Joe Champion
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A new year heralds the start of the 2025 PGA Tour season, which begins on Thursday with the traditional curtain-raiser, The Sentry at Kapalua in Hawaii. In the absence of Scottie Scheffler, who suffered a freak hand injury on Christmas Day, dual 2024 Major winner Xander Schauffele headlines the 60-man field at the Plantation Course.
Formerly the Tournament of Champions, the Sentry is open to each 2024 PGA Tour winner plus any player who finished in the top 50 on the FedEx Cup standings and while most of the big guns are teeing it up, Rory McIlroy also joins Scheffler in not making the trip to Hawaii. Their combined absence makes Schauffele a short-priced +500 favorite at a venue where he won in 2019 and finished second the following season. The only par-73 layout on the PGA Tour, the Plantation Course has tended to feature low scores including in 2022 when Cameron Smith reached -34 through 72 holes, which is the PGA Tour’s lowest 72-hole score-to-par. Smith, a terrific scrambler who is not the longest off the tee, is an indicator of what’s needed to win the Sentry – driving power is a bonus but the route to victory is getting up and down around the enormous greens and rolling in enough putts to post the required super-low total.
Let’s get into our best bets and predictions for The Sentry, while you can also find out our golf picks for EVERY PGA Tour event this year.
The Sentry golf picks and predictions
Sahith Theegala (+2800)
Odds available at FanDuel Sportsbook and DraftKings Sportsbook at time of publishing.
Chris Kirk caused a shock when winning the Sentry in 2024 and it could pay to look for those on offer at big odds, starting with Sahith Theegala. Blessed with a brilliant short-game, Theegala’s loose driving will not be an issue at wide-open Kapalua, where he finished 33rd on debut in 2023 before a final-round 63 saw him finish runner-up to Kirk last season. Theegala’s game is ideal for this coastal test and he’s played more recently than many of his Hawaii rivals, finishing 8th in the World Challenge – a position he would’ve bettered were it not for a disastrous quadruple-bogey 8 in the final round.
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Akshay Bhatia (+3500)
Odds available at FanDuel Sportsbook and DraftKings Sportsbook at time of publishing.
Bhatia finished 4th in the Bahamas – an impressive performance on his Albany debut – and he went well for 3 rounds on his first Kapalua start last year, reaching 20 under par before a lackluster final-round 71 saw him finish 14th. The left-hander fell in love with the Maui greens and he looks set to challenge for the title with course experience and another PGA Tour season under his belt.
Byeong Hun An (+3500)
Odds generally available at time of publishing.
Two recent winners also catch the eye in Byeong Hun An and Maverick McNealy. After a run of consistent form, An finally cashed in when last seen, winning the DP World Tour’s Genesis Championship in his native Korea in October. That victory will have done wonders for his self-belief and he’ll be confident on his return to Kapalua, where he did everything well when finishing 4th on debut in January.
Maverick McNealy (+5500)
Odds available at Bet365 at time of publishing.
McNealy, meanwhile, claimed an overdue PGA Tour title at the RSM Classic in November. He is a fine short-game exponent who relishes competing by the coast – which is no surprise given he honed his craft on the fairways of Pebble Beach as a child. This is his Kapalua debut but he has a top-10 finish to his name in the PGA Tour’s other Hawaiian event, the Sony Open.
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