The First Tee at the Sony Open

One tournament in the books, and already Jordan Spieth has a win. It should come as no surprise that Spieth came out ready to play and at the top of his game. He played four fantastic rounds, shooting (-7), (-9), (-8), (-6) for a combined (-30), good for eight shots better than last years' champion Patrick Reed (-20). Spieth will be the favorite in every tournament he plays this year, and for DFS purposes, he is an expensive but valuable option for your weekly teams. Some notable finishers were Brandt Snedeker (T3rd), Brooks Koepka (T3) and Ricky Fowler (T5). It was good to see Snedeker and Koepka put four solid rounds together, as both are elite options who struggled towards the end of the year. Graham McDowell and Russel Knox were two guys I had my eye on, but both finished in the back half of the field and couldn't string many birdies together.

The tour moves on to the Sony Open, where Jimmy Walker is the two time defending champion. Walker has made a great living the past few years by feasting on the opening swing of the PGA Tour. He has five victories in his last 53 events, with 17 top 10's, 29 top 25's and only seven missed cuts. His price is usually inflated in the beginning months of the season, and that is certainly true this week ($12,200). Due to his success at the Sony Open and his high win rate, I will have exposure to him but I think the tournament is wide open and there is better value to be had, especially with Jordan Spieth not in the field.

Matt Kuchar stands out to me as the best value in the group of $10,000+. He has performed very well at the Sony Open, finishing 3^rd 8^th, and 5^th in his last three appearances. Kuchar will cost you roughly (23%) of your salary cap, but if I am going to create an imbalance at the top of my lineup, I want to know that guy is going to be in the hunt on the weekend. Kuchar fits that profile very well.

Justin Thomas will look to finish what he started last year during his first appearance at the Sony Open. Thomas shot a career low (62) in the second round and had the 36 hole lead heading into the weekend. He shot a pair of 70's on the weekend and finished with a T6, one of seven top 10's for the runner up in the 2015 Rookie of the Year rankings (Daniel Berger won the ROY). Thomas got over the hump at the CIMB classic, winning his first tournament and opening the floodgates for what I believe to be a very successful 2016 season for the 22 year old.

Another name to watch out for Gary Woodland. Despite the tight pricing this week, Woodland –who finished T3 in 2015— looks to be great value at $8400. He super talented and can bomb the ball off the tee, but he struggles with consistency. He makes for a great GPP option, but he is perhaps too volatile for cash games.

If you followed this column last year, you probably remember me glowing about Russell Henley. Woodland is said to be the best pure athlete on tour, and if that's true than Henley is a close second. Henley won the 2013 Sony Open in his tour debut, while shattering the tournament scoring record in the process. He birdied the last five holes to win by three shots, and finished with a tournament record of (-24), which at the time was the second lowest score in a 72 hole event in PGA Tour history. Henley is a super streaky putter and when he is on, he is Day and Spieth like with his ability to make birdies from anywhere on the green. Look for him to contend on the weekend.

Check back on Wednesday for my Sony Open Rankings…