Country – Golfing Agency

2023 Sony Open predictions, expert picks, odds, field rankings, golf best bets at Waialae Country Club

detlef32 — Tue, 10 Jan 2023 23:11:25 +0000

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The PGA Tour makes its way to the capital of the Aloha State for the 2023 Sony Open this week. Taking place at Waialae Country Club, players will be faced with a much different task compared to last week’s Plantation Course at Kapalua. Measuring just over 7,000 yards and playing to a par 70, this Seth Raynor design puts an emphasis on keeping the ball in the fairway and playing positional golf.

Despite the contrasted natures of the two Hawaii golf courses, 19 of the 39 players from the Tournament of Champions will be making the short trip from Maui to Honolulu. Led by South Korean phenom Tom Kim, historically those who competed in the first part of the Aloha swing have found success in the second leg; 17 of the last 24 Sony Open winners were participants the week prior.

Jordan Spieth will be making the trip as well as he plays in the Sony Open for the fifth time in his career and the first time since 2019. In contention at the halfway point at Kapalua, he will hope to string together a full 72 holes at Waialae CC. Sungjae Im, defending champion Hideki Matsuyama and a slew of Georgia Bulldogs such as Brian Harman and Russell Henley round out other big names set for the second event of the new year.

Event Information

Event: 2023 Sony Open | Dates: Jan. 12-15
Location: Waialae Country Club — Honolulu, Hawaii
Par: 70 | Yardage: 7,044 | Purse: $7,900,000

2023 Sony Open field, odds

Odds courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook

Tom Kim (11-1)
Jordan Spieth (14-1): Spieth is the highest-ranked player in this field and will be making his first appearance at Waialae since 2019. Knocking off a standard Tour event from his playing obligations early in 2023, he has decided to stay in Hawaii a week longer than usual. Statistically, this is not a golf course that should fit his game as there is a prerequisite on finding fairways and playing positional golf — something Spieth doesn’t do all too well. Then again, he has found success at golf courses such as Colonial Country Club and Harbour Town Golf Links, both of which possess similar features, so who really knows.
Sungjae Im (14-1)
Hideki Matsuyama (16-1): The man from Japan has remained winless over the past year due to injuries and uncertainties around his game. Hopefully the return to Waialae can get him back to his usual ways as it has been a rough number of months for Matsuyama. Without a top-20 finish in a full-field event since his backdoor top five at the U.S. Open, the former Masters champion will need to rediscover his ball striking if he is to put up a strong defense effort.
Brian Harman (20-1)
Russell Henley (22-1): Henley’s main blunder in 2022 was his inability to find the fairway on the par-5 18th both in regulation and extra holes. Squandering a five-stroke lead over the final nine holes, the 33-year-old was unable to collect his second Sony Open title. Still, there was plenty of good which came of the week as he posted 23 under including a final round 5-under 65. Since breaking through at Mayakoba, perhaps the monkey is off his back and he can redeem himself this year.
Tom Hoge (22-1)
Corey Conners (22-1)
Billy Horschel (28-1)
Taylor Montgomery (30-1): He is the lone player who did not play at Kapalua to check in at or below 30-1 on the odds board. The last we saw of Montgomery, he was making an early claim on PGA Tour Rookie of the Year honors. Posting six top-15 finishes in his seven starts during the swing season, the UNLV product consistently leaned on booming drives and ridiculously hot putting. He is currently 12th in the FedEx Cup standings and is presented with a nice opportunity to improve on that this week should he hit enough fairways.
Keegan Bradley (33-1)
K.H. Lee (33-1)
Keith Mitchell (33-1)
Cam Davis (33-1)
Maverick McNealy (33-1): McNealy may very well be the best player on the PGA Tour still without a victory. After missing the cut in his first event of the season, the 27-year-old collected four straight top-20 finishes including a pair of top-10 efforts. He can run as hot as anyone on the greens, but his inaccuracy off the tee and inability to consistently strike his irons have caused problems. Whether he figured out his ball striking during his month off will go a long way not only this week, but also in his fourth year on Tour.
Adam Scott (33-1)

2023 Sony Open expert picks

Who will win the Sony Open, and which longshots will stun the golfing world? Visit SportsLine now to see the projected leaderboard and best bets, all from the model that’s nailed eight golf majors and is up over $9,500 since June 2020.

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Country Spotlight – Golf in Japan…

detlef32 — Wed, 14 Sep 2022 19:10:01 +0000

Japanese Golf

Following the recent success of Hideki Matsuyama at the 2021 US Masters in Augusta, we look at the popularity of golf in Japan and at some of the country’s best-rated golf courses.

