Sony Open in Hawaii

This week the US PGA Tour stays in Hawaii to play the second tournament of the 2010 season: the Sony Open in Hawaii.

Even though this is the second tournament of the season, it is the first full field tournament. Players should be "moving and grooving" and itching to play well so they get off to a good start for the season.

Below is the list of the top 15 players in the CLi rankings for the Sony Open.

#	Player	Cli
1	Rory Sabbatini	5.80
2	Steve Stricker	9.55
3	Zach Johnson	9.80
4	Troy Matteson	14.10
5	Stewart Cink	19.95
6	Stephen Ames	20.40
7	Y.E. Yang	20.80
8	Tim Clark	21.20
9	George McNeill	21.75
10	Chad Campbell	23.20
11	Pat Perez	24.10
12	Luke Donald	26.00
13	Ernie Els	27.20
14	Jeff Klauk	27.80
15	Shigeki Maruyama	28.60

I am going to stick with the top 5 in the CLi rankings this week: Sabbatini, Stricker, Johnson, Matteson, and Cink. Out of these 5, Matteson is my questionable player in terms of fans knowing him. However, he has played 31st or better in the last 4 Sony Opens, with an 8th place finish in 2008. Of the 16 rounds he has played in this tournament, he has shot in the 60s 11 times, with the his highest score being 72. So he plays well and consistent in this tournament.

I am solely relying on intelligence of the CLi. Let's hope that is a good strategy this week. Players should at least be enjoying the warm weather when it is still rather cold in many other players in the northern hemisphere.

Below are my 5 picks for the Sony Open:

#	Player	Cli
1	Rory Sabbatini	5.80
2	Steve Stricker	9.55
3	Zach Johnson	9.80
4	Troy Matteson	14.10
5	Stewart Cink	19.95

Below are the settings for the CLi calculation I used for the Sony Open:

Number of Past Tournaments Looking Back
Number	Scoring Avg Weight (SA1)	Earnings Avg Weight (EA1)
5	25%	25%
Number of Days Looking Back
Number	Scoring Avg Weight (SA2)	Earnings Avg Weight (EA2)
7	5%	5%
Number of Tournaments Looking Back
Number	Scoring Avg Weight (SA3)	Earnings Avg Weight (EA3)
4	20%	20%