Sentry Tournament Of Champions: PGA Tour Golf Betting Odds
Spain’s Jon Rahm is favoured on the golf odd just like he was in 2022.
In addition to tournament winners from 2022, this year’s 39-man field also features the Top 30 from last season’s final FedExCup points list (i.e., those who qualified for the Tour Championship – it will be that way going forward). Of course, no LIV golfers are allowed to play.
A total of 17 of the world’s Top 20 (LIV golfers aren’t getting world rankings points currently) are set to tee it up. However, No. 1 Rory McIlroy, the reigning FedEx Cup champion, is skipping the tournament. He usually stays overseas early in the New Year and has only played this event once. Among the players making their debut in the tournament are reigning U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick, 2021-22 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year Cameron Young and Canadian Adam Svensson thanks to his maiden victory at the RSM Classic last year.
No one wants to go to Hawaii and play tough golf courses, and the Plantation Course at Kapalua Resort is not one. It is a par 73 at 7,596 yards and hosts for the 25th year – it’s the only par 73 on Tour. When there’s no wind, this course has no defence whatsoever. That showed in 2022 when Aussie Cam Smith set a tournament-record by winning at 34-under 258, one shot up on Rahm. The duo shared the 54-hole lead at 26-under-par 193.
Rahm’s 61 on Saturday matched the course record, and that day’s average score overall of 67.711 was the lowest since the PGA Tour tracked such things in 1983. Smith will not defend because he bolted for LIV. The past four years, the Tournament of Champions has either been decided by one shot or gone to a playoff.
The Sentry Tournament of Champions is one of the new “elevated” events on the PGA Tour to help avoid more defections to the LIV series. The $15 million purse is nearly double what it was in 2022. There is no cut.
Sentry Tournament of Champions Golf Odds
Spain’s Jon Rahm is the +656 favourite, and he has an average finish here of 5.8 in five trips, with a runner-up last year (Rahm barely missed an eagle putt on the 72nd hole to force a playoff) and in 2018. His lone official PGA Tour event this season was a T4 at the CJ Cup in South Carolina in late October.
World No. 2 Scottie Scheffler is +1000, with Justin Thomas and Xander Schauffele each +1100. Scheffler was T13 his lone visit in 2021. Thomas won in 2020 in a playoff over Schauffele and Patrick Reed and also win in 2017 by three shots over Hideki Matsuyama. Thomas finished T5 last year, highlighted by a third-round 61. Schauffele won here in 2019 and had that playoff loss the next year.
Patrick Cantlay (+1200) and Tony Finau (+1600) round out the favourites. Cantlay has a best result here of fourth twice, including last year. Finau’s best is ninth.
Stan Leonard is the lone Canadian to win the tournament, way back in 1958 by a stroke over Billy Casper. Last year, none played. Corey Conners is +3400 this week with Mackenzie Hughes +7500 and Svensson the same price. Conners was T19 his lone trip in 2020, and Hughes has a best result of T25 in two trips. As noted above, Svensson makes his event debut.
Sentry Tournament of Champions Golf Predictions
Jon Rahm is overdue for a win here, and we’ll take a Top 5 bet, but the best value is Collin Morikawa at +1800 as he has been T5, T7 and T7 in three trips. That an American wins is -211, and we like that prop, too.