Sony Open in Hawaii 2025 Tips: Dave Tindall's each-way picks from 22/1 to 45/1

• 40/141.00 Austin Eckroat won twice in 2024 and was halfway leader here

• 22/123.00 Russell Henley has a great record at Waialae

• 45/146.00 Ben Griffin is suited to this test and can grab first win

Brief history of the Sony Open in Hawaii

It's always very easy to start these Sony Open previews by saying how different the test is to last week.

Host venue Waialae is short and flat with narrow fairways and small greens. Contrast that to last week's Plantation Course where the undulations, fairways and putting surfaces were all vast.

But the idea that a different set of performers emerge here compared to The Sentry just doesn't play out. Given that seven players have won at both venues since the start of the century, it makes more sense to look at similarities.

The time of year and location are obvious ones while less obvious are the similar winds and green speeds (on the slow side).

That said, Waialae doesn't just correlate well with the Plantation Course, it also matches up nicely with venues that seem more logical: Sea Island (RSM Classic), Harbour Town (RBC Heritage) and El Camaleon (World Wide Technology Championship).

All are coastal tracks on the short side while form at Colonial Country Club (Charles Schwab) and TPC Southwind has also stacked up well and results from Sedgefield (Wyndham Championship) are also worth a look.

One question that crops up annually is how often has the Sony Open winner played at The Sentry the week before? Is it the case that removing the New Year rust gives Sony hopefuls a real edge?

Steve Rawlings has the numbers in his preview and notes that 17 of the last 26 Sony Open winners had played The Sentry.

In more recent times, eight of the last 11 Sony champions benefitted from a run the week before. That said, the last two Waialae winners, Grayson Murray and Si-Woo Kim, came here without a run.

Adding a little nuance for those winners who did play the week before, note that having a big finish at The Sentry was not necessary. It seems just getting rounds under the belt was the key factor.

Finally, scores here aren't as as crazy-low as they've been at The Sentry. Hideki Matsuyama shot a ridiculous -35 last week but the last five winning scores at Waialae are -17, -18, -23, -21 and -11.

Austin Eckroat @ 40/141.00

First up in my trio of Sony picks is Austin Eckroat. The 26-year-old announced himself with victory in last March's Cognizant Classic before adding a second win in November's World Wide Technology Championship.

Two PGA Tour victories in a season is some going and, for context, Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth haven't managed a single win between them at this level since 2022.

Eckroat's first win in the Cognizant at PGA National has particular relevance as it came on Bermuda greens. It's also a tournament that past Sony Open winners have won.

His love of such surfaces continues and Eckroat has racked up six top 20s in his last seven starts on Bermuda greens. They include events mentioned above as correlating well: The RBC Heritage (17th), Wyndham (6th), St Jude (18th) and the RSM Classic (17th).

The latest came at last week's Sentry where he put together three 68s and a 67 to finish 15th. That looks a nice warm-up.

Eckroat has had two previous starts at the Sony and he showed up well in both. He was 12th on debut in 2023 and the halfway leader last year (65-66) before sliding way down the field from ninth after 54 holes to 42nd.

But he's won twice since then - the most recent just three starts ago - so is a completely different proposition.

The weather forecast could be in his favour too as the winds are set to pick up throughout the week. That shouldn't be a problem for a man who grew up and still resides in Oklahoma.

Speaking about Waialae last year when topping the 36-hole leaderboard, Eckroat noted: "I think this golf course suits a drawer and I draw the golf ball. I played here well last year and was looking forward to coming back, which is huge.

"Yeah, I think the golf course just suits my eye and the tee balls and everything, so it's really comforting golf course for me for sure."

All the hints are there. Take the 40s.

Russell Henley @ 22/123.00

Russell Henley is a very obvious and safe pick here but there's enough in his each-way price and I'd be kicking myself hard if he were to prevail on Sunday and I hadn't backed him.

Henley has a special relationship with this event as he won it at huge odds on his very first start on the PGA Tour in 2013, shooting 24-under.

A win the following year at PGA National underlined his liking for windy Bermuda courses and it's where we're most likely to see him pop up again - especially here.

In his last four visits to the Sony Open, Henley has a second (2022), a fourth (2022) and an 11th (2021) and in the last three years he's posted a 62 and two 63s. Three years ago, he was five clear at one point in round four but got reeled in by Matsuyama and lost a playoff.

Speaking during that 2022 tournament, Henley said: "You know, I'm thankful I grew up on kind of the same sort of course like turfwise, bermudagrass, so definitely feels kind of like I'm at home a little bit."

Three of his four PGA Tour wins were achieved with scores form 20-under to 24-under, so this is in the right ballpark. The most recent came in 2022 at El Camaleon, a course with many similarities.

Henley shook off some rust (his last PGA Tour round was a closing 62 at the Tour Championship) with a solid-enough 30th at The Sentry, shooting his best scores (68s) on the weekend, so he looks nicely set up for another run at this trophy.

Ben Griffin @ 45/146.00

I had quite a few contenders for the final spot in my staking plan. Rising star Luke Clanton was one of them, while Taylor Pendrith and Tom Hoge were also under consideration. But I'll go with a player who didn't take part last week but is a perfect fit for this venue.

Ben Griffin made his first start at Waialae in 2023 and opened with a 65 before finishing 12th. Last year he threw down a Friday 62 to sit fourth at halfway before sliding to 30th.

At the recent Sanderson Farms, Griffin revealed: "I feel like on Tour every time there's Bermudagrass I play really well."

His results back that up and in November he posted eighth at the Bermuda Championship and 15th at the RSM Classic so he ended 2024 in strong form on courses with obvious similarites to this one.

Griffin has three second places on the PGA Tour so would love to get over the line. You feel his best chance will come in an event like this: one with a modest field played on a short Bermuda course.

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