Betting Odds: Sony Open 2011 – Part 1
Sony Open 2011 will be hitting the sandy beaches of Hawaii on 12 January with the top guns of golf firing and grinding the ball at the venue of Waialae Country Club.
With a $5.5m purse on stake, the field of 142 players, which includes veterans like Justin Rose and rookies like Kent Jones will tee off against the crushing conditions of Hawaii. According to the weather forecast, fog will not leave
the course alone for all four days and as the course lies on a higher altitude, wind is going to be a major competitor. Hence, the winner has to be someone who is an expert at short game and a frequent visitor at the course.
In order to enumerate a betting list for the upcoming tournament, these two traits are the prerequisites for the top runners. Here are the betting odds for the top four Sunday finishers.
Jerry Kelly
In 2002, the veteran conquered the course in testing conditions, when fog and wind made it nearly impossible to hole a ball with accuracy. The wind blew at 20-30mph. Despite that, Kelly fired a score of three-under-67 without a single blemish. The reason
to his success was utmost preparations for the worst.
Commenting on the conditions of the course, Kelly said, “It was tough. It is normal Waialae. I mean, this is the way it normally plays. But being lulled to sleep for three days (conditions were relatively benign for the opening 54 holes) made it tougher.
I think if we would have been facing this all week, we might have seen more rounds like that. But I'll tell you, I'd hate to be a rookie and just all of a sudden see this place on Sunday.”
What Kelly identified in his statement holds true to date. The course is designed for the veterans and only those who have been here before can stay vaulted to the ground. For the rookies, Waialae serves as an expulsion ground. The last rookie who survived
the strong winds of Hawaii was Paul Stankowski back in 1997.
Another trait that binds Kelly to the betting list is his admiration for the course. The player adores this course for her cut-lipped greens, sharply shaped fairway curves and misty conditions. This adds to the reason how he managed a victory here in 2002,
followed it with high finishes in next three years, and raked a top 3 spot in 2008.
Kelly portrays a strong balance in windy conditions. He has portrayed it several times at the link styled courses in the world.
Looking at his current stats, one sees a strong finish in last ten events in which he competed. He finished third at Bridgestone Invitational in August 2010, successfully made the cut in all five events of the fall series, finished in top 25 at Vegas, and
grabbed a share in 12th spot in Disney Classic. Moreover, he occupied the third spot of the leaderboard in the Shark Shootout, where he was coupled with Ryder Cup hero Steve Stricker.
Above all the reasons, this one holds the maximum weight. The native from Wisconsin is one of the 12 winners of Waialae who appeared in the Tournament of Champions in the first week of January 2011.
Continued in part 2…
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