After The Sentry was canceled last week, the PGA TOUR gets underway a week later than usual as the top pros head to the Aloha State for the Sony Open in Hawaii, played at Waialae Country Club in East Honolulu. The beautiful setting always brings some extra splashes of sunshine into the winter wonderlands across the country, and the annual tournament in Hawaii is a sure sign that the new season is underway and spring is not that far around the corner.
The course has hosted the event since the tournament began as the Hawaiian Open way back in November of 1965. There’s plenty of course history and familiarity, and it should be a great spot to start the season. The field this week includes a foursome from the top 10 golfers in the world, with Russell Henley, J.J. Spaun, Robert MacIntyre, and Ben Griffin at the top of the field. The field also includes plenty of fresh faces for the new year, including seven of the top 10 who earned PGA TOUR status via the DP World Tour, 19 of the top 20 from the Korn Ferry Tour, and all five who earned their PGA TOUR status via Q-School. For more info on the course, the field, and what to look for from a statistical perspective this week, check out this First Look from RotoGrinders.
Especially in large-field GPP tournaments, you’ll want to make sure to target players who have lower ownership projections than their potential performance. Finding high-leverage plays is critical for GPP success, so the picks here go against the grain, looking for under-owned options.
All Strokes Gained metrics referenced are from the Rabbit Hole.
Usually, I rely heavily on the Strokes Gained Model in FantasyLabs, which is very predictive of results. I also tend to lean toward players who excel in Strokes Gained: Approach, which is more sustainable week-to-week than a hot putter.
Since these are GPP picks, we can accept more risk in exchange for getting a higher ceiling. High-risk, high-reward options with low ownership create the “boom-or-bust” style lineups that often lead to large-field success. To find guidance for all contest types, check out our full Daily Fantasy Golf coverage each week.
No matter what type of format you prefer, be sure to use the FantasyLabs PGA Models to help you make the best choices. These models use stats and simulations to highlight different players’ strengths and weaknesses. A few critical new stats for GPP play are Perfect% and SimLeverage, which are further explained here.
As you dig into the numbers, you can enjoy the many tools FantasyLabs offers, including the Lineup Optimizer, which effortlessly creates up to 300 lineups. Alternatively, you can use the Lineup Builder if you prefer a more hands-on approach.
Check out my top picks in each price range listed below.
Editor’s note: SimLeverage and Perfect% numbers may change after this piece is published. Be sure to check the PGA Models for any updates to the sims.
High-Priced PGA DFS Picks
Ben Griffin $10,100
Griffin has the highest SimLeverage in the field this week since his ownership projection is only 23.4%, and he has the highest Perfect% of any golfer in the field. Griffin has the second-highest median, ceiling and floor projection in the field behind only Russell Henley, but Henley has a much higher ownership projection, giving Griffin the edge as a GPP play.
In 2025, Griffin was the breakout star of the season, winning three tournaments, including the World Wide Technology Championship in November, in his most recent PGA TOUR event. He finished the year with a dozen top-10 finishes in his 30 events, and he posted an impressive seven finishes in the top five. He finished in the top 12 in six straight events to close out 2025, exceeding his salary-based expectations in five of those events.
Griffin leads the field in Total Strokes Gained per round over the last 12 months, and he is sixth in Strokes Gained: Approach, and eighth in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green. He can sometimes get a little shaky off the tee, but his approach game usually makes up for it and sets him up with plenty of birdie chances.
This event will be his fourth trip to this event, and he has made the cut each time with a T12, T30, and T45 from his three previous stops.
He finished 2025 scalding hot and will look to continue his form in 2026. Since he’s getting so much less attention than the other elite options, he makes a great pivot play for GPP lineups.
Robert MacIntyre $9,600
Bobby Mac had a strong PGA season last year, and the 29-year-old from Scotland has the third-highest SimLeverage in the field this week since he has an ownership projection under 20% and the third-highest Perfect% of the week behind Griffin and Henley.
MacIntyre didn’t win on the PGA TOUR in 2025 but did post six top-10 finishes in 23 tournaments, finishing runner-up at the U.S. Open and the BMW Championship. He didn’t play on the PGA TOUR this fall but won in Scotland at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and tacked on a pair of top-10 finishes to close out the DP World Tour season in November.
While Bobby Mac has shown he can thrive in less-than-ideal conditions, he has also been able to make the cut in his two previous appearances at Waialae. He has the kind of well-balanced game focused on his putting that plays well in any setup, and his fall performance overseas could hint that a huge 2026 is ahead for the lefty.
He’s a nice leverage play at this price for GPP, with Hideki Matsuyama and J.J. Spaun each drawing plenty of ownership attention on each side of him in the salary structure.
Now available: our PGA DFS SimLabs Lineup Generator that creates advanced DFS lineups using the power of simulation.
Mid-Priced PGA DFS Picks
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