The flip of the calendar brings a new PGA Tour season as the top 60 players from the 2024 campaign make their way to the Plantation Course at Kapalua for the 2025 Sentry. No longer exclusive to tournament winners from the previous season, the Sentry will host those winners as well as those players who finished inside the top 50 of the FedEx Cup standings.
While a number of stars are set to make their way to Hawaii for the season-opening event, there are some notables who are not. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler had to withdraw from the tournament last week when news was shared that he injured his hand while preparing Christmas Day dinner. Undergoing surgery to remove small broken glass fragments from his right palm, Scheffler will not be present at the Sentry and hopes to return in a few weeks' time for The American Express.
Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood and Shane Lowry are also not in the field; they typically begin their years on the DP World Tour. In their place is the man who could do no wrong in 2024: Xander Schauffele. The two-time major champion headlines the action and aims to keep the momentum rolling following a career-changing season.
Schauffele returns to Kapalua as a former tournament winner, as does Justin Thomas and reigning champion Chris Kirk. Thomas is among the many big names to have gone winless in 2024 and spearheads a crop of talent that includes Collin Morikawa, Ludvig Åberg, Patrick Cantlay, Sungjae Im, Same Burns, Viktor Hovland, Corey Conners and Sahith Theegala.
Two-time winners from 2024 such as Robert MacIntyre and Hideki Matsuyama will attempt to keep a good thing going in the new year, while Cameron Young, Max Homa, Matt Fitzpatrick and Jason Day look to regain some form in the Aloha State.
2025 Sentry schedule
Dates: Jan. 2-5
Location: Plantation Course at Kapalua — Kapalua, Maui, Hawaii
Par: 73 | Yardage: 7,596
Purse: $20,000,000
2025 Sentry field, odds
Golf betting odds below provided via DraftKings Sportsbook. Check out the latest DraftKings promo to get in the game.
- Xander Schauffele (5-1): Six years removed from his Sentry title, Schauffele returns to Kapalua as a completely different man. Twice a major champion in 2024, the 31-year-old matched his extremely high floor and consistency with winning upside on the biggest stages in golf. Schauffele's success in the opener has waned in recent years relative to expectations given some struggles on the greens, but he arrives as the rightful favorite and the man to beat, especially if the putter cooperates this time around.
- Justin Thomas (10-1): Thomas has feasted at Kapalua throughout his career racking up a pair of victories and three other top-five finishes in eight appearances. An omission in 2024, he returns following a resurgent year from tee to green that concluded with close calls at the Zozo Championship and the Hero World Challenge. While his iron play and driving looks improved, Thomas' putting has never looked so poor. What he does with that club will dictate not only his week but also his year.
- Collin Morikawa (10-1): He should have won this tournament in 2023, but a late final-round collapse combined with a charge from Jon Rahm saw Morikawa finish runner-up instead. The two-time major champion has connected on top-10 finishes in all five appearances, including his last three which have doubled as top-five results. He comes into 2025 as complete a golfer as ever despite failing to raise a trophy last year.
- Sungjae Im (18-1)
- Patrick Cantlay (18-1)
- Ludvig Åberg (18-1)
- Hideki Matsuyama (18-1): After going winless in 2023, Matsuyama made the most of his 2024 collecting not only a pair of big trophies at the Genesis Invitational and the St. Jude Championship but also a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics. He should find success throughout the year, but this may be a difficult spot for the man from Japan. With the winning score hovering around 30 under in recent years, Matsuyama's streaky putter could hold him back.
- Viktor Hovland (20-1): Who knows what is going on with the 2023 FedEx Cup champion. He recently shared on social media that he broke his pinky toe against his bed frame and will be leaning on medications and grit to play through the pain in Kapalua. This came just before it was revealed that he and coach Joe Mayo broke up once again. What is known is Hovland will need to be better around the green in 2025; he was the worst in that category among the top 150 in Data Golf's rankings in 2024.
- Sam Burns (28-1)
- Corey Conners (28-1)
2025 Sentry expert picks
| Winner (18-1): The case could be made he is the third-best player in this field, but he is not being priced as such. Åberg will be making his second trip to Kapalua, and while the first go around did not result in anything memorable, a closing 63 showed he has what it takes to navigate this property effectively. The walk will test his knee, but he has the firepower and the poise to take down the opening tournament of the year. | |
| Contender (25-1): I am a buyer of Burns heading into 2025 after his iron play made serious strides towards the end of 2024. Always a little haywire off the tee, Burns should thrive in the wide-open layout, which will allow his improved iron play and red-hot putting to shine through. He has yet to cash a top-10 finish in three appearances, but he also has never showed up with this type of quality in his scoring clubs. | |
| Sleeper (50-1): Despite the yardage on the scorecard, Harman has found success at Kapalua. Notching two top-five finishes in the last three years, the left hander has the same mold of defending champion Kirk. Accurate off the tee, lethal with his wedges and reliable on the greens, Harman has a chance to surprise some this week. Oddly enough, it was his short game which let him down last year as his ball striking was some of the best of his career. | |
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