PGA First Look: Sentry Tournament of Champions
The PGA First Look is complete with a course preview, odds, salaries, Official World Golf Rankings, and course history.
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Event Preview
Ladies and gentlemen, fantasy golf is back in our lives and it’s not going anywhere anytime soon. We will basically have fantasy golf every week from here on out until after the Tour Championship. I’m incredibly excited for the new season. We have some obvious rule changes that should help avoid some of those silly penalties that we’ve seen at big events over the last few years, we have a new schedule with the Players Championship taking place in March and the FedExCup concluding in August, and we have a lot to look forward to with the players. Tiger Woods will look to build on his momentum, Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth will look to bounce back, and many young players will look to take that next step in their careers.
We kick off the 2019 season with the Sentry Tournament of Champions. As implied by the name, the field for this tournament consists of only golfers that won on the PGA Tour last year. Justin Rose, Phil Mickelson, and Tiger have all withdrawn, which leaves us with 34 golfers in the field. It’s a fairly stacked field, but more importantly, we have Shot Tracker for the event. I’ll never forget watching Shot Tracker at this event last year and reading that Dustin Johnson put his drive (on a par four) to within a foot of the hole. He went on to win the tournament by eight strokes. Given the limited field and the ease of scoring, we’ve seen a number of golfers run away with this tournament over the years — Jordan Spieth shot 30-under par here in 2016.
The Plantation Course at Kapalua in Maui, Hawaii is a rare Par 73 that features four par fives and three par threes. It measures 7,452 yards on the scorecard, but it doesn’t nearly play that long. The course is anything from flat and the many hills turn 300 yard drives into 400+ yard drives. With wide fairways, most golfers will be hitting driver on most of the non-par threes. Unless the wind really picks up, the more aggressive the golfer, the more birdie opportunities. These bermuda greens are large in size, which is why the greens in regulation number is so high here every season (as is the driving accuracy). It’s hard to rely on recent form at this event (since most golfers in the field haven’t played competitively in a couple of months), so I am trying to simplify my process this week. I’m looking for strong ball strikers that can score on the par fives and can putt on bermuda greens.
Cut Rule: There is no cut this week.
Recent Winners of this Event:Dustin Johnson (2018), Justin Thomas (2017), Jordan Spieth (2016), Patrick Reed (2015), Zach Johnson (2014)
Key Statistics (In Order of Importance)
1) Strokes Gained Approach
2) Strokes Gained Off the Tee
3) Par 5 Scoring
4) Birdie or Better %
5) Strokes Gained Putting (Emphasis on Bermuda)
Salaries, Odds, and Course History (2013-2017)
| Golfer | DK Salary | FD Salary | OWGR | Odds | DK Odds | FD Odds | Cuts | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dustin Johnson | $11,000 | $12,000 | 3 | 5 | 0% | 0% | 4/4 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 500 | 6 |
| Justin Thomas | $10,500 | $11,200 | 4 | 7 | 0% | 33% | 3/3 | 22 | 1 | 21 | 500 | 500 |
| Brooks Koepka | $10,200 | $11,600 | 1 | 7 | 33% | 0% | 2/2 | 34 | 500 | 3 | 500 | 500 |
| Jon Rahm | $9,800 | $10,500 | 6 | 7 | 50% | 71% | 1/1 | 2 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Rory McIlroy | $9,600 | $10,700 | 8 | 8 | 0% | 17% | 0/0 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Jason Day | $9,000 | $10,800 | 14 | 11 | 0% | -20% | 3/3 | 500 | 12 | 10 | 3 | 500 |
| Bryson DeChambeau | $8,700 | $10,900 | 5 | 12 | 0% | -75% | 1/1 | 26 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Webb Simpson | $8,500 | $10,000 | 21 | 20 | -25% | 0% | 1/1 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 3 |
| Francesco Molinari | $8,400 | $10,200 | 7 | 20 | 0% | 0% | 0/0 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Xander Schauffele | $8,300 | $9,500 | 10 | 20 | -10% | 15% | 1/1 | 22 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Patrick Reed | $8,200 | $10,300 | 15 | 16 | 27% | 0% | 4/4 | 500 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 16 |
| Cameron Champ | $8,100 | $9,100 | 92 | 21 | 0% | 25% | 0/0 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Gary Woodland | $8,000 | $9,400 | 31 | 24 | 0% | 7% | 1/1 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 13 |
| Paul Casey | $7,900 | $9,700 | 22 | 28 | 0% | -17% | 0/0 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Bubba Watson | $7,800 | $9,800 | 16 | 34 | -7% | -45% | 3/3 | 500 | 25 | 10 | 10 | 500 |
| Marc Leishman | $7,700 | $9,300 | 20 | 28 | 6% | 0% | 1/1 | 7 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Matt Kuchar | $7,600 | $9,000 | 34 | 46 | -12% | -12% | 2/2 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 17 | 6 |
| Aaron Wise | $7,500 | $8,200 | 51 | 38 | 6% | 26% | 0/0 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Brandt Snedeker | $7,400 | $8,900 | 50 | 49 | -11% | -17% | 3/3 | 500 | 14 | 3 | 500 | 11 |
| Keegan Bradley | $7,300 | $8,300 | 30 | 47 | 0% | 9% | 0/0 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Charles Howell | $7,100 | $8,500 | 58 | 66 | -5% | -10% | 0/0 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Billy Horschel | $7,000 | $8,100 | 36 | 42 | 18% | 25% | 3/3 | 11 | 500 | 500 | 22 | 6 |
| Kevin Na | $6,900 | $8,500 | 48 | 86 | -9% | -25% | 0/0 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Ian Poulter | $6,800 | $8,600 | 40 | 73 | 4% | -21% | 0/0 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Scott Piercy | $6,700 | $7,700 | 152 | 85 | 4% | 11% | 1/1 | 500 | 500 | 24 | 500 | 500 |
| Andrew Putnam | $6,600 | $7,900 | 70 | 123 | -4% | -8% | 0/0 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Kevin Tway | $6,500 | $7,800 | 89 | 114 | 4% | 0% | 0/0 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Brice Garnett | $6,400 | $7,300 | 127 | 190 | -4% | 6% | 0/0 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Troy Merritt | $6,300 | $7,200 | 186 | 240 | -7% | 3% | 1/1 | 500 | 500 | 18 | 500 | 500 |
| Patton Kizzire | $6,200 | $7,600 | 101 | 142 | 7% | 0% | 1/1 | 15 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Andrew Landry | $6,100 | $7,500 | 107 | 220 | 3% | 0% | 0/0 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Michael Kim | $6,100 | $7,000 | 283 | 265 | -6% | 3% | 0/0 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Ted Potter | $6,000 | $7,600 | 122 | 250 | 3% | -14% | 0/0 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
| Satoshi Kodaira | $6,000 | $7,200 | 46 | 275 | -3% | -6% | 0/0 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 |
Color Coding
Course history in BLUE indicates a top ten finish.
Course history in GREEN indicates a top 25 finish.
Course history in YELLOW indicates a made cut with a finish outside of the top 25.
Course history in RED indicates a missed cut.
Legend
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| Site Odds | The percentage differential between a golfer’s salary rank and odds rank. The higher the %, the better. |
| OWGR | Official World Golf Ranking |
| Cuts | Cut record of each golfer at this course in the last five seasons. |
| 2013 – 2017 Columns | Course history at this event in the last five seasons. |