Golf : Sony Open tournament tips

Sony Open

Zach Johnson 0.75pts EW at 16/1 (Various) Loss 1.5pts
Jerry Kelly 0.5pts EW at 55/1 (Stan James, 50s at Betfred, Totesport, SportingBet) Loss 1pt
0.2pts EW Brendon De Jonge at 150/1 (Bet365), 125/1 (SkyBet, SportingBet) Loss 0.4pts
0.3pts EW John Rollins at 66/1 (General) Loss 0.6pts

Total loss 3.5pts

The Sony Open represents the first full field event of the season in America and it poses a challenge quite different to most of the events on tour.  Tight fairways pervade, placing high emphasis on accuracy.  So, our remit here is very much on finding straight hitters versus long hitters.

At the head of the field is steve Stricker, who is a worthy favourtie after last week's impressive victory.  However, accuracy off the tee is not the main attribute for Stricker and we can overlook the single figure price here.  A final note on Stricker is that his impeccable scrambling game will be a key asset here, but I would back players more likely to hit greens this week.

Ideally I want a solid player off the teebox, in form and with the ability to scramble well if the relatively small greens are missed.  This leads me to my headline pick, Zach Johnson.  After a quiet year by his standards, Johnson finished the year very well.  A previous winner, Johnson can go very close this week if he plays well

Jerry Kelly is another with similar attributes to Johnson, though perhaps not quite the same form line or consistency.  This course is a very good fit for a man not overly long but straight off the tee, with a nice touch around the greens.  A little tighter than I hoped odds wise, but still enough to consider him in my staking plan this week

John Rollins is a little under the radar in terms of likely winners.  He didn't play this event last year but finished a strong 8th in 2010 and his credentials are without question when straight hitting is the order of the day.  Rollins has actually played this event 6 times and only has the aforementioned 8th and a 20th as best results.  However, it is worth siding with a man at 66/1 who should feel more at home than most.

Brendon De Jonge finished 20th here last year, having missed the cut in his 3 previous appearances.  Not sensational, but worth a 2nd glance.  De Jonge is a streaky sort and a birdie machine when in form.  He also has more game than perhaps his results indicate.  De Jonge finished 26th on the all round ratings last year and is relatively strong in all of the main indicators apart from driving distance, which is a negligible attribute here.  At 150/1, I am prepared to gamble that his improved finish here last year was a sign of better tings to come in this event.

Other such as Chad Campbell, David Toms, Rory Sabbattini and Brian Davis were strongly considered before settling on the above golfers.  Undoubtedly, a player who can find his groove from tee to green this week has a big chance to compete.