Population = 126.3m
No. of golf courses = Approx. 2,500
Pro Golfers = 5K+
Golf Participation = 9.3m golfers
Average cost of 18 holes = £66

Golf in Japan – The History

Golf in Japan dates back as far as the early 1900’s when it is said that a group of British ex-pats established the game of golf at The Kobe Golf Club in Japan.

Led by Arthur Hasketh Groom, the first nine-hole course was opened in May 1903, but the course was expanded to eighteen holes within 12 months.

Later, in 1913, the Tokyo Golf club at Komazawa was opened, catering to the native Japanese golfers. However, it was not until 1924 that the Japan Golf Association was born.

As the game took hold, more and more courses were built, but this was hampered by the depression of the 1930’s and the growing Anti-western feeling in the country in the 1930’s and 40’s.

By the time the USA declared war on Japan (following the attacks on Pearl Harbour), there were still only 23 courses established, many of which were requisitioned for military use or returned to agricultural production.

Japanese golfers who played in the 1935 U.S. Open, clockwise, from left: Rokuzo Asami, Haruo “Jack” Yasuda, Tomekichi “Tommy” Miyamoto, Kanekichi Nakamura, Seiha “Chick” Chin, Yutaka Januma (manager) and Toichiro “Torchy” Toda. (USGA Museum). Image courtesy of www.pgatour.com

As things returned to normal in the post war period, Japan started building courses again and by the mid 1950’s there were more courses in play.

Some years later, Japan saw its first golfer make his name in the Professional game when in 1957 Torakichi Nakamura and Koichi Ono won the Canada Cup (now World Cup) in Japan, an event that is considered the starting gun for Japan falling in love with the game.

By 1964, there were said to be over 400+ courses and by the early 1970s, there were over 1,000 courses. This trend continued over the next three decades and by 2009 there were reportedly over 2,400 courses, second only to the UK and the United States.

Golf in Japan – The Players

Matsuyama was the first Japanese player (and first Asian) to win a World Golf Championships event and right now, the game is considered to be one of the most popular sports in the country.

In addition, whilst the countries’ number of golf professionals has grown exponentially in recent years, no one male golfer had won a ‘Major’ but with Matsuyama’s win, golf in Japan is expecting a golden age over the next decade.

However, whilst he might have been the first male winner of a major championship, the women golfers in Japan actually led the way with major victories. The first being as far back as 1977 with Chako Huguchi at the LPGA Championship but more recently for Hinako Shibuno at the British Open in 2019.

So, while Matsuyama may have broken through the glass ceiling in the Mens’ game, it is worth noting the other male trailblazers in the game, who should also be thanked for golf’s rise to prominence over the last few years.

Hideki Matsuyama – Image courtesy of www.pgatour.com

Other established Japanese Tour Golfers

Masashi Ozaki – 94 wins

Isao Aoki – 51 wins

T. Nakajima – 48 wins

Naomichi Ozaki – 32 wins

Shingo Katayama – 31 wins

Golf in Japan – The Courses…

With so many golf courses and golf ranges to choose from, we took a quick look at which are considered Japan’s most prestigious and best golf courses. Top 5 golf courses in Japan (List courtesy of Top100 Golf Courses)…

Hirono Golf Club – top100golfcourses.com/golf-course/hirono
Kawana Golf Resort – top100golfcourses.com/golf-course/kawana-fuji
Naruo Golf Club – top100golfcourses.com/golf-course/naruo
Tokyo Golf Club – top100golfcourses.com/golf-course/tokyo
Yokohama GC – top100golfcourses.com/golf-course/yokohama-west

Image courtesy of PXG.com

Golf in Japan – The Future…

Matsuyama’s win at The US Masters looks set to spark a golf boom in Japan which could see more and more PGA golfers winning on both the US and European tours.

Whilst the sport is considered ‘expensive’, with so many golf ranges and shorter courses being built, we could see Japan’s golfers making more Major wins in the coming years.

We believe this can only be good for the global game.

Speaking after his US Masters 2021 win, Matsuyama said…

“Hopefully I will be a pioneer and hopefully many other Japanese players will follow. I am glad to be able to open the floodgates and many more will follow me.”

Matsuyama’s Caddie Shota Hayafuji – Image courtesy of CBS Sports

Furthermore, with the country having a reputation for its strict application of the rules and etiquette – did you see Matsuyama’s Caddie give a ‘nod’ to the course following his ‘Boss’ making the final putt on 18 at Augusta National to take the ‘Green Jacket’ – not only did this show complete respect for both his employer and the course but the ultimate respect for the game!

By Ian Mullins

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