HP 🍑 for the Sony Open 2024

First Look: Waiʻalae Country Club, Honolulu, HI

Check out DB’s full Course Breakdown for everything you need to know about this week’s venue including in-depth stats and data from Bet The Number.

The 2024 PGA Tour season is officially off and running! Congratulations to those fortunate few who holding a 130/1 Chris Kirk ticket, (bonus points if you’re New Year’s resolutions are still intact). The Sentry provided an entertaining birdie-fest among the world’s best, and the TOUR is staying in the islands for one more week as we look ahead to the Sony Open. While it is considered to be the weaker of the two events on the Hawaii swing, the Sentry still boasts a field with over 20 of the OWGR top 50. This week is also our first chance to see the latest class of PGA TOUR rookies in action (keep reading for a breakdown of some new names to know). Let’s get into it!

Welcome to the Show:
Get to Know the 2024 PGA Tour Rookies

Thanks to recent eligibility changes from the PGA Tour, 45 newly minted Tour Cards were handed out ahead of the 2024 season. Each week, we’ll spotlight a few up-and-comers whose names will be important to know as the year progresses.

• Ben Silverman - Canada

  One of the oldest of this year’s PGA TOUR newcomers, 36-year-old Ben Silverman is finally back in the big leagues for the first time since consecutive seasons on TOUR in 2017-18 and 2018-19. The veteran Canadian limped across the finish line last year on the KFT, but a stellar summer featuring six top-10s in eight events was enough to secure a top-five finish on the final points standings. A graduate of Florida Atlantic, Silverman still plays out of South Florida. At his age, it’s no surprise he lacks a bit of pop off the tee, but he’s an above-average putter and an accurate player who led the KFT in Par 4 Scoring in 2023.

• Jake Knapp - Newport Beach, CA

  A three-year standout at UCLA, Jake Knapp will hope to join the likes of Patrick Cantlay, Collin Morikawa and Max Homa among the elite California contingent on TOUR. At 29 years old, Knapp paid his dues grinding on the lower tours since turning pro in 2016. He’s a three-time winner on PGA TOUR Canada, and although he failed to bag a victory on the KFT last season, his 10 finishes of T10 or better were tied for the most on the tour. His game is an interesting combo of power off the tee and precision around and on the greens, but everything in between is what holds him back. He ranked second on the KFT in Driving Distance, second in Scrambling and fourth in Putting Average, but an abysmal 65th in GIR % really stands out. If he can figure out his ball-striking, he could certainly be a contender for a breakout season.

• Parker Coody - Plano, TX

  Often thought of as the lesser of the highly-touted Coody Twins (stay tuned next week for a look at Pierceson), the 2023 data actually favors Parker. The older brother (by all of 37 minutes) didn’t quite draw the same attention as his younger sibling at the University of Texas despite a runner-up finish in the 2022 NCAA individual national championship. The 24-year-old began last season buried in the KFT’s priority rankings, but a T5 finish as a Monday qualifier and four additional top-10s earned him a TOUR Card right alongside little bro. As for the data we mentioned, Parker actually topped Pierceson in every category tracked by the KFT with the exception of driving. But Parker’s average of 319 with the big stick was still good enough for 12th best on the KFT.

1. SG: Off the Tee Leaders last 30 rounds: 1. Aberg  2. Duncan  3. Semikawa  4. Vegas 5. Yu  6. List  7. Tosti  8. Schmid  9. Mitchell 10. Higgo

2. SG: Approach Leaders last 30 rounds: 1. Hisatsune  2. Woodland 3. Katsuragawa 4. Reavie  5. Poston  6. Cole  7. Hoey  8. Moore  9. Pendrith 10. Spaun

3. SG: ARG on Bermuda Leaders last 30 rounds:  1. Tosti 2. Xiong  3. Theegala  4. Kim, Chan  5. Aberg  6. Whaley  7. Lingmerth 8. Villegas  9. Lashley 10. Rodgers

4. SG: Putting on Bermuda Leaders last 30 rounds:  1. Furr  2. Montgomery  3. Griffin, Ben  4. Duncan  5. McNealy  6. Taylor, Ben  7. Hall  8. Theegala  9. Putnam 10. Wu

5. Left Rough % over last 30 rounds: 1. Katsuragawa  2. Whitney  3. Akana  4. Pavon  5. Svensson  6. Conners 7. Bjork  8. Griffin, Lanto  9. Lindheim  10. Rai

6. Leaders in SG: APP from 100-185 yds: 1. Valimaki  2. Katsuragawa  3. Hoey  4. Kanaya  5. Semikawa  6. Akana 7. Teater  8. Hoffman  9. Svensson  10. Echavarria

7. Leaders in SG: Putting from 8’-20’: 1. Fitzpatrick  2. Furr  3. Hatton  4. Griffin, Ben  5. Higgo  6. Aberg  7. Poston 8. Rose  9. Cink 10. Montgomery

8. SG: Total (Per Rd vs Field) at Waialae last 30 rounds: 1. Rose  2. Buckley  3. Kuchar  4. Conners  5. Montgomery  6. Eckroat  7. Echavarria  8. Kim, S.H.  9. An 10. Griffin, Ben

9. Top 10 in DataGolf in Projected Fantasy Value for the week: 1. Putnam  2. Henley  3. Svensson  4. Todd  5. English  6. Rai  7. Kim, Si Woo  8. An  9. Bradley  10. Harman

10. Top 10 in Data Golf Positive Course History vs. Expectation: 1. Akana 2. Echavarria 3. Buckley  4. Eckroat  5. An  6. Griffin  7. Kim, S.H.  8. Hall  9. Yu 10. Yuan

We’re thrilled that Underdog chose to launch Season Long PGA TOUR Best Ball Drafts starting on 2/8 with the Waste Management and ending at The Open. There’s plenty of strategy involved in drafting your 10 man teams, but the beauty of Best Ball is the joy of drafting and then sitting back and enjoying the sweat for 22 weeks!

DB will be doing LIVE drafts regularly between now and the contest starting on 2/8. Plus, we’ve got a dedicated thread in the DISCORD talking about strategy and rankings. Check out DB’s 1st draft to see how it works, and click the banner above to get a 100% deposit match on your first $100 deposited.