After the Sentry Tournament of Champions last week, the PGA Tour remains in Hawaii for the first full-field event of 2022, the Sony Open.
Check out our preview of the tournament below.
Kisner building up head of steam
Kevin Kisner added a fourth win on Tour in 2021, with victory at the Wyndham Championship in North Carolina. While he has tended to struggle since, the 37-year-old American has only played in six tournaments since that win and just last week at the Sentry Tournament of Champions he hinted that a return to form was close.
There have been 15 winners of the Sony Open that played in the Tournament of Champions the week before, since the latter competition moved to Hawaii in 1999, which suggests that golfers that remain on the Pacific island tend to fare well. Kisner finished an excellent T8, 24 under par, last week at Kapalua, where he improved with each round. He finished with an excellent 8 under round of 65, and that should set him up well coming into this contest.
The Waialae Country Club is a tighter course than the Kapalua Plantation Course, with small greens requiring greater accuracy. Kisner is not known for his big driving, but can be deadly on the greens when on song, so this test should suit him more than last week’s assignment. The stats back that up too, as Kisner has gone close in this tournament before, finishing 5th in 2016, before 4th place finishes in 2017 and 2020. Expect the South Carolinian to go well at odds of 35/1.
Leishman a model of consistency
Australian Marc Leishman has been performing well in recent seasons on the PGA Tour and has six wins to his name, including three in the last four years.
So far this season he has looked a model of consistency, playing five tournaments and recording an excellent three top-10 finishes. He finished T10 in the Tournament of Champions, but is another that has done better in the Sony Open in the past. Leishman finished 3rd here in 2019 and last year lost out by only two strokes as he came home in 4th place.
Leishman has been likened to Ernie Els due to the smoothness of his swing and that helps him to generate big distances off the tee. He is currently 35th on the list of longest drivers on the PGA Tour this season, with an average distance of 306 yards. While he needs to control his ball well around this tight course the fact that there is very little wind forecast for this week means he should have every chance of doing so. Accuracy off the tee should allow Leishman to pick his spots on the green and if his putter is firing, then he looks sure to be challenging at the finish. He can be backed at 20/1.