![]() Bring on those good Hawaiian honeymoon vibes! Aaron Wise (+4000) Caesars Sportsbook He has the experience, the form and…wait for it…just got married in the short offseason. In his 2 previous appearances in the Sentry TOC, he has finished T8 and T5. He ended last season with three runner-up finishes in his last five tournaments, and is starting 2023 at the course he’s had some fantastic results on. Im finished 6th in strokes gained: total and 8th off-the-tee. When you look at the combined stats of last year, Sungjae rises to the top. He is a strong favorite this week, and I won’t be leaving JT off my card. Combine that with his experienced caddie (Jim “Bones” MacKay has walked these fairways many times over the years with Thomas and Phil Mickelson) and the feel-good factor of Thomas tying the knot over the Christmas break. He has the experience, the power off the tee and knowledge of the greens. JT loves Kapalua he has won here twice before, in 20. Knox’s Knockout Sentry Tournament of Champions picks Justin Thomas (+1100) BetMGM As I said, the longer hitters are at an advantage here, as well as guys in great putting form who can go super low. However, the course will lend itself to strong iron play to set up multiple birdie opportunities, and overall strokes gained will be a good indicator. There are 3 past champions playing this week - Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth and Xander Schauffele - and JT and Xander, along with Rahm, have played in every Sentry TOC over the last 5 years. Stats are a bit of mystery this week as the guys are coming off their festive breaks, but experience around the course seems to count for a lot. Take the 18th hole, for example it’s a 677 yard par-5 but majority of the field will get on the green in two due to the downward sloping fairway. ![]() The fairways are really wide and undulated, with a lot of downhill shots. Yes, the course favors the long hitters but there’s a few things to take into consideration. Last year Cam Smith romped to victory at -34, with Jon Rahm right on his heels at -33. Standing at 7,596 yards, this is a rare par-73 that plays as one of the easiest courses on the schedule. This is one of the longest courses on the PGA Tour, but don’t let that fool you. The Plantation Course at Kapalua: What you need to know Safe to say it’s a lucrative week for the 39 players who made it to this no-cut tournament. The Sentry TOC is now one of the “elevated” events, which means the purse jumps from $8.2M to $15M. The only champion from 2022 who won’t be making the flight to Kapalua is Rory McIlroy. That means Cam Young, Collin Morikawa, Sahith Theegala, Adam Scott, Scott Stallings, Corey Conners, Brian Harman, Aaron Wise, Viktor Hovland and Sungjae Im are in. For the first time, those who didn’t win but finished within the top-30 of the FedExCup standings have earned a spot. This tournament is for all the winners from the previous year, but there’s some new additions to this field of 39. It’s off to Hawaii for the first 2 events, and this week’s Sentry Tournament of Champions means we get to see the biggest names right out of the gate. I’m so excited for the return of golf, and the new golf year always kicks off in such a great way. After giving birth to my son, Greyson, at the start of November, the last 2 months have solely consisted of feeding schedules, diaper changes, minimal sleep and lots of cuddles (but they have been the best 2 months ever!). Happy New Year! I’m back with PGA Tour picks for a brand new year, and I’m hoping to get into the swing of things pretty quickly.
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