Kevin O'Brien is fading Ben Griffin not because of poor form—Griffin is 3-for-3 at Waialae—but because OAD strategy dictates saving high-volume players for bigger purses or weaker fields later in the season. Griffin tees it up often and usually pays off, so O'Brien will keep him holstered until a higher-dollar opportunity rather than settle for a mid-pack payday this week.

Kevin O'Brien narrowed his choice to Nick Taylor or Hideki Matsuyama and broke the tie with overall talent. Matsuyama historically comes out of the gates hot and sports a Waialae resume that matches Taylor’s without last year’s win already banked. With roughly 30 events on the OAD calendar, O'Brien prefers to deploy one of the undisputed top-30 players in the world while the field strength is modest, betting that Matsuyama’s all-around game cashes a big first-week check.