The PGA Tour will kick off the 2025 calendar season with a trip to Maui, Hawaii for The Sentry (It used to be called the Sentry Tournament of Champions, but is now called The Sentry). The PGA Tour uses the fall schedule as a qualifier for the regular season. The golfers who had the best results in the fall earned a spot in the “Signature Events.” The Sentry is the first Signature Event on the 2025 schedule, so the field is stacked and there is $20 Million on the line this week.
This is the first tournament in 2025, so many of the golfers may be a bit rusty, but we can still expect some good golf at The Plantation Course at Kapalua. 31 of the top-40 golfers in the World Golf Rankings will be teeing it up this week. Kapalua plays a lot like August National, so this should be a good preview of what we may see at The Masters in April. The Sentry is always a good tournament to kick off the Fantasy Golf season.
* The elephant in the room this week is Scottie Scheffler. He is the No. 1 player in the world and he will not be playing this week. Scheffler cut his had on Christmas Day and he had to have surgery to have it repair. He is still on the entry list for the American Express in a couple of weeks, so we will have to wait and see how long Scheffler is out.
Here is the recent form and course history for each golfer this week: History and Form
Course Breakdowns
The Sentry will be played at Kapalua Plantation Course in Maui, Hawaii. The Plantation Course is one of the longest courses on the PGA Tour. The course will play 7,596 yards this week and will be scored as a par-73. The ocean views of this course are breathtaking.
The fairways at the Plantation Course are the widest on tour and the elevation changes make 350-yard drives common off the tee (Do not be surprised to see golfers’ drive it well over 400-yards on the par-4 17th hole).
The only defense for this course is the weather. The scores have been really low when the winds are calm and the course is dry. The forecast for this week is for bright sunshine, min-80’s and 10-15 MPH winds (I wish I was there). The winning score has been 20 under par or better in eight of the last nine seasons, so we should have some scoring in Hawaii.
Click here to see the course: Plantation Course at Kapalua.
KEY STATS FOR THE SENTRY
– Distance Off the Tee
– Strokes Gained Approach
– Stoke Gained Around the Greens
– Strokes Gained Putting (Slow Greens)
– Birdie of Better %
TOP 30 GOLFERS
THE SENTRY STRATEGY
Course history is important at the Plantation Course at Kapalua, but many of the golfers who dominated The Sentry are now playing on the LIV Tour. The golfers with the best course history include Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay and Sunjae Im. These golfers have multiple top-10 finishes at The Sentry and they never finished outside the top-16 at this course. Morikawa, Schauffele, Cantlay and Im are good building blocks to have in your lineups.
The golfers who play well at Augusta National typically play well at the Plantation Course at Kapalua. The golfers who have played well at all two courses include Scottie Scheffler, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Wyndham Clark and Ludvid Aberg.
The common theme in DFS Golf this week will be to build your lineup around the golfers who can bomb it off the tee. Yes, we do need guys who can hit it long, but it is more important to be an elite wedge players and excellent putter at Kapalua. Collin Morikawa was running away with the tournament two years ago, before he blew up on Sunday (He could not chip to save his life in the final round). Chris Kirk is not a bomber and he won last year and ranked No. 1 in SG Putting. Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Sungjae Im, Wyndham Clark, Sam Burns, Sahith Theegala and J.T. Poston all rank highly in SG Putting and SG Around the Greens, so they should have a good chance to win Sunday.
CORE GOLFERS FOR THE SENTRY
DRAFTKINGS CASH CONTEST
COLLIN MORIKAWA ($10,100): Morikawa always starts the season on a hot streaks and then cools off in the summer. He absolutely destroyed the field in the Sentry for three rounds in 2023. His putter went ice could in the fourth round and Morikawa finished second. The Sentry ranks as the best tournament on the schedule for Morikawa. I thought about using him as my One & Done pick, but I will save him for later in the season. He is a safe pick for your Cash Contest lineups in DFS this week.
JUSTIN THOMAS ($9,700): J.T. is a lot like Collin Morikawa. He always gets off to a hot start. He is one of the best players in Hawaii. J.T. has won this tournament twice (2017 and 2020). He plays the Sentry every year because it is one of his best tournaments. J.T. has finished five of his last seven starts at Kapalua in the top-five. He will have a good chance to finish in the top-five again this week.
SUNGJAE IM ($9,500): Im should be a lock for all Cash Contest lineups this week. He has played this tournament four times. Im finished 5th, 13th, 8th and 5th. His weakness is accuracy off-the-tee and that is not a problem with these wide fairways. His second-shot and putting often gets him to the top of the leaderboard at the Sentry. He is a safe play for all Fantasy Golf lineups in Hawaii.
J.T. POSTON ($7,600): Poston is my favorite golfer in the field this week. I am not suggesting that Poston is a lock to win, but he is under priced this week. Poston is in good form. He won the Shriners in October and he finished 5th and 9th in his next two tournaments. Poston also finished 5th in the Setnry last year. He ranks 7th in the Key Stats this week. All signs point to Poston finishing near the top of the leaderboard Sunday.
