Some of the best in the world will make the trip to Hawaii and the Plantation Course at Kapalua for the SBS Tournament of Champions this week. We will get our first look at Dustin Johnson, Jason Day, Hideki Matsuyama and others as the PGA Tour champions from 2016 take part in the first event of the 2017 calendar season.
Event
Event Details: SBS Tournament of Champions
Category: PGA
Date: January 5-8
Location: Kapalua Resort, Kapalua, Maui, Hawaii
There will be 32 golfers competing in this event including four of the top six from the FedEx Cup rankings. The field will also include three of the past four winners here including the reigning champion Jordan Spieth, who dominated here a year ago and will look to begin 2017 on the right note after struggling with consistency throughout last season.
Past Five Winners
2015: Jordan Spieth -30
2014: Patrick Reed -21 (Playoff)
2013: Zach Johnson -19
2012: Dustin Johnson -16 (54 holes)
2011: Steve Stricker -23
What To Know About The Course
Only two of the top-10 players on last year’s final leaderboard ranked inside the top-10 in Driving Distance, so there won’t be as much of an emphasis on that stat as there has been in past tournaments. Spieth ranked 17th in that category a year ago but he consistently found the greens and his putter was red-hot in last year’s tournament. The last 12 winners have all ranked inside the top-four for Putts Per Green in Regulation and nine of the last 11 winners have had a Putting Average ranking of fourth or better so keep those stats in mind for this week’s SBS Tournament of Champions.
The Field
The fact that a handful of champions from a year ago had to decline the opportunity to compete left this year’s field fairly uneven with Spieth and Day set to compete with players like Vaughn Taylor and Greg Chalmers. Matsuyama is the betting favorite at +500 odds with Spieth, Johnson and Day among the favorites as well. Chalmers can be found at the opposite end of the spectrum as he is listed as a +25000 longshot to win this week’s event.
A Good Matchup To Bet: Dustin Johnson over Jason Day
While Day is undoubtedly one of the most dominant golfers in the world when healthy we simply haven’t seen a lot of him over the past few months as injuries have taken their toll. Day should be in decent form at this tournament but it’s hard to trust where he is at especially in a head-to-head betting matchup with Johnson. D.J. placed third at the Hero World Challenge and he has placed in the top-10 in each of his last four appearances at this tournament including a win here back in 2012. Johnson should contend for the outright victory again this weekend and we like him to edge out Day in the head-to-head betting matchup.
Top-Five Pick: Hideki Matsuyama
Matsuyama is coming off a win at the Hero World Challenge and all signs point towards a monster 2017 for the streaking 24-year-old. Matsuyama will look to pick up from where he left off at Albany and both his recent form and his course history suggest another strong outing. Matsuyama placed third here two years ago in his debut and he enters this week having won four of his last five starts. Matsuyama is primed for another strong outing this week and he could be the best bet on the board to win the SBS Tournament of Champions as well as a lock to finish in the top-five.
Top 10 Odds To Win The SBS Tournament of Champions
Hideki Matsuyama +505
Jordan Spieth +550
Dustin Johnson +550
Jason Day +650
Patrick Reed +1050
Justin Thomas +1550
Bubba Watson +1550
Brandt Snedeker +1850
Daniel Berger +2050
Ryan Moore +2250
Jimmy Walker +2250
Thursday Tee Times (EST)
3:20 p.m. – Cody Gribble, Mackenzie Hughes
3:30 p.m. – Rod Pampling, Pat Perez
3:40 p.m. – Aaron Baddeley, Greg Chalmers
3:50 p.m. – Vaughn Taylor, Brendan Steele
4 p.m. – Billy Hurley III, Brian Stuard
4:10 p.m. – Charley Hoffman, Tony Finau
4:20 p.m. – Branden Grace, Jim Herman
4:30 p.m. – James Hahn, Fabian Gomez
4:40 p.m. – Daniel Berger, Jhonattan Vegas
4:50 p.m. – Bubba Watson, Will McGirt
5 p.m. – Si Woo Kim, Jason Dufner
5:10 p.m. – Jimmy Walker, Brandt Snedeker
5:20 p.m. – Justin Thomas, Hideki Matsuyama
5:30 p.m. – Ryan Moore, Russell Knox
5:40 p.m. – Patrick Reed, Jason Day
5:50 p.m. – Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson
Click here to get all of the latest golf betting lines at BetDSI including head-to-head matchups, props and odds to win each tournament!
