DraftKings preview: Sony Open in Hawaii

Matt Wallace (+6600) … If you thought that Emiliano Grillo was an easy call as the most valuable Sleeper for the Valspar Championship – raises hand – then try the Englishman on for size. He’s 52nd in the Official World Golf Ranking and he enters with a solo third (Valero Texas Open) and a T18 (RBC Heritage) in his last two individual non-majors, but he’s connected five consecutive paydays for good measure. The 31-year-old also is an intriguing fit for Quail Hollow at 10th in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and T19 in par-5 scoring. Matthew NeSmith (+12500) … The fact that this is his fourth appearance as a Sleeper this season is a good test on whether you see the glass half-full or half-empty, but there’s no room for pessimism here. The 27-year-old is in his second season and 74th in the FedExCup with seven top 25s, including a T21 at Valspar on Sunday. He ranks 14th on the PGA TOUR in total driving and leads in greens in regulation. His putting comes and goes, but he was in good form at Copperhead, finishing sixth in conversion percentage inside 10 feet. Seamus Power (+30000) … He and his partner, David Hearn, were positioned No. 10 in the Power Rankings for the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, but that promise was extinguished when the 34-year-old Irishman tested positive for COVID-19. The duo was tracking from multiple angles, including Power’s modest form upon arrival. He had just finished T9 in the Korn Ferry Tour event in Las Vegas. He’s cashed only thrice in eight starts on the PGA TOUR this season, but that includes in each of his last two events. The odds are with him to extend it at Quail Hollow where he’s 2-for-2 with a T13 in 2019, also during a sudden surge of form. Because he’s plowing forward on conditional status, he had been scheduled to compete in this week’s Simmons Bank Open on the KFT, but a bogey-free, 8-under 62 at Monday’s open qualifying for the Wells Fargo Championship at Gaston Country Club punched his ticket into the tournament proper. Vincent Whaley (+25000) … If the old adage is true that it’s easier to stay on the PGA TOUR than it is to get there, then what do you tell a guy who finished 183rd in the FedExCup in his abbreviated rookie season of 2019-20? This was the reality of the Georgia Tech product who managed only 15 starts before eligibility was extended for 2020-21 due to the pandemic. Like many others, he’s making it count as he preps for his debut at Quail Hollow. Currently 137th in the FedExCup with seven consecutive cuts made in tow, the highlight a T15 in Puerto Rico. What he lacks in firepower tee to green, he betters the average in cleaning up around and on greens. Justin Suh (+25000) … Confirmed as the late recipient of a sponsor exemption when Camilo Villegas opted out after gaining entry with one, Suh has lot riding on his first appearance at Quail Hollow. This will be his last start on a sponsor exemption in 2020-21 unless he achieves Special Temporary Membership [STM]. To do that, he needs no worse than a two-way share of eighth place. A top 10 but short of the two-way T8 would yield a start at next week’s AT&T Byron Nelson where he could continue to chase STM. Short of that and his only realistic method of entry into an event would be via open qualifying. There are nine more of those chances beginning with the AT&T Byron Nelson. Worst case, he’s a virtual lock to qualify for the Korn Ferry Tour Finals since his non-member equivalent of FedExCup points would slot him 142nd among members. As it concerns his fit at the Wells Fargo Championship, the 23-year-old is 13th on TOUR in greens hit and T3 in par-5 scoring. Only seven of his 22 rounds in individual competition have been lasered by ShotLink, so there’s not enough of a sample size to buy heavily into it, but it’s still impressive that he’s put himself in this position just nine months after sitting outside the top-1,000 of the Official World Golf Ranking. He’s currently 403rd. Odds were sourced on Tuesday, May 4 at 5 a.m. ET. For live odds visit betmgm. NOTE: Sleeper is a relative term, so Rob uses unofficial criteria to determine who qualifies. Each of the following usually is determined to be ineligible for this weekly staple: Winners of the tournament on the current host course; winners in the same season; recent major champions; top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking; recent participants of team competitions.

