This article is part of our Weekly PGA Preview series.
The Sentry
Plantation Course at Kapalua
Kapalua, HI
The PGA Tour heads to Hawaii for the lid-lifter on the 2025 schedule.
Well, it's that time again, time to watch the pros in beautiful Hawaii and dream of ourselves getting out to play some golf, only to look outside our windows and see either white or brown everywhere, but have no fear, our time will come soon.
Back to the pros, 2025 should be an interesting season on the PGA Tour. We seem to have settled into the LIV/PGA Tour relationship as there haven't been any major defections since early in 2024 and there aren't any whispers (that I'm aware of) of more people leaving the PGA Tour. That's definitely good news as it allows us to concentrate on just the golf.
Speaking of the golf, we've got a ton of questions this year. Will Scottie Scheffler annihilate the golf world once again or will he turn to a life of crime? Can Xander Schauffele keep the major momentum going? Speaking of major momentum, will Bryson DeChambeau be a major factor again this season or will one of the other LIV players step up, I'm looking at you Jon Rahm. So many questions, but we'll have to wait a while to get many answers as Scheffler is out for a few weeks and we won't see the LIV guys until April of course. In the meantime, we get to see if players like Justin Thomas and Viktor Hovland can bounce back from subpar seasons and it all starts this week, so let's sit back and enjoy some golf in what is one of the best settings on the PGA Tour.
All odds via FanDuel Sportsbook as of 3:00 PM ET Wednesday.
LAST YEAR
Chris Kirk shot a final round 65 on his way to one-stroke victory over Sahith Theegala.
FAVORITES
Xander Schauffele (11-2)
The gambling dynamics of each season are very interesting and once they are set, they usually hold for the entire season. Two years ago, it was Rahm/Scheffler/Rory as the favorites every week. Last year it was Scheffler/Rory/Schauffele. This year I suspect it will be more of a two-person group with Scheffler and Schauffele. As for this week, Schauffele has a pretty strong track record here, with three top-5s in his past six starts, including a win in 2019. The only concern of course is the time off and the state of his game right now. With the short field however, I wouldn't be opposed to placing a win wager on him this week.
Justin Thomas (9-1)
Well this is interesting. Apparently, the odds makers and the public are ready to jump back on the JT bandwagon. Don't get me wrong, I think he'll do well this season, but I'd like to see it first. Inserting him as the second-favorite out of the gate seems a bit ahead of schedule, but we'll see how it plays out. Thomas' track record here is all over the place, but when he's been on, he's been really good. He's captured two wins and three additional top-5s in just eight starts here. Heck, maybe he should be the second-favorite.
Collin Morikawa (11-1)
Morikawa is another guy coming off a subpar season, but like JT, I'd be surprised if he didn't find his way back to his old form. Morikawa has yet to win here, but his track record is still very impressive. In five starts here, Morikawa has finished no worse than T7. His best showing came in 2023 when he finished runner-up. Like JT however, I'd like to see him play at a higher level before putting a wager on him to win.
THE NEXT TIER
Hideki Matsuyama (20-1)
Matsuyama is someone who did not struggle in 2024. In fact, he put up some of the best numbers of his career this past year and there's no reason to think he can't back that up this season. As for this week, his track record here is all over the place. He got off to a great start at this event, finishing in the top-4 in his first three starts here, but lately, he hasn't fared as well, posting just one top-20 in his past four starts. With his game in better shape now, I'm expecting a solid run this week.
Sahith Theegala (25-1)
Theegala appears ready to break into the top-tier on the PGA Tour and if that's the case, we'll likely see a good effort here this week. Though he failed to win this past year, Theegala still collected over $8 million in earnings, which goes to show how well be played throughout the season. His track record here is light as he's only played here twice, but he did finish runner-up this past year, so he obviously knows how to get around this course.
Akshay Bhatia (35-1)
Bhatia is about a year or two behind Theegala in his progression, but he appears to be on a similar track. Bhatia posted career-best numbers in almost all categories in 2024 and he should be able to build upon that this season. The issue with Bhatia, at least this past season, was that his success came in clusters, and this being the first event of the season, we don't know where his game is currently. With that said, this could be the beginning of a cluster this week.
LONG SHOTS
Wyndham Clark (35-1)
If you followed this column last year, you know that I probably gave too much rope to Clark this past season in the hope that he'd find his best game, but down the stretch that rarely happened. With that said, this guy knows how to win, and he's done of a lot of it over the past two years, so I'm not sure why he's way down here on the odds list. Clark has played this event just one time and he didn't fare that well, but again, he's got as much game as anyone in the field when he puts it together.
Nico Echavarria (120-1)
If you followed this column this past fall, you know that I was pretty high on Echavarria and for the most part, he didn't disappoint. Echavarria earned his second career PGA Tour win this past fall and he didn't stop here, posting a runner-up at the RSM Classic. It looks like he's turned a corner from the guy who won two years ago and then fell off the map. It's a huge step up in class this week, but this guy knows how to win now, so who knows?
ONE-AND-DONE LEAGUES
Highly-Chosen Pick: Justin Thomas - It's always tough to gauge ownership early in the season, especially when you've got a short field, but I think JT will be pretty popular this week. His track record speaks for itself, but beyond that, I think OAD owners aren't so worried about using him in a spot like this anymore because he's not a lock for a major at this point.
Moderately-Chosen Pick: Sahith Theegala - Most OAD players are hesitant to go big this early in the season, so they'll settle in on someone that they won't necessarily miss for the rest of the season but could definitely win and Theegala fits that bill. I do think there will be more than a few good spots to use him later in the year, but this is a short field and he did finish runner-up this past year.
Lightly-Chosen Pick: Nico Echavarria - Did I mentioned it was a short field? With that, there's no cut, which means everyone gets paid. This is a great spot to take a chance on someone as unless they WD, you're getting paid. Echavarria might have a breakout season this year, or he might fall flat against better competition, but being only a month or so removed from his best form, this might be the time to pull the trigger.
Buyer Beware: Viktor Hovland - Hovland will bounce back after a poor 2024 season, but it might take a little time to get back into the groove. Hovland is recovering from a broken toe and he's admittedly not 100% entering this week. Perhaps he has no issue with the toe this week, but if he's thinking about it at all, he's probably not going to play his best golf.
This Week: Nico Echavarria - If you know me, you know that I like to take chances at the Sentry. There's really no downside to taking a longshot and I hate to burn a quality player when I have no idea what their form is like entering the week. I'm just hoping that Echavarria can carry over some momentum from a great fall season. Oh, and he had some experience here, he finished T25 this past year at this event.
FANDUEL PICKS
Upper Range: Xander Schauffele ($12,600)
Middle Range: Wyndham Clark ($10,300)
Lower Range: Nico Echavarria ($7,600)
