2021 Sony Open Betting Preview
12 January 2021
In case you live in an area that is experiencing a cold front or snow this time of year, there are golfers out there that have to play in "unfortunate" weather locations such as Hawaii, like those participating in this weekend's Sony Open. Though most of us cannot join, we still have betting opportunities to pretend we are right there with them in the beautiful weather and scenery.
The tournament tees off on Thursday from the Wai'alae Country Club, with a $6.6 million purse.
Betting Overview
Over the last six years for this tournament, it has been interesting to watch a very close affair leading up to a playoff or simply a blowout where one winner clearly takes off. In last year's play, fans saw Cameron Smith battle in a playoff against Brendan Steele to claim victory.
This will be the first full-field event for the calendar year that does not seem to be as attractive for the quality of players as it has in recent years. However, it still has 10 out of the top 25 players in the world golf rankings competing against each other.
Dunkel Index For This Event
The Dunkel Index is showing these top 10 golfers that could win this event. The top 10 are:
- Harris English -3.397
- Patrick Reed -7.615
- Cameron Smith -7.679
- Ryan Palmer -9.520
- Collin Morikawa -10.348
- Webb Simpson -10.394
- Abraham Ancer -11.049
- Daniel Berger -11.114
- Joaquin Niemann -11.177
- Adam Scott -11.695
Potential Winning Picks
Smith (-7.615) is the returning champion of this event, looking for a repeat of last year's 11-under-par performance. A win here would surely bring him within the top 25 world golf rankings.
So far, he has two top 10 finishes for the 2021 PGA calendar. Both of those events were a tie for second at the Masters and a tie for fourth at the ZOZO Championship.
Webb Simpson (-10.394) is favored to win this event in a handful of betting markets, and some even have him ranked second. In last year's event, he placed third, only one shot behind winner Smith.
Looking at his most recent seven tournaments, he has been solid with a tie for eighth at the US Open. He has had some poor performances, such as a 37th-place tie at the RSM Classic and recently coming off a 17th place tie at the Sentry Tournament of Champions.
Joaquin Niemann (-11.177) should have a lot of confidence heading into this event after following his recent runner-up at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, where he fell in a playoff, posting a final-round 64. He has also made nine consecutive cuts, with a third-place tie and sixth place being his best out of the process.
Winner of This Event
Players that have performed well here before and know the layout tend to have better opportunities to win. Simpson has some solid course history and almost tasted victory last year, and we see him as coming out on top in this one.
For more Dunkel Index picks, check out our picks page.