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DUBLIN, Ohio – International captain Nick Price could see the raw disappointment in the eyes of his 21-year-old rookie after Hideki Matsuyama lost his Singles match at the 2013 Presidents Cup to Hunter Mahan. The Japanese prodigy felt like he’d let the International team down but Price wanted to make sure the youngster knew he certainly didn’t feel that way and nor did any of his teammates as they passed at the clubhouse of Muirfield Village. Price knew Matsuyama would be a staple of the International team in the years to come and sensed it was a time to send a message. He turned to Bob Turner – Matsuyama’s confidant and interpreter – and was straight to the point. “His game is so good… he’s going to win majors,” Price said before thanking Matsuyama with a hearty handshake for his efforts. It was a line that would live with Matsuyama from that point on and ultimately come true almost eight years later at the Masters. “At that time it was only a dream to think of winning a major championship but what Captain Nick said really gave me motivation to try to live up to those expectations,” Matsuyama said this week ahead of the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide at the same venue he received the praise. “The 2013 Presidents Cup is a week I’ll always remember. I was so grateful for Captain Nick and Adam Scott as it was those two who really took me under their wings and helped me a lot in my first time on the team. “They were great because I had no clue what to do, or how to do it, and they really paid special attention to me and helped build my confidence. It was unfortunate the team didn’t play a little better but the week will always hold great memories for me and it was important for my confidence going forward.” History shows that the following June, Matsuyama would return to Muirfield Village and win the Memorial Tournament, the first of his now six PGA TOUR wins. He was the youngest champion in tournament history at 22 and the first winner from Japan. It was an incredible rise as when Price was named the 2013 captain in May of 2012, Matsuyama was ranked outside the top 200 players in the world but by the time the team was picked in September of 2013 he’d moved inside the top 30 despite having just six TOUR starts as a pro. But it was a rise Price says was always going to come. The Hall of Famer returned to Muirfield Village this week as the tournament honoree. He remembers the infamous moment well. “I could sense Hideki was starting to get a little down so I was trying to think what’s the best thing I can do or say to pick him up and the first thing that came to mind was I just knew he was going to win a major,” Price said. “If I said that to him I thought it might just break him out of any funk he was in so I said to his interpreter Bob – you tell him he’s one of the best young talents I’ve ever seen and tell him I know he is going to win a major. “And hey, eight years later the prophecy came true but it wasn’t really going out on a limb, we all knew it was going to happen.” Price said he’d formed that opinion prior to the week at Muirfield Village where Matsuyama would go 1-3-1 as a rookie during the US 18.5-15.5 win. He could sense it in tournaments leading up to the event where he walked a handful of practice rounds with prospective team members. “I had obviously stopped playing on the regular TOUR before Hideki surfaced but I remember watching him play when he first popped up as a youngster. It was immediately noticeable that he had a beautiful golf swing and his short game looked amazing,” Price remembered. “When they announced I was going to be captain I obviously started to watch him play in person and I was so impressed with his demeanor. He seemed unflappable. He’s a great young man and I was really happy to have him on all three of my Presidents Cup teams.” And he was cheering Matsuyama home last April, on the edge of his seat watching the finish of the Masters, knowing how big the moment would be in a historical sense. “It was probably the greatest thing to happen in golf for some time,” Price says. “The Japanese have long revered the Masters and to have their first male major champion win there is something very special indeed and great for the International exposure of the game.” Price isn’t done with predictions when it comes to Matsuyama. “I don’t think the Masters is his last major win either,” he says. “Once the dust settles he will be back on the horse and he’s going to be looking for the second one. It won’t surprise me if he wins three, four or even more of them.” Let’s hope Matsuyama also takes this prediction to heart.

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There are 21 rookies on the PGA TOUR in 2019-20. This page provides a subjective ranking updated weekly. The Arnold Palmer Award winner is determined in a vote by PGA TOUR members who make at least 15 starts. The Ryder Cup, the Presidents Cup and the Olympic Games count as one of the 15. Although there was no action on the PGA TOUR last week, one rookie competed and two other recent rookies made headlines. Tom Lewis placed T32 at the Turkish Airlines Open and climbed two spots to 44th in the Race to Dubai standings. Up next for the Englishman is the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Gary Player Country Club in Sun City, South Africa. It’s the penultimate tournament of the European Tour season. A few days prior, the captain’s picks for both squads in the Presidents Cup were announced. Among his four selections, International captain Ernie Els chose 2018-19 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year Sungjae Im and Joaquin Niemann, who was on the ROY ballot after securing rookie eligibility as a non-member in 2017-18. The 2016-17 Rookie of the Year, Xander Schauffele, will be making his Presidents Cup debut for the United States. He qualified automatically along with fellow 2016-17 rookie Patrick Cantlay, also a first-timer on the team. They are the most recent American rookies to appear in the biennial competition. * – In the field at the Mayakoba Golf Classic as of Nov. 10. # – Top-10 alternate at the Mayakoba Golf Classic as of Nov. 10. ^ – In the field at the European Tour’s Nedbank Golf Challenge as of Nov. 10. Through November 10 NOTE: A player’s rookie season (“Rookie Year”) is defined as the season in which he becomes a PGA TOUR member (including Special Temporary Members) and plays in 10 or more events as a member or finishes in the Top 125 on the Official FedExCup Points List or qualifies as a Top 125 – Nonmember, whichever occurs first. Further, for purposes of this definition, a new member (including Special Temporary Members) shall not be eligible for the Arnold Palmer Award if he has previously played in more than seven (7) Official PGA TOUR Money events as a professional in any prior season.

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