For our first column of 2023 offering a betting angle for punters here at SA Tour Golf, we bring you tips for the PGA Tour’s Sony Open in Hawaii from Gary Lemke (three-time SA Sports Writer of the Year and golf magazine editor) and Mike Green (former Sunshine Tour communications manager).
GARY LEMKE says:
They talk about the ignorance of youth. Which is not to suggest that Tom Kim is ignorant in the literal sense, but more that he probably doesn’t know how good he is. After all, he is still only 20.
However, the young Korean, who has now made Dallas his home and who spent Christmas baby-sitting Jordan Spieth’s young son, is making his way up the world ranking as if there is no time to waste. He recently met his hero, Tiger Woods and is playing the kind of exciting golf that only the youngsters do, those who play without a fear of failure.
Last week he carried on where he had finished off last year and tied 5th at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. I feel that entering the PGA Tour’s Sony Open punters can take advantage of the purple patch he is enjoying.
Kim is 11/1 to win the Sony Open in Hawaii and he is 22/10 to finish in the top 5. He is also 15/10 to collect another Top 10 finish, and 7/10 for a top 20, so I will be having those four bets on him.
In golf form is always important when betting and Tom Hoge is someone I will also be having a flutter on this week. He is no spring chicken at the age of 33, but has risen to number 30 in the world. He’s worth a punt at 12/10 – basically for every R10 you bet on him you receive R22 in return if he places top 20 – and even at 5/2 for another top 10 he looks fair value.
For a third selection I’m going to throw in Spieth, if only because he and Kim would have shared good vibes around the Christmas tree. He’s 18/10 for a top 10 finish and 16/1 to win the tournament.
MIKE GREEN says:
With just two South Africans in the field in Christiaan Bezuidenhout and MJ Daffue (three if you count Royal Durban’s Slovakian Rory Sabbatini!), picking someone to back is not the hardest thing in the world.
Given that Waialae Country Club has rewarded good scrambling over the years, and that Bezuidenhout leads the early season PGA Tour rankings in strokes gained around the green, he’s a good bet at 46/1 for the win. If you’re a little hesitant to go all in, given a lack of data in the season so far, then the odds of 10/1 for top five, 11/2 for top 10 and 3/1 for top 20 will give you a little more peace of mind.
