2nd hole at Waialae Country Club © Waialae Country Club
This week sees the tour move to the mainland island of Hawaii, Oahu and tees up at the Waialae Country Club. The course nestles between the Koolau mountain range on the north and Pacific Ocean on the south.
Opened in 1927 and designed by Seth Raynor, the Waialae Country Club has hosted major golfing events since 1965 and has been the venue for the annual Hawaiian PGA tournament.
Tailored greens, lush fairways, beautiful mountain ranges, the blue ocean, these are some of the fantastic views the course has to offer the visiting golfer. The pros on the other hand will be playing the course in a different way as the front and back nines are reversed for Tournament play in order to capitalise on the sun setting in the west.
Webb Simpson © Hone Morihana
My picks to win;
Webb Simpson 12/1 pushed Luke Donald all the way last year for the number one spot and with two wins, three second place finishes and seven other Top 10 finishes its going to be a hard season to top. But Webb got off to a flier last week tying for 3rd place shooting in the 60s in all four rounds.
Jonathan Byrd 28/1 will be looking to establish himself this year after bagging his maiden win last year, a good finish last week as defending champion at the Tournament of Champions see him shoot three rounds in the 60s to tie third
Keegan Bradley 33/1 finished well in last weeks Tournament of Champions shooting a final round 65 after drifting off the pace in his middle two rounds, but I think its going to be a great season for Keegan, which could start here.
Jeff Overton © Keith Allison
My each way picks;
Jeff Overton 66/1 didn’t have the greatest of seasons last year by his standards, with only five Top 25 finishes, and of four of those he made the Top 10. He did finish the season well and grabbed a 2nd place at the CIMB Asia Pacific Classic Malaysia and a 6th place finish at the The McGladrey Classic both coming in October.
Although getting on in age and a year off of competing on the seniors tour, Vijay Singh 80/1 at these odds offers great value and with five Top 10 finishes last season which took him to 28th on the FedEx cup, don’t rule out the Fijian just yet.
For those of you who have been following my guide for a while will know that we done very well last year backing Tommy Gainey 125/1 and at these odds he has to be worth a few quid each way