ERIC COLE ($6,900): The Sentry is a good tournament for Cole. He played this tournament for the first time last year and he finished 14th. He enters the Sentry this week after finishing sixth at the ZoZo Championship and 16th at the Sanderson Farms in October. Cole also ranks 15th in the Key Stats this week. That is not too bad for $6,900.
ADAM HADWIN ($6,200): This is a non-cut event with only 60 golfers in the field, so I will take a chance with a “punt play” this week. I typically use Hadwin in the desert courses in the spring, but he has some decent course history at Kapalua. Hadwin finished 14th at the Sentry last year. I am not so sure he can do it again, but he is an experienced golfer and he loves making money. I am sure that Hadwin will show up in decent form for his first Signature Event in 2025.
DRAFTKINGS TOURNAMENT CONTEST LINEUP
LUDVIG ABERG ($9,800): Aberg is one of the best young golfers in the world. He has been dealing with some injuries over the last year, but the reports from the PGA Tour is that Aberg is close to being 100% right now. His advantage is with his driver, but everyong will be able to drive it into these huge fairways. I still think his wedges and putter are elite enough to give Aberg a good chance to win The Sentry.
AKSHAY BHATIA ($8,900): Bhatia won twice last year and almost won a third time when he missed a putt and finished second in Detroit. The secret to his success was his putter. Bhatia ranked 132nd in SG Putting in his rookie season and then jumped to 33rd last year. He ranked 18th in SG Putting in the playoffs, so he continues to improve. I like playing Bhatia on coastal courses, so he will get a spot in my lineup this week.
SAHITH THEEGALA ($8,600): The Plantation Course fits Theegala’s game perfectly. His weekness is Accuracy Off-the-Tee. The golfers almost have to try to miss the fairways this week, since they are so wide. Theegala is one of the best golfers in the field with his second-shot and he ranks high in Birdie or Better %. Theegala finished second in this tournament last year. I like him to score well for your lineup again this week.
MAX GREYSERMAN ($8,000): Get used to the name “Max Greyserman”. He is one of the best young golfers on tour and I plan to play him a lot this year. Greyserman finished second in three of his last five tournaments. He would be priced in the $9K range is he had a bigger name. Greyserman ranks No. 4 in the Key Stats this week. He does not have any course history, but I am not worried about it. This course is not too tough to figure out.
BRIAN HARMAN ($7,400): Harman is a former major champion who seems to have found his short game. He fired the third-best final round at the Hero last week. Harman finished third at The Sentry in 2018 and fifth last year. He can score well in this tournament when Harman shows up in decent form. That seems to be the case this week with the Lefty.
SEPP STRAKA ($6,800): Most people will spend all of their salary, so I will pivot and leave some cash on the table this week. That means I will drop into the $6K price range and take a chance with Straka. He has played this tournament twice. Straka finished 21st in 2023 and 12th last year. I want golfers who can hit their wedges well andcan putt. Straka checks both boxes. He ranks 8th in SG Approach (125-150 Yards) and 6th in SG Putting (Slow Greens). The stats like him, so I will take a chance with the Austrian.
Here are my lineups for Multi-Entry Tournament Contest: (Multi-Entry-Lineup)
FANDUEL CASH CONTEST LINEUP
FANDUEL TOURNAMENT CONTEST LINEUP
PGATOUR.COM FANTASY PICKS
* This is the first tournament in Segment 1. There are 10 tournaments in this segment, so use your golfers wisely this week. We need to save some of our top golfers for the tournaments on the mainland.
** You can use this link to join my league: FantasyRacingTips League
FANTASY GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP ONE & DONE PICK:
* If you are looking for a place to play a One & Done Contests, I always play at Fantasy Golf Championship. Here is the link to join a league: Fantasy Golf Championship
** The Fantasy Golf Championship game starts next week at the Sony Open
Players in Fantasy Golf Championship One & Done so far: None yet
SEASON-LONG ONE & DONE PICK: SUNGJAE IM (The Sentry)
– One & Done picks used so far this season: Ben Griffin (15th), Nico Echavarria (29TH), Harris English (14TH), Beau Hossler (56TH), Tom Kim (MC), Keith Mitchell (MC), Ben Griffin (37th)
* There are two ways to play your One & Done Contests this week. The Sentry has a small field, has no cut and it is an elevated event, so the paycheck will be huge. You can select one of the “stars” because you would rather take him in a field of 60 and guarantee you start your One & Done season with a bang, or you can take one of the “scrubs” because you know he will make your One & Done lineup some money since there is no cut. I like SUNGJAE IM if you want to go the “stars” route and I like J.T. POSTON if you want to go with a “scrub” (J.T. Poston is not exactly a scrub though, but he will not be as popular and you likely will not target him at other courses.)
BEST BETS FOR THE SENTRY
JUSTIN THOMAS (10-1)
SAHITH THEEGALA (25-1)
BYEONG-HUN AN (35-1)
AKSHAY BHATIA (30-1)
BRIAN HARMAN (50-1)
Good Luck This Week!!!!
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