony Open (2^nd, 4^th) / Cognizant (3^rd, 4^th)

Byeong Hun An:

Sony Open (2^nd) / Cognizant (4^th, 5^th)

Keegan Bradley:

Sony Open (2^nd) / Cognizant (4^th)

Gary Woodland:

Sony Open (3^rd, 6^th, 7^th) / Cognizant (2^nd, 5^th, 6^th)

Ben Taylor:

Sony Open (4^th) / Cognizant (5^th)

Michael Thompson:

Sony Open (5^th, 6^th) / Cognizant (1^st)

Bermuda Championship (Port Royal Golf Course)

I’m going to stick with a similar theme and the Bermuda Championship at Port Royal Golf Course looks an obvious comp. It’s a short, coastal course with big bermudagrass greens and strong bunkering.

Notable correlating form:

Ryan Palmer:

Sony Open (1^st, 4^th) / Bermuda (8^th)

Seamus Power:

Sony Open (3^rd) / Bermuda (1^st)

Carl Yuan:

Sony Open (4^th) / Bermuda (4^th)

David Lipsky:

Sony Open (4^th) / Bermuda (9^th)

Brian Gay:

Sony Open (5^th, 6^th) / Bermuda (1^st, 3^rd)

Wyndham Championship (Sedgefield Country Club)

Sedgefield Country Club is a tree-lined course with large bermudagrass greens and plays to a similar level of difficulty, possessing an average winning score of -19.7 across its last 10 renewals. Approaches between 150-175yds outnumber every other range, whilst it also ranks closely to Waialae Country Club in greens-in-regulation percentages and short game difficulty.

Notable correlating form:

Si Woo Kim:

Sony Open (1^st) / Wyndham (1^st, 2^nd)

Kevin Na:

Sony Open (1^st) / Wyndham (2^nd, 4^th)

Russell Henley:

Sony Open (1^st, 2^nd) / Wyndham (2^nd, 5^th)

Brandt Snedeker:

Sony Open (2^nd) / Wyndham (1^st)

Byeong Hun An:

Sony Open (2^nd) / Wyndham (2^nd, 3^rd)

Webb Simpson:

Sony Open (3^rd, 4^th, 4^th) / Wyndham (1^st, 2^nd, 2^nd)

Kevin Kisner:

Sony Open (3^rd, 4^th, 4^th) / Wyndham (1^st)

Brian Harman:

Sony Open (4^th) / Wyndham (3^rd, 6^th)

Charles Schwab Challenge (Colonial Country Club)

I’m going to finish with the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial. This tree-lined course and its many doglegs require a strategic approach to conquer, whilst it serves up a strikingly similar challenge on approach, with the wedge and mid irons of most importance, especially from 150-175 yards.

Notable correlating form:

Kevin Na:

Sony Open (1^st) / Charles Schwab (1^st)

Matt Kuchar:

Sony Open (1^st) / Charles Schwab (2^nd)

Patton Kizzire:

Sony Open (1^st) / Charles Schwab (3^rd)

Ryan Palmer:

Sony Open (1^st, 4^th) / Charles Schwab (3^rd, 5^th, 5^th)

Chris Kirk:

Sony Open (2^nd, 2^nd, 3^rd) / Charles Schwab (1^st)

Rory Sabbatini:

Sony Open (2^nd, 2^nd) / Charles Schwab (1^st)

Keegan Bradley:

Sony Open (2^nd) / Charles Schwab (2^nd)

Brandt Snedeker:

Sony Open (2^nd) / Charles Schwab (2^nd)

Andrew Putnam:

Sony Open (2^nd, 4^th) / Charles Schwab (3^rd)

Hayden Buckley:

Sony Open (2^nd) / Charles Schwab (5^th)

Kevin Kisner:

Sony Open (3^rd, 4^th, 4^th) / Charles Schwab (1^st)

Harris English:

Sony Open (3^rd, 4^th) / Charles Schwab (2^nd, 5^th)

Webb Simpson:

Sony Open (3^rd, 4^th, 4^th) / Charles Schwab (3^rd, 5^th)

Chez Reavie:

Sony Open (3^rd) / Charles Schwab (5^th)

David Lipsky:

Sony Open (4^th) / Charles Schwab (9^th)

THE FIELD

Last week’s impressive winner of The Sentry, Hideki Matsuyama is the top-ranked player in the field at #5. He is one of eight from inside the world’s top 25 and 20 from the top 50.

