Fantasy Crystal Ball: Sony Open in Hawaii

This week, the PGA Tour has its first full field event of the season at the Sony Open in Hawaii.  Waialae, the host course this week, is a stark contrast to its Hawaiian cousin Kapalua.  Waialae is a much more classic-styled course with tree lined holes, smaller fairways, and more conventional sized greens.  Kapalua is exposed more to ocean winds, which is an explanation for its wide open nature.

That said, the headliners on the field this week are defending champion Zach Johnson - who finally has proven that he can win outside of the state of Georgia - and Rickie Fowler, the next savior of golf.

I like both this week.  Fowler is playing with tremendous confidence based upon his late '09 performance and is a strong ball striker.  Johnson may not have won in Kapalua last week or defended a PGA Tour victory, but does seem to be in decent form - which is good enough to select the defending champion of any event.

Since I didn't waste a pick on Steve Stricker last week, it would be a good week to have him on your A-team.  On a golf course like this, Stricker is dangerous.  Think the Hawaiian East Lake.  For the same resaon, I like Brian Gay.  He simply owned Hilton Head last year.

Also, pick players that putt well on Bermuda grass.  The greens require precise pace and great recognition of how break changes based on speed.  Maybe think about a guy like Tim Clark.

Sal Johnson at Golf Observer rightly points out that experience is generally a key in winning at Waialae.  David Toms is a previous winner, solid putter, and is probably pretty annoyed that he didn't find a way to do the Hawaiian Double this week.

With one spot left on the C-squad after picking The Chosen One, I'm going to go with another past champion in Paul Goydos.

Here's how my team looks this week: