We're one week into the 2024 PGA Tour season, and there's already a likely winner.
Chris Kirk, who started at +12,500, joined the winner's circle by winning last week's Sentry Tournament of Champions over Saheeth Segala and Jordan Spieth.
Kirk's win could be a harbinger of more of the sport's best players jumping into LIV for the 2024 PGA Tour season.
The tour stops at the Sony Open this week in Hawaii, the first full-field event of the new season.
Sony's field is not that deep. Matthew Fitzpatrick (+1600), Ludvig Aberg (+1600), and Tyrell Hatton (+1800) are basically joint favorites, along with Brian Herman (+2000), Russell Henry (+2200), and Corey. -Slightly higher than Connors (+2500). Kirk (+2500).
Sonny has a good field to play on a relatively easy course, so there's a good chance there will be another long shot in the Aloha State this week.
Players selected for the 2024 Sony Open
Hideki Matsuyama (+5000, BetMGM)
It wasn't a great start to 2024 for Hideki Matsuyama at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, but this week hasn't been too bad for the value hunter.
In terms of talent alone, Matsuyama is one of the best in the field, and a better performance at Waialae will move him closer to the top.
Matsuyama has endured a rocky few years, but he should be pretty happy about returning to the place where he last won on the PGA Tour in 2022.
Matt Kuchar (+6000, FanDuel)
Something about Waialae seems to really match Matt Kuchar's game.
The 45-year-old won here in 2019 and has eight top-10 finishes here in 18 career starts.
Kuchar's salad days may be behind him, but he found some decent form at the end of the 2023 season and was able to carry that momentum into a course that clearly fits his eye.
Akshay Bhatia (+7000, Caesars)
It won't be long before you won't be able to play Akshay Bhatia in a wide open type of field at a price like this.
The 21-year-old was in contention at Sentry last week, but a poor performance on Sunday saw him drop out of the race.
That would happen to a player who is just finding his footing as a professional, but considering that Bhatia has done well in a similar setup, this price is not a hindrance.
He won the Barracuda, was runner-up at the Puerto Rico Open and was T4 at the 2023 Mexico Open.
All three events featured not-so-great fields with scoreable courses.
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Kevin Kisner (+40000, FanDuel)
This will probably be one of the few times this season where betting on Kevin Kisner seems like a good idea, but the numbers are appealing.
Kisner was in the Sentry broadcast booth last week, but now he's headed to the course he loves to play.
Kisner finished T3 at Sony last year and has four top-five finishes in his last seven starts at Waialae.
For that reason alone, he deserves to be excited about this number.
