2025 Sony Open Golf Odds & Picks: Head-to-Head Matchups

The first full-field event of the 2025 PGA Tour season, the Sony Open, will get underway from Waialae Country Club in Honolulu, Hawaii on the island of Oahu on Thursday. It’s the 60th edition of this event and will feature a traditional 36-hole cut line, with 144 golfers competing for the outright win.

My head-to-head matchups at The Sentry went 1-1 last week. I hit on Sungjae Im (+175) to win his tournament 3-ball matchup against Ludvig Aberg and Patrick Cantlay, as the South Korean golfer went 11-under-par in Round 3 to leap Aberg with a solo third-place finish. Akshay Bhatia struggled during his debut at Kapalua, drawing a T32 finish alongside Byeong Hun An, while Robert MacIntyre had no issues adapting during his debut, carding a T15 finish with two rounds of seven-under-par. I wound up losing Bhatia’s tournament 3-ball matchup bet at +170 odds.

I’m back with two new head-to-head matchup props, each worth a one-unit wager, ahead of Thursday’s opening round at the Sony Open. Follow me on X at Matt_MacKay_ for more free bets and weekly analysis.

2025 Sony Open Odds & Picks

Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.

Tournament 3-Balls Trio: Si Woo Kim, Taylor Pendrith, Maverick McNealy

The tournament 3-ball trio market on DraftKings featuring Si Woo Kim, Taylor Pendrith, and Maverick McNealy is where I’m heading first. Kim won the Sony Open in 2023 but I’m more interested in backing McNealy following his T8 finish at Kapalua last weekend.

McNealy has always been a great short game player but his off-the-tee and ball-striking looked vastly improved during The Sentry. He’ll need to lean on his driver and irons at Waialae, which is a much shorter, narrow course without as much elevation change. McNealy has dealt with injuries throughout the recent stretch of his career but he appears to be fully healthy and ranked fifth SG: Approach and fifth SG: Off-the-Tee at Kapalua.

McNealy turned in a T7 finish at Waialae in 2023, the year that Kim won, so I like his chance of success in this pairing. Taylor Pendrith did the best out of these three golfers in 2024, carding a T10 finish, progressively getting better in each round. However, he did miss the cut in 2022, and I like how McNealy looked and played during the first event of 2025 a bit more than Pendrith and Kim.

Let’s bet a unit on McNealy to finish with the lowest score against Kim and Pendrith at Waialae in this full tournament 3-ball trio matchup at +170 odds.

Pick: Maverick McNealy (+170)

18 Hole Matchups – J.T. Poston vs. Austin Eckroat – Round 1

Austin Eckroat played well enough to record a T15 finish at Kapalua last weekend and is set for a return to Waialae this week. The Oklahoma native started -9-under-par during the first two days at the 2024 Sony Open, before finishing +1 across the final two rounds.

Eckroat is paired against J.T. Poston for Round 1 in this 18 hole matchup betting market. Poston has played well at Waialae during his career, including a solo sixth-place finish last season. Despite the better finish compared to Eckroat’s T42 finish at the Sony Open last year, I like how Eckroat looked at Kapalua compared to Poston.

Poston had two rounds in the 70s at an event where 66 and 67 were common round scores. Now, on a par 70, Eckroat will hold the edge with his ball-striking. Waialae demands precision off-the-tee and on approach, two aspects of Eckroat’s game that he executes extremely well. Eckroat was fifth SG: putting, 8th in proximity, and 13th in driving accuracy.

Oddsmakers have a slight lean toward Eckroat against Poston in Round 1 at Waialae, so let’s bet one more unit on Eckroat to win Thursday’s matchup against Poston at -115 odds.

Pick: Austin Eckroat (-115)

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Matthew MacKay is a featured writer for BettingPros and FantasyPros. For more from Matthew, check out his archive and follow him @Matt_MacKay_.