By: @Ryan_Humphries on Twitter & LineStar Chat

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Tournament & Field 🏆

Welcome back my fellow golf enthusiasts! The 2026 PGA Tour season officially begins this week in Hawaii, as the field heads to Honolulu for the Sony Open, which will be hosted by Waialae Country Club. We’ll have 144 golfers teeing it up, with the standard top-65-and-ties cut rule in place after 36 holes. This isn’t a fully star-studded event, but there are still plenty of household names with 43 of the top 100 ranked golfers in the world (via DataGolf rankings) in attendance. Here’s to another fun and profitable season of PGA DFS! Best of luck!

The Course Preview ⛳

Waialae Country Club

Par 70 | 7,044 Yards

Greens: Bermudagrass

Waialae Country Club is a Par 70 setup that stretches just over 7,000 yards and is one of the most established venues on the PGA Tour, hosting the Sony Open every year since 1965. With more than six decades of tournament history, Waialae is very much a classic, traditional track that emphasizes strategy and precision rather than brute force.

The course features some of the narrowest fairways on TOUR, with average fairway accuracy typically hovering in the low-to-mid 50% range most seasons. While the fairways are tight, the rough itself is not overly penal, which allows players to still find greens at a solid clip even when they miss off the tee. Green-in-regulation rates here tend to come in above TOUR average, as players who position the ball well can access greens without facing severe punishment for slight misses.

Off the tee, Waialae is more about placement and shaping shots into tight landing zones than it is about raw distance. Several doglegged holes force players to think their way around the course, and average driving distance here consistently ranks below TOUR norms. On approach, players are hitting into Bermudagrass greens that are not overly undulated, but sightlines and angles into the greens matter, particularly on longer par 4s where approaches can stretch into the mid- and long-iron range.

With only two Par 5s on the scorecard, par-4 scoring takes on added importance. Five of the par 4s measure between roughly 450 and 500 yards, placing an emphasis on approach play and iron control. The two par 5s that do exist are very gettable and reachable in two shots for nearly the entire field, so we’ll still see plenty of birdie chances -- and the occasional eagle -- despite the Par 70 setup.

As usual, wind is the primary course defense at Waialae. When conditions stay manageable, scoring can run rampant, with winning scores pushing past the 20-under mark, something we’ve seen repeatedly over the past decade. When the winds kick up and the greens firm out, the course can bite back a bit, but this is still a venue where strong iron play and steady putting on slower Bermudagrass surfaces tend to separate contenders from the rest of the field.

From a DFS standpoint, Waialae consistently rewards golfers who are sharp on approach and comfortable on Bermuda greens, even if they aren’t elite drivers of the golf ball. This is a week where ball-striking reliability, positional play, and the ability to convert mid-range birdie chances matter more than chasing distance.

Weather & Tee Times ⛅

Click the image above to view the most up-to-date forecasts.

⚖️Weather Verdict: Winds will be a consistent factor all week at Waialae, with breezy conditions expected from the opening tee shot on Thursday through the weekend. Thursday morning may offer the lightest window, but winds are still expected to build into the 15–20 mph range by the afternoon, with similar or slightly stronger conditions lingering through Friday and Saturday. Sunday looks a bit more manageable overall, but this sets up as a generally windy week rather than a clean wave-edge spot. You can make a thin argument for a Thursday AM / Friday PM lean, but forecast confidence in Hawaii is rarely high, and any edge here looks marginal at best.

Sony Open in Hawaii Tee Times

Key Stats to Consider 📊

Each key stat is paired with a weighted percentage (based on stat importance) for DFS model purposes.

1. Strokes Gained: Approach | 25%

2. Par 4 Average | 20%

3. Birdie or Better Percentage | 20%

4. Short Iron Accuracy (Proximity 100-175 Yards) | 15%

5. Strokes Gained: Around the Green | 10%

6. Strokes Gained: Putting | 5%

7. Good Drive Percentage | 5%

PGA Tour Stats Page

Sony Open DFS Model Standouts 🏅

Below are the top 25 ranked golfers in both my overall model and my key stats model. Below that are the top 25 leaders in average finishing position over the last five and last ten starts. The players ranked on these lists do not necessarily mean they are the top golfers I’m targeting for this week's event, but many of these guys should no doubt be favorable DFS options.

Overall Model Rank: A golfer’s ranking (within the current field) in my personal DFS model, which weighs all of the key stats listed above in this newsletter, as well as factors like course history, recent form, recent average fantasy scoring results, and odds to win.

Course Fit / Key Stats Rank: Provides a golfer’s overall rank (within the current field) in my "key stats only" model, which considers only the key stats listed in the section above with the specified percentage weights allocated towards each statistic.

Sony Open DFS Cheat Sheet📑

Click the Cheat Sheet above for the higher-quality direct image link

Alternative Cheat Sheet Direct Image Link

That will do it for our PGA preview! Best of luck this week and, once again, feel free to hit me up in the LineStar chat or on Twitter/X @Ryan_Humphries with any questions.