A new year of golf begins in Kapalua, Maui this week with the Sentry Tournament of Champions teeing off on Thursday. Last year’s Player of the Year award winner Justin Thomas will be back to defend his title as one of the sports betting favorites to repeat here again. While the PGA Tour season is already underway, there is something special about the Hawaii swing with the Plantation Course at Kapalua offering a spectacular atmosphere. With some of the world’s best players on hand, the 2017 edition of this tournament should feature plenty of intrigue.
Event Details
Event: Sentry Tournament of Champions
Category: PGA
Date: January 4-7, 2018
Location: Kapalua Resort, Kapalua, Maui
This tournament is restricted to those who won the PGA Tour in the previous calendar year. With some excellent weather forecasted for this week, it will be interesting to see who capitalizes on the opportunity to secure the just over $1 million in prize money that is awarded to the winner.
Past Five Winners
2017: Justin Thomas -22
2016: Jordan Spieth -30
2015: Patrick Reed -19
2014: Dustin Johnson -16
2013: Steve Stricker -23
What To Know About The Course
In addition to the amazing views, the Plantation Course at Kapalua features some challenging approach shots. However, players will often produce strong numbers thanks in large part to the mostly flat greens and the wide fairways that line the long course. Driving Distance is often considered an irrelevant statistic at this course. The same could be said for Driving Accuracy over the last few tournaments. The most important numbers to look out for are Greens In Regulation statistics. Those that performed well in the GIR categories as well as in terms of Scrambling have finished among the top players in their respective fields over the past couple of years. Thomas ranked 12th in Scrambling last year but the first two home finished third and first in that department. The last 13 winners have all ranked inside the top-four in Putts Per Green In Regulation, so keep that in mind when making your selections for this week’s tournament.
The Field
Thomas will be second in line to only Jordan Spieth in terms of the sports betting favorites to win this tournament. Spieth is listed at +600 odds to win the Sentry Tournament of Champions outright, followed by Thomas at +700 odds. Meanwhile, Rickie Fowler and Dustin Johnson are both listed at +750 odds. Hideki Matsuyama rounds out the top-five sports betting favorites at +1200 odds to win outright at Kapalua.
A Good Matchup To Bet: Hideki Matsuyama over Rickie Fowler
Fowler has performed well in each of his last two appearances here but there is good value betting on Matsuyama to deliver a better performance in the head-to-head matchup. Matsuyama finished second here a year ago when he fired a 66 in the third round en route to finishing at 19-under. Matsuyama has the potential to build on that runner-up finish with another strong performance at this year’s Sentry Tournament of Champions. While Fowler could still finish in the top-10, there is decent value betting on Matsuyama to place ahead of Fowler in Kapalua this weekend.
Top-Five Pick: Jordan Spieth
Spieth is the sports betting favorite to win this week for a reason. At the very least, he should be a lock to place in the top-five. Spieth won this tournament in 2016. After a slow start left him tied for 22nd after the opening round last year, he rallied to place third. Spieth has all of the tools to absolutely dominate from start to finish this week and his experience should work to his benefit. Spieth is an excellent pick to win this tournament outright. At the very least, he should be able to place in the top-five at the Sentry Tournament of Champions.
Odds To Win 2018 Sentry Tournament Of Champions
Jordan Spieth +605
Justin Thomas +605
Rickie Fowler +705
Dustin Johnson +705
Hideki Matsuyama +1015
Brooks Koepka +1050
Jon Rahm +1150
Marc Leishman +2050
Xander Schauffele +2250
Patrick Cantlay +2250
Kevin Kisner +2250
Brian Harman +2850
Pat Perez +2850
Daniel Berger +3050
Kevin Chappell +3550
Russell Henley +3550
Cameron Smith +4050
Brendan Steele +4550
Kyle Stanley +5500
Austin Cook +6550
Bryson DeChambeau +6550
Patton Kizzire +6550
Si Woo Kim +6550
Jason Dufner +6550
Hudson Swafford +7550
Adam Hadwin +7550
Billy Horschel +8550
Jhonatton Vegas +9050
Grayson Murray +10000
Jonas Blixt +14550
Wesley Bryan +14550
Ryan Armour +14550
Chris Stroud +18000
DA Points +28000
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