The Japanese star is also a former winner of this event in 2022, and he is joined by a further six past champions in Hawaii this week: Si Woo Kim (2023), Matt Kuchar (2019), Patton Kizzire (2018), Russell Henley (2013), Ryan Palmer (2010) and Zach Johnson (2009).

Our second event of the year is the first full-field tournament of 2025 and thus, gives us an opportunity to check out several newcomers/returnees to the tour this season. Among these are Rikuya Hoshino and Jesper Svensson, who both earned their places on the PGA Tour via the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai rankings last year. In addition, we also welcome 29 of the 30 players to claim their card on the Korn Ferry Tour last year, including #2 and #3 ranked players, Max McGreevy and Frankie Capan.

Not included in the above is Matt McCarty – the leading player on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2024 – who earned automatic promotion to the PGA Tour at the end of last season due to winning three times on that second tier, before then winning on just his second start as a PGA Tour member in the Black Desert Championship. He’ll look to continue to make an impact in 2025, as will world #1 amateur, Luke Clanton, who impressed several times at this level last year and gets the chance to spread his wings on this bigger stage again this week.

Sony Open Odds

*Please click on the link above to be taken to the main Sony Open market on betfred.com (or app) for all the live betting prices on this tournament.

SELECTIONS

Market leaders (1/4 5 places): Hideki Matsuyama 10/1, Corey Conners 14/1, Tom Kim 20/1, Russell Henley 22/1, Byeong Hun An 22/1

I’m going to dive in near the top of the betting and as one of the most ideally suited players to the challenge at Waialae Country Club, Tom Kim looks attractively priced to get his year off to the best possible start in Hawaii.

2.5 pts Tom Kim each way (1/5 - 8 places) @ 20/1

2024 was a consistent year for Kim and one in which he started to pack in more quality towards the end. He made the cut and finished inside the top 30 in the first three majors of the season and also hit the top 10 in the Olympics. His best performance of the year came when 2^nd in the Travelers Championship and he finished with a further trio of runner-up finishes, which came in the Genesis Championship on the DP World Tour and in the two unofficial events, the Hero World Challenge and Grant Thornton Invitational.

The Korean gained strokes throughout the bag in 2024, but he once again excelled with his approach play. He ranks 10^th over the previous six months in this area and his strong wedge game, for which he ranked 4^th between 125-150 yards, will be useful around this setup.

Kim endured an unusually bad time on the greens here when missing the cut on his debut in 2023, but that is easy to forgive considering how well the course appeared to suit his game from tee-to-green. His 2022 victory in the Wyndham Championship is an appealing piece of comp form for this challenge and increases my optimism that he can make an excellent start to 2025 this week.

1.25 pts Chris Kirk each way (1/5 - 8 places) @ 45/1 

Chris Kirk looked to have found something in approach in last week’s final round and if managing to continue that into this week, he’ll be among the main contenders in an event at which he’s enjoyed plenty of success.

Kirk’s performances in 2024 peaked at the start, as he claimed a sixth PGA Tour win in The Sentry. He only recorded two additional top 10s following that win, the latest of which came when he finished 9^th in the BMW Championship back in August.

He started slowly last week, opening with a 1-over 74 but shot under par in every round thereafter. The driver looked in good shape for much of that event and he finally got it going with his irons in round four, ranking 10^th in the field.

I’m confident he can keep that going this week, as his irons looked in solid shape at the end of 2024 and due to his strength with the wedges, this is a course that has typically suited his eye in this respect.

Kirk often starts his year well at Waialae. He’s twice finished runner-up – in 2014 and 2021 – and he’s recorded two further top 5s, which came when 3^rd in 2023 and 5^th in 2013. As a past winner of the Charles Schwab Challenge, RSM Classic and Cognizant Classic, his comp form also makes for very satisfying reading.

1 pt Sepp Straka each way (1/5 - 8 places) @ 50/1 

Sepp Straka was in fine ball-striking form at Kapalua last week, which helped him to a 15^th-place finish. Possessing a solid enough record here and one especially eye-catching piece of comp form, he looks well placed to contend this week.

