Golf Tips: Best bets for Sony Open and Hero Cup

• Steve Rawlings' in-depth preview and 74/1 tip

• Dave Tindall backs K.H. Lee at 33/1

• Svensson leads outsiders to back at 100/1+

• Lingmerth backed to make a fast start

• Pieters backed to hit the points at the Hero

• Key stats, course guides and much more

PGA Tour Sony Open: Sentry starters likely to contend

Steve Rawlings says: "As many as six players this century have won both this event and last week's Sentry Tournament of Champions and a number of other of venues on the PGA Tour correlate nicely with Waialae too.

"The Seaside Course in Sea Island, Georgia, which hosts the RSM Classic, Harbour Town Links in South Carolina, home of the RBC Heritage, and El Camaleon, the venue for the World Wide Technology Championship in Mexico, are all short seaside tracks with tricky, grainy greens.

"I'd also consider both TPC Southwind and Colonial Country Club, venue of the Charles Schwab Challenge, as similar types of test. The first and second here in 2021, Na and Chris Kirk, have both won at Colonial.

"A number of players have won either this event or the now defunct St. Jude Classic at TPC Southwind and finished runner-up at the other event, and both Fabian Gomez and David Toms have won both tournaments fairly recently but form at El Camaleon - home of the World Wide Technology Championship - needs the closest inspection...

"The recent Sanderson Farms Championship winner, Mackenzie Hughes, has only ordinary course numbers that read 27-MC-MC-MC-19 and his 21st last week was slightly disappointing given he opened with a 66 and closed with 65 but there was enough there to suggest he can contend this week.

"He ticks the already won this season box, has also won around the Seaside Course and he ranked 10th for Putting Average last week."

Steve's bet: Back Mackenzie Hughes @ 75.0

Sony Open Each-Way Tips: Lee can win at Waialae

Dave Tindall says: "Looking at putting performances from last week, K.H. Lee ranked 4th for SG: Putting and that helped him finish in a tie for seventh.

"The Korean was third at the CJ Cup two starts earlier and fifth in the BMW Championship four tournaments before that so it's no surprise to check the world rankings and find him up at 36th.

"Lee has ranked 1st for Greens In Regulation in two of his last three events and he's made the last two editions of the Sentry TOC thanks to back-to-back wins in the Byron Nelson. This is a player on the rise.

"He's yet to really take off in this event but Lee has broken par at Waialae in each of his last nine rounds and closed 66-66-64 to finish tied 19th two years ago. In the same way that Lee improved his previous best Sentry TOC finish from 33rd to 7th last week, it's fair to expect a similar jump here given his current form."

Dave's bet: Back K.H. Lee each-way @ 34.033/1

Find Me a 100 Winner: Big odds Svensson an obvious pick

Steve Rawlings says: "Putting has been the key to success at Waialae lately so that's a huge negative for Adam Svensson who was quite frankly hopeless on the dancefloors last week.

"Rounds of 71, 70, 78 and 68 saw him finish 37th of 39 last week and he ranked 38th for both Putting Average and Strokes Gained Putting. If he performs like that here, he won't even make the weekend, but things can change fast on the greens and there are numerous reasons to ignore last week and get him onside at a triple-figure price.

"Svensson was in the field last week thanks to his maiden victory in the last full field event on the PGA Tour last year - the RSM Classic - where he ranked number one for SGP - and he finished seventh here 12 months ago when he putted quite nicely. And that wasn't the first time he'd shown a liking for the venue. He shot 61 to lead after round here on his only other start in 2019 before eventually finishing 43rd."

Steve's bet: Back 2u Adam Svensson 100.0
Place order to lay 10u @ 10.0 & 10u @ 2.0

Sony Open First-Round Leader Tips: Look to Lingmerth

Dave Tindall says: "David Lingmerth is my first late tee-timer (12pm) at attractive odds of 100/1. The Swede hasn't played this event since 2017 but that was his fifth straight appearance at Waialae Country Club so the course is familiar.

"Lingmerth was tied 13th on his penultimate visit and opened that week with a 65 to sit ninth after 18 holes. He finished off with a 64. More recently, the rejuvenated 35-year-old has been starting fast on correlating courses.

"He opened with 65s at both the World Wide Technology Championship in Mexico and the RSM Classic in Georgia. Those two low ones put him seventh and sixth respectively on the first-round leaderboard."

Dave's bet: Back David Lingmerth each-way at 101.0

Sony Open in Hawaii 2023: Course and current form stats

Andy Swales says: "Opened in 1927, Waialae offers a sharp contrast to the venue which hosted last week's tournament at Kapalua.

"It is shorter and tighter, as well as flatter, with players needing to deliver greater accuracy from the tee. The fairways are narrow, while putting surfaces are on the small side.

"Although Waialae has plenty of trees dotted across its landscape, its fairways can hardly be described as surrounded by dense vegetation...

"Corey Conners' last three Waialae starts have yielded top-12 finishes - including once on the podium. The Canadian tied-18th on Sunday."

Andy's Player to Watch: Corey Conners @ 28.027/1

Hero Cup Top Points Scorer Tips: Pieters and Ferguson can shine

Matt Cooper says: "After making a stunning Ryder Cup debut in 2018 (top scoring for the defeated Europeans with four points) the career of Thomas Pieters has never quite taken off.

"He didn't make the team in either 2018 or 2021 and is not guaranteed of inclusion this year.

"But victories either side of New Year 2022 revived his career and I like the fact that one year out from the Rome match he found himself at Le Golf National - scene of the 2018 clash - and contended all week on his way to third place.

"Since then he and his wife have welcomed a second child and his compatriot Nicolas Colsaerts has joined Donald's backroom team."

Matt's bet: Back Thomas Pieters @ 6.0

Hero Cup 2023: Course and current form stats

Andy Swales says: "This week's Hero Cup in Abu Dhabi represents the latest version of a team contest between Great Britain & Ireland, and their professional counterparts from the Continent of Europe.

"Abu Dhabi Golf Club is well known to players from both teams, having staged 16 DP World Tour events since 2006.

"With an average winning score of exactly 270 - that's 18-under-par - Abu Dhabi has earned a reputation for being a birdie-fest.

"This long, flat desert layout has reasonably wide fairways and large greens, while water comes into play on 11 holes."