As the wind and cold engulfs a large part of the country, golf fans will be living vicariously through their favorite PGA Tour stars this week at the 2019 Sony Open. Wai'alae Country Club in Honolulu hosts the annual event, which tees it up on Thursday with six of the top 20 players in the Official World Golf Rankings in the field. That includes big hitters like Bubba Watson and Marc Leishman. Watson is making his first appearance at the event since 2010 and is listed at 66-1 Sony Open odds, while Leishman has been playing impressive golf lately and is one of the Vegas favorites at 16-1. The 2019 Sony Open tee times begin at Noon ET, which is 7 a.m. in Hawaii, and weather could be a factor with the latest Sony Open forecast calling for a nearly 50 percent chance of rain on Thursday. Before you make any PGA predictions, be sure to check out the 2019 Sony Open picks form the team at SportsLine.
SportsLine's prediction model, which was built by DFS pro Mike McClure, has nailed four of the last eight majors entering the weekend and called Tiger Woods' deep run in the PGA Championship despite being a 25-1 long shot. The model has also been spot-on early in the 2018-19 PGA season. It was all over Jon Rahm (12-1) at the 2018 Hero World Challenge, projecting him as a top contender from the start. It also correctly predicted Brooks Koepka's (9-1) victory at the 2018 CJ Cup earlier this season. Anyone who has followed the model is up big.
Now that the 2019 Sony Open field is locked, SportsLine simulated the event 10,000 times and the results were surprising. One huge shocker the model is calling for at the Sony Open 2019: Jordan Spieth, a three-time major champion and one of the Vegas favorites, stumbles big-time and finishes outside the top five.
Thus far in the 2018-19 PGA season, Spieth finished 55th in the Shiners Hospitals for Children Open and then missed the cut in the Mayakoba Golf Classic. Spieth failed to win a tournament last season and has finished inside the top 10 just once in his last 15 starts on the PGA Tour. There are far better values to be had in this loaded 2019 Sony Open in Hawaii field.
Another surprise: Paul Casey, a 33-1 long shot, makes a strong run at the top of the Sony Open leaderboard. He's a target for anyone looking for a huge payday.
Casey is off to a strong start in the 2018-19 PGA season, with top-20 finishes in all four Tour events he's played so far, including a 13th-place run in the CIMB Classic where he shot 68 or below in three of his four rounds. His hot start has Casey in 33rd place in the FedEx Cup standings and he has an Official World Golf Ranking of 23.
At the Sony Open, Casey's best finish was a tie for 30th in 2015, but there's reason to believe that Wai'alae suits his game well. The Englishman finished 11th on tour in strokes-gained while approaching the green, and Wai'alae is a second-shot, par-70 course. Casey's ball-striking is of extremely high quality, which should give him plenty of birdie opportunities in a tournament where the average winning score has been 21-under par the last six years. Back him with confidence at the Sony Open in Hawaii.
Also, the model says four additional golfers with odds of 25-1 or longer make a strong run at the Sony Open in Hawaii 2019 title. Anyone who bets on these underdogs could hit it big.
So who wins the 2019 Sony Open? And which long shots stun the golfing world? Check out the odds below and visit SportsLine now to see the full 2019 Sony Open projected leaderboard from the model that nailed the winners of four golf majors.
Justin Thomas 13-2
Bryson DeChambeau 10-1
Gary Woodland 14-1
Jordan Spieth 14-1
Marc Leishman 16-1
Patrick Reed 25-1
Cameron Champ 28-1
Cameron Smith 28-1
Hideki Matsuyama 28-1
Charles Howell III 33-1
Emiliano Grillo 33-1
Kevin Kisner 33-1
Kyle Stanley 33-1
Paul Casey 33-1
Abraham Ancer 40-1
Brandt Snedeker 40-1
Bubba Watson 40-1
Matt Kuchar 40-1
Zach Johnson 40-1