Despite ending it winless, 2024 was the most consistent year of Straka’s career. He recorded 12 top-25 finishes and found a real purple patch of form from March to June. Among his standout performances were a 16^th-place finish at Augusta and he also recorded three 5^th-place finishes over this time, which came at the RBC Heritage, Charles Schwab Challenge and the Memorial Tournament.

The Austrian ranked inside the top 10 in ball-striking last week, which came as no surprise considering he excelled off-the-tee and in approach in 2024, ranking top 50 in both areas. I was especially taken by his quality with approaches from 150-175 yards, for which he ranked 21^st and although his putting numbers were slightly down on previous seasons, he did produce many of his better performances on bermudagrass.

Straka has played Waialae Country Club four times, missing the cut on debut in 2019 but has been much more solid since, recording a best of 25^th in 2021. All of these appearances came before he transformed into the two-time PGA Tour winner he can now call himself, and with one of those wins coming at the correlating PGA National in the 2022 Cognizant Classic, he has a very handy piece of form that suggests he can be a major factor in Hawaii.

1 pt Daniel Berger each way (1/5 - 8 places) @ 55/1 

Daniel Berger spent much of 2024 struggling to rediscover his game following a prolonged absence due to a back injury. However, he finally found some consistency in the FedExCup Fall, finishing the year by making his last six cuts in a row, and arriving at this suitable setup, he should be relishing getting this next campaign going.

Berger arrived at the FedExCup Fall with everything to do to secure his PGA Tour future for this season, sat outside that top-125 threshold. A 7^th-place finish in the Sanderson Farms Championship in his sixth-last start of the season sparked him into life, as he then made his next four cuts on the spin, but he descended on the season-ending RSM Classic still needing a performance, entering that week in 127^th place. He duly delivered there, as a 2^nd-place finish took him into 100^th place in the standings and he should begin this season with renewed confidence.

He had threatened to find form throughout last year, with his ball-striking continually looking in reasonably good shape. The putter stopped him achieving more in the early stages and it didn’t come as a shock to see those results improve once he found something on the greens in the latter months.

Berger has played here on six occasions and never failed to make the weekend. He’s finished inside the top 20 three times, with his best effort coming on his most recent visit in 2021, when he finished 7^th. Having won at Colonial and possessing runner-up finishes at PGA National and now Sea Island, his comp form stacks up well and if this classy player is anywhere near his best, he’ll be a big danger.

1 pt Max McGreevy each way (1/5 - 8 places) @ 90/1

Things didn’t go exactly to plan for Max McGreevy on his first stab at the PGA Tour, as two underwhelming years resulted in demotion to the Korn Ferry Tour last year. However, he played the best golf of his career in 2024, looking particularly strong at the end of the year and he should be a different prospect as he makes his return to the big stage.

McGreevy looked good from the off on the Korn Ferry Tour last year, recording finishes of 6^th and 16^th in the double-header in The Bahamas. He maintained a good level of form throughout, recording three top-3 finishes in six starts from April to June, and finally got rewarded for this level of performance by picking up victories in the Memorial Health and Magnit Championships, the second of which came by an impressive three strokes.

Two top-10 finishes in his final three starts of the KFT season helped him to second place in the season-long rankings, though his best performance of the season was still to come. He finished 11^th in the Black Desert Championship back on the PGA Tour following the close of the KFT season – his best finish at this level since finishing 8^th in the 2022 Bermuda Championship – and he then ran out an emphatic four-stroke winner of the prestigious Dunlop Phoenix Tournament on the Japanese Tour, beating fellow PGA Tour pros, Hideki Matsuyama and Akshay Bhatia, along with recent DP World Tour winner Shaun Norris into second place.

While McGreevy’s first stint on the PGA Tour may have offered little to get excited about, his best performances are all hugely encouraging in relation to the challenge at Waialae Country Club. He only recorded three top 10s across those two seasons, but two of them came at correlating events in Bermuda and in the Wyndham Championship. Even his runner-up finish in the 2022 Puerto Rico Open could work, as another wind-affected coastal layout. Those experiences, combined with the progress he made last year mean we can forget about his two previous missed cuts here and I’d be disappointed if we didn’t see him in the mix this week.