One Player Looks Ready to Launch a Breakout Season at Sony Open

The Sony Open is a stock par-70 that offers a receptive season-opening venue for a full field of 144 participants, as pro kicks off across all major tours. Historically, scores are low at Waialae, a par-70 track, but this year tournament organizers have reportedly grown out the rough, which may alter the type of player profile that best fits the course. 

Who do our hosts like this week? From the top tier of players on DraftKings, Rotowire's Jeff Erickson and Scott Jenstad, and Morning Read's Jeff Ritter, all agree that Marc Leishman looks like a screaming value. The three hosts play in a fantasy golf league that drafts later this evening, and all three guys reveal that Leishman is on their respective short lists of players they plan to target aggressively in their fantasy draft. Perhaps Leishman's big season begins now.

As for players farther down the board, Jenstad likes Corey Conners and Cam Davis, while Ritter eyes current FedEx points leader Talor Gooch and Charles Howell III, who has never missed a cut in 20 trips to Waialae. 

For sleepers, Jenstad likes the recent stats on Mark Hubbard, while Ritter wonders if Brandon Wu, one of his sleeper targets from last summer, might finally connect this week. 

Our Hosts' Picks to Win the Sony Open

For one-and-done pools, you can pick a player just one time per season. Here are the hosts' picks for that format this week:

Scott Jenstad: Marc Leishman
Jeff Ritter: Talor Gooch
Jeff Erickson: Russell Henley

Watch the video of the episode above, and hit the play button below to listen. Look for more episodes of Gaming Golf coming soon to the Morning Read Podcast Network on SI/golf.