The Sentry 2025 PGA Tour Golf Betting Odds: Xander Schauffele looking to build off career-year

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler was favoured on the golf odds – and probably will be in every tournament he enters this year – but now isn’t playing due to injury.

There are 39 official Tour events before the Fall Series in 2025 – 36 in the regular season and three FedExCup playoff tournaments capped by the Tour Championship in late August. Also note that it’s a Ryder Cup year with the United States hosting from Bethpage Black in New York. The regular-season slate will include stops in 18 states as well as Mexico, Canada, Northern Ireland, Scotland, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.

The Sentry used to be limited to only the previous year’s winners on Tour, but now it’s also available to all of the Top 50 finishers in the previous year’s FedExCup. But note that not every player who qualified will play as some top Europeans choose to stay overseas until late January due to some big-money events in the Middle East on the DP World Tour. Rory McIlroy is one who stays overseas.

This is a no-cut Signature Event as well, which means a jacked up purse of $20 million (US) and more FedExCup points up for grabs. The Plantation Course at Kapalua Resort hosts for the 27th straight year and is a par 73 at about 7,600 yards. It’s long but quite easy if the winds aren’t blowing. The last time a player shot worse than 20 under par here and won was in 2020.

The defending champion is American Chris Kirk, who shot 29-under 263 a year ago to finish a shot up on Sahith Theegala. Kirk shot a final-round 65 when the course was basically defenceless as the final round at Kapalua produced the lowest scoring average (66.67) since the PGA Tour started keeping detailed records in 1983. It was the third straight year the winner posted a Sunday round of 8 under or better.

It was Kirk’s sixth career victory, and he has yet to add No. 7. He’s +8000 to become the first player to repeat in this event since Aussie Geoff Ogilvy in 2010. I liked Max Homa last year and while he shot 22 under, he finished T14.

Scheffler, off a seven-win season and third straight PGA Tour Player of the Year Award, suffered a puncture wound to his right hand on some broken glass while preparing Christmas dinner and had to withdraw from the Sentry. With Scheffler out, there are 31 PGA Tour event winners in the field (including 15 first-time winners) from last year and 29 players who finished inside the Top 50 in the 2024 FedExCup standings.

The Sentry Golf Odds

World No. 2 Xander Schauffele is a +650 favourite off a career season in which he won two majors and would have won PGA Tour Player of the Year honours in most other seasons. Schauffele won here in 2019 by shooting 23-under 269 and then just missed repeating in 2020 as he and Patrick Reed lost in a playoff to Justin Thomas. Schauffele was 10th here last year.

Thomas is +1000 to become the sixth player to win this tournament at least three times after doing so in that 2020 playoff and in a fairly easy 2017 victory. He didn’t play last year. Collin Morikawa is +1100 with Ludvig Aberg and Patrick Cantlay both +1600.

Morikawa comes off a disappointing 2024 only that he didn’t win on Tour but has been no worse than T7 in five trips to this tournament with a runner-up to Jon Rahm in 2023. The rising star Aberg made his debut here in 2024 and was 47th. Cantlay comes off a moderately disappointing 2024 as well but usually is in contention here with a pair of T4s.

Stan Leonard is the lone Canadian to win the tournament, back in 1958 by a stroke over Billy Casper. Adam Hadwin was the top finisher last year at T14. Mackenzie Hughes was T25, with Adam Svensson and Corey Conners both T33. Conners is +2800 this week with Taylor Pendrith +4500, Hadwin +10000 and Nick Taylor +20000.

The Sentry Golf Predictions

Collin Morikawa’s grandparents were born in Hawaii, and he still has family there. Morikawa is overdue a victory both in the state and overall. Take him at +1100.