This week marks the kick-off of the 2025 PGA Tour season as it does every season - with The Sentry Tournament of Champions.
As the PGA Tour returned to a calendar year season last year, this prestigious tournament once again served as the kick-off of the new season, just as it will this year.
Previously, as the PGA Tour operated under a fall-to-fall series, The Sentry Tournament of Champions would kick-off the calendar year of the PGA Tour season and not the season as a whole.
Additionally, this tournament’s field used to solely consist of the previous season’s winners but in 2023, the field was expanded to include the top 30 of the previous season’s FedEx Cup points standings. Last year, the field was expanded to the top 50 of the previous season’s FedEx Cup points standings. This season will follow suit with that.
With the addition of Elevated Events in 2023, this event received such status, increasing its purse to $15 million. With a name switch to Signature Events in 2024, this event continued on to serve as one-of-eight events. This year will see the event continue on as one-of-eight Signature Events but the purse will be increased to $20 million.
The Plantation Course at Kapalua on the island of Maui in Hawaii will once again play host to this week’s event and has since 1999.
The Field
As previously mentioned, the field for this week’s event will consist of the winners of the 2024 PGA Tour season as well as the top 50 of the FedEx Cup Standings from 2024.
With that, comes 31 winners and 29 others who finished within the top 50 of the FedEx Cup Standings a season ago. This totals the field to 60 golfers.
There is one glaring absence of those who qualify for this week’s event and that is World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. Scheffler suffered a puncture wound to his palm on Christmas Day and underwent surgery to address that. He will miss three-to-four weeks with hopes of returning for The American Express.
In Scheffler’s absence, deafening PGA Championship and The Open Championship winner Xander Schauffele will headline the field.
Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, Hideki Matsuyama, Sungjae Im, Ludvig Aberg, Victor Hovland and Patrick Cantlay are those among the 60-man field to be teeing it up this week.
Chris Kirk comes in as the defending champion, as he held off Sahith Theegala by a stroke to claim victory a season ago.
Other former winners of this event teeing it up this week include Thomas (2020 & 2017) and Schauffele (2019.)
The Course
This week’s venue is arguably the most luxurious resort that those in attendance and their families will get the chance to stay at the entire year. This adds an incentive to those who qualify and attend.
The Plantation Course at Kapalua is unique as it is the only Par 73 that is played on the PGA Tour.
It plays at 7,596 yards which is a bit deceptive as the course plays as a Par 73 that includes three par-threes, 11 par-fours and four par-fives. That figure puts it as one of the longest courses on the entire PGA Tour.
The Plantation Course features a multitude of elevation changes that too help the long distance on paper play shorter than the number tells. The elevation changes allow for the ball to carry farther and roll out.
This is most prevalent on the signature 18th hole that is listed at 677 yards. This hole is still reachable in two for players with plus distance off-the-tee. This is due to the downhill tee shot and downhill approach.
The fairways featured this week are wide, undulating and lead to oversized tabletop greens. In other words, there isn’t much preventing golfers from swinging out-of-their-shoes off the tee.
The main, and possibly only, line of defense featured this week are the coastal winds as this course sits on Maui’s coastline. Both the possibility of coastal winds and rain will determine how low the winning score will reach.
Although this course is long, it annually plays as one of the easiest courses on the entire PGA Tour. Over the last four years, The Plantation Course ranked as the easiest course on the PGA Tour in scoring average, par-four scoring average, par-five scoring average, driving accuracy, off-the-tee difficulty, greens in regulation percentage and greenside bunker difficulty.
In all, weather-dependent, this week is set up to be a bona fide birde-fest.
The Weather
As of the time of writing this, there is a 65-percent chance of precipitation on Thursday, a 15-percent chance on Friday, a 45-percent chance on Saturday and a 15% chance on Sunday. Temperatures will begin at 77-degrees for both Thursday and Friday before gradually declining to 74-degrees come Sunday. As of this point, it seems that winds won’t be a factor as they are set at eight miles-per-hour for Thursday and Friday and just five miles-per-hour across the weekend. If the rain holds off, this week, it’ll be a great week for some golf.
Key Stats
Strokes Gained: Approach (SG: APP)
Strokes Gained: Off the Tee (SG: OTT) / Average Driving Distance
Proximity to the Hole from 200-plus Yards
Par Five Average Scoring
Ball Striking
Strokes Gained: Putting on Bermuda (SG: PUTT Bermuda)
Birdie or Better Percentage
Bogey Avoidance
Strokes Gained: Around the Green (SG: ATG)
Betting Card
*With this week being a limited field event, there will be no DFS breakdown. Those will return next week!
Ludvig Aberg (+1800)
We saw Aberg a bit over the Fall Series. He last played the Hero World Challenge where he finished sixth. He also placed T17th at The RSM Classic. Prior to that he placed 16th at the TOUR Championship and T2nd at the BMW Championship. He finished last season 14th on Tour in SG: OTT, 21st in SG: APP, 22nd in average driving distance, 23rd in both birdie or better percentage and bogey avoidance, 25th in ball striking, 31st in proximity to the hole from 200-plus yards, 45th in par five average scoring, 97th in SG: PUTT Bermuda and 105th in SG: ATG.
Corey Conners (+3000)
We last saw Conners at the prestigious Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa where he finished T6th. It tells something about a golfer when they’re able to go overseas and compete. He also teed it up in the Fall Series at the Procore Championship where he placed T7th. Conners has played this event three-of-the-last-four seasons where he placed T33rd in 2024, T18th in 2023 and T19th in 2020. He finished last season third on Tour in SG: APP, 16th in ball striking, 21st in SG: OTT, 42nd in proximity to the hole from 200-plus yards, 56th in birdie or better percentage, 82nd in par five average scoring, 90th in both average driving distance and bogey avoidance, 124th in SG: ATG and 155th in SG: PUTT Bermuda.
Byeong Hun An (+4000)
We last saw Hun An at the Genesis Championship where he outlasted fellow countryman Tom Kim to claim victory on home soil in a playoff. He also placed T18th at the BMW PGA Championship on the DP World Tour and capped his 2024 PGA TOUR campaign with a T21st at the TOUR Championship. He also placed fourth here a season ago. He finished last season third on Tour in average driving distance, 22nd in both SG: OTT and proximity to the hole from 200-plus yards, 33rd in birdie or better percentage, 60th in par five average scoring, 70th in SG: APP, 91st in ball striking, 104th in SG: ATG, 109th in SG: PUTT Bermuda and 127th in bogey avoidance.
Davis Thompson (+5000)
We last saw Thompson during the PGA Tour’s Fall Series where he made the cut at The RSM Classic and placed T5th at the Shriners Children’s Open. He finished last season fifth on Tour in SG: ATG, 14th in par five average scoring, 27th in ball striking, 38th in all three of SG: APP, SG: OTT and bogey avoidance, 44th in birdie or better percentage, 47th in average driving distance, 106th in SG: PUTT Bermuda and 147th in proximity to the hole from 200-plus yards. He’ll be making his Sentry Tournament of Champions debut this week after winning the John Deere Classic last year.