Draftkings & Fanduel Gpp Breakdown for the Sony Open

Long-time grinder, STLCardinals84, breaks down his top PGA DFS picks in various price ranges for this week’s tournament. Which golfers should you be targeting to try and take down the big DFS tournaments? Find out below!

Welcome back, Grinders! While last week was a fun way to get things rolling for 2024, the PGA TOUR season really gets rolling this week with the first full-field event of the year with the Sony Open at Waialae Country Club.

This tournament has been contested at Waialae ever since its inception in 1965. If course history is your thing, feel free to dig in for this event, as there is no shortage of it. This was changed from a par 72 to a par 70 in the late 1990s, but otherwise things remain the same. As for the course itself, Waialae sets up as your traditional ball striker’s paradise. It is a shorter course that measures just over 7,000 yards from the tips, and that is definitely short by today’s standards. Given the fact that the wind often blows in the Hawaiian islands too, it’s no wonder that those who can pepper fairways and greens with consistency are the ones who tend to succeed here. It’s also a course with tighter fairways than what we will see on many of today’s TOUR stops, so distance is not a priority. Many golfers will club down off the tee, with accuracy and placement being more important. After all, we have seen shorter hitters like Matt Kuchar and Kevin Na win here over the past five years.

Early weather forecasts are calling for heavier winds the first two days of the tournament (12-18 MPH), with those winds calming a bit for the weekend. In general, scoring should be favorable once again this year. In years where the winds are down, we often see winning scores of -20 or better at this tournament. The winning score has been at least 17-under or better in ten of the past eleven editions.

This should be a fun event, so let’s get to some of my favorite GPP picks!

PGA DFS Picks: DraftKings & FanDuel GPP Breakdown for the Sony Open

Ludvig Aberg
DraftKings: $10,500
FanDuel: $12,000
Yahoo: $40

If you want to tap into potential upside, there aren’t many in the field that can match Aberg. Even though he’s only been on TOUR for a year, he’s already established himself as a top option on a weekly basis. He was mega chalk last week in the smaller field event, and he was a relative disappointment with a T47 finish. That may serve to lower ownership this week, especially since he is the most expensive golfer in the field. Prior to last week, he had finished T13 or better in seven straight worldwide starts. I’ll give him a pass for one poor showing and fire him up with confidence this week.

Corey Conners
DraftKings: $9,800
FanDuel: $10,900
Yahoo: $38

I believe that Conners offers the best combination of safety and upside this week. He knocked off the rust with a middling finish last week. Otherwise, the form and course fit are excellent. He ranks 4th in this field in tee-to-green play and 5th in ball striking over the last 36 rounds. Conners also boasts four consecutive finishes of 12th or better at this tournament, where he has gained a total of over 30 strokes above field average. He’s a fine play in any format.

Cameron Davis
DraftKings: $8,500
FanDuel: $10,600
Yahoo: $28

Davis is another player that makes for a good “zig when others zag” play of the week. He was one of the more popular value selections at last week’s Sentry, only to finish in the bottom ten for the week (despite making 23 birdies). We can easily forgive and forget one off week during a birdie fest. Davis ranks 30th or better in this field in every single strokes gained metric over the past 36 rounds. He has also made the cut in four straight editions of this tournament, with none of those finishes being outside the top 35. Look for a bounce-back performance this weekend.

Adam Svensson
DraftKings: $7,700
FanDuel: $9,500
Yahoo: $34

If you are looking for a steady option with some potential upside, Svensson makes for a strong mid-range choice. He has made the cut in each of his three previous trips to the Sony Open, and he also has one top-ten finish sprinkled in there as well. He quietly posted three top-20 finishes during a very strong fall swing to close out 2023, and I would not be surprised if this ends up being something of a breakout year for the Canadian.

Davis Thompson
DraftKings: $7,000
FanDuel: $8,800
Yahoo: $27

When he first gained his PGA TOUR card a couple years ago, Thompson looked to be destined as one of the top rookies on the circuit. However, he did not live up to the hype as his career got underway. It simply took him a little longer than some to find his footing. He should be fresh after a fall swing which saw him gain a couple of top-20 finishes without missing a cut in five starts. He is also going to be seeing many of these courses for a second time, and he made the cut in his debut here a year ago. He’s a strong GPP value.

Pierceson Coody
DraftKings: $6,300
FanDuel: $7,000
Yahoo: $25

We have quite a few faces with brand new PGA Tour cards as we start the 2024 season, and no casual DFS players are going to bother researching these value options. This is the best time to buy low on some talented golfers that you will be able to get at both a discounted salary and 1-3% ownership. Coody is my favorite for this week. He was a two-time winner last year on the Korn Ferry Tour and was the #1 ranked college golfer when he finished his career at Texas. There will be ups and downs, but the pressure is off to some degree now, and he’s a fine GPP punt.

Other Top GPP Options – Russell Henley, Adam Hadwin, Adrien Dumont De Chassart

Good luck this week!

Image Credit: Getty Images