With the 2016 New Year moving along fast it seems, we already have the PGA Golf 2016 Hyundai Tournament of Champions that takes place at the Plantation Course in Kapalua, Hawaii and runs from the 7th of January thru the 10th of January 2016.
On the 7th of January some 32 of the better golfers in the world will gather at this golf course in Kapalua, Hawaii for this 26th edition of this tournament. The fans will be watching 2 golfers in J. Day and J. Speith who will continue their rivalry from the 2015 season.
Both Day and Speith are leading favorites to win the tournament, but don’t forget there are plenty of talented golfers entered into this tournament who are willing to upset the favorites this weekend in Hawaii.
Since we mention upset we want to take a look at some sleepers who could very likely walk away with the trophy in this Hyundai Tournament for 2016.
The first sleeper we think of is P. Reed who surprised most as he won with an amazing game the 2015 Hyundai Tournament of Champions, by erasing a deficit of 4 strokes in the final 4 holes of regulation in the tournament to take his 4 title of his golfing career, by birdying his opponent J. Walker. That win was historic as Reed became the 1st golfer since back in 1991 to get for wins before the age of 35 in golf. With that he joined the likes of P. Mickelson, T. Woods, S. Garcia, R. McIlroy and Jordan Speith.
Reed like his chance at keeping this Hyundai title since as of late is golf game has been exceptional. In his last 3 starts he has finished in the top 10, and nearly won the Hero World Challenge in December, as he was only 3 shots behind the Champion B. Watson. With the way Reed has played as of late, and his familiarity with this golf course he has a very probable opportunity to win and make it consecutive Hyundai Title Trophies in this 4 day event and his odds are at +1,000.
Then there is B. Koepka who this season is a very talented hard hitting golfer who last season was a hit on the PGA Tour as he had 8 finishes in the Top 10 and that included an amazing victory last February at the Phoenix Open. What makes him such a great competitor is his power off the tee to have possible advantage on each hole. In the PGA Tour in 2015 he was 8th for driving distance as he had 309 yards on average on each drive off the tee. To date he is 4th with 316 yards per drive. His power off the tee will come in handy at the long and difficult 7,454 yard Plantation golf course that has a listed par of 73! Plus, there are 4 holes on the course that are long par 5 holes. Koepka is listed at +1,800 to win this Hyundai Tournament.
Certainly we can overlook B. Watson as a sleeper as he is expect to make a bid for the title with odds listed at +900. In his last tournament he had an incredible he won the Hero World Challenge with a 25 under par and total of 236 winning by 3 strokes. The key to his victory in that tournament was his excellent play on the par 5 holes in the Bahamas as he recorded a 12 under on the par 5s during the entire tournament. Thus, to win this Hyundai Title he will need that same success on the long par 5s (some of the longest on the tour) at this Hawaiian Plantation Course.