Golf Rankings for Sony Open

Kirk’s record here is excellent having made the cut in each of his five trips here with two top ten five finishes. He comes in off a poor showing at Kapalua which can be chalked up to poor putting (31st in SG:P in a field of 32) and perhaps his switch to new equipment. But, he didn’t switch his putter and he struck the ball well otherwise. His statistical profile is fine, but it’s about course history for me with Kirk.

his is a tough one to write as I dig Thomas’ overall game. But, he's too wild off the tee for me to believe he’ll be able to match his T6 here in his debut last year. He didn’t look great last week at Kapaula and I’d like to see him in better form. His profile is impeccable for this course (though he’s not a great putter), but his work last week concerns me as does his limited (albeit successful) history here.

Grillo won the Web.com Tour Championship to earn his PGA Tour card. And he played everywhere last season making 23 of 26 cuts all around the world on the European, PGA, and Web.com tours. He opened this season with a WIN at the Frys.com Open and closed out last week’s tournament with a final round 66.

Perez doesn’t need to be playing well to get results at the Sony. In the 2015 season, Perez had MC, MC, T33 and T69 in the last for events of 2014 and then opened with a T17 at the Sony. In the 2014 season, Perez came in with a T58, MC, T48 and T16 before his T8 at the Sony. He’s a horse for this course so I’m not too terribly concerned with his “current” form. He hasn’t played in almost two months – he’s had time to fix any issues. He’s finished top 20 in the last three years and has eight top 20 finishes in 14 starts here.

Palmer has made seven of 10 cuts at the Sony Open and has two top 10 finishes including two years ago. He also won here in 2010. That’s a solid history and I will lean on that this week.

Yes, Henley won in 2013, but those were in near perfect conditions. He’s since finished T51 and T17 (last year). He fits the course nicely (with his only blemish from last year a 113rd place finish in SG:T2G). So, you have to respect his two top 20 finishes in three trips, but I won’t go crazy with Henley this week.

ZJ disappointed last week and his checkered history here doesn’t do him any favors. He’s made eight of ten cuts here in his career, but has only two top 10 finishes in that time. He won here in 2009, but his last four starts here have ended with T54, MC, T8, T64.

Danny Lee’s record here looks nearly the same as Russell Knox’s (three missed cuts and a T13 in four trips though his T13 was in 2013, not last year). Lee started off solid last week, but struggled on the weekend. He profiles nicely as he finished 16th in BOB4, 127th in GIR<125, 71st in BA, 59th in SG:T2G, and 23rd in SG:P. It’s a profile similar to Colt Knost and William McGirt so you can pivot there if you want to differentiate.

My man! He’s played here twice and missed the cut twice (including last year). But, remember, this course is about experience. It takes time to get used to playing here. And he’s got the makings of a solid profile for the course as he finished last year 21st in BOB4 and 36th in SG:T2G.

Bradley has started this season well with two top 20 finishes in four starts including a T8 at the OHL Classic. He hasn’t played here since 2013, but did finish T13 in 2012. He’s got some skills that should work here (15th in GIR<125 and 14th in SG:T2G).

Malnati played quite well in his debut at Kapalua last week. And, it may surprise some, but he's actually played here previously. He finished 15th in BOB4 last year on the Web.com Tour so he should be able to continue on his solid run of form.

Piercy hurt a lot of gamers last week so he makes a nice contrarian play this week. He’s been in the top 25 in three of the last four years with a solo second last year so he has the course history we're looking for.