The 2019 golfing year begins on Thursday when 34 winners from last year on the PGA Tour head to Hawaii for the Sentry Tournament of Champions, as the circuit gets up and running after a month off for Christmas.
This is usually a good tournament with many star players on show and one of them will be the defending champion Dustin Johnson, who powered his way to victory here 12 months ago and who will bid to defend the title successfully.
Recent Winners
2018 – Dustin Johnson
2017 – Justin Thomas
2016 – Jordan Spieth
2015 – Patrick Reed
2014 – Zach Johnson
2013 – Dustin Johnson
2012 – Steve Stricker
2011 – Jonathan Byrd
2010 – Geoff Ogilvy
2009 – Geoff Ogilvy
The Course
It is the Plantation Course at the Kapalua Resort which once again hosts this tournament. It is a bit of a rarity in that it is a par 73 and given that it only measures 7,518 yards it is not the longest course known to man but it is one which the bombers can thrive on as we saw last year when Dustin Johnson nearly aced the par four.
The fairways are wide here and the greens are large so there is an element of Augusta about this place although the wind is much more of a factor here. Generally this turns into a short game and putting contest between those who get it out there the furthest. I’m not convinced we are going to see any different this week.
The Field
There are some very good players beginning their 2019 campaigns in this tournament including the defending champion Dustin Johnson. The three major champions of 2018 are teeing it up here too with Patrick Reed, Brooks Koepka and Francesco Molinari all in the field while former winner Justin Thomas is also here for the four days.
European pair Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy are also in the field this week as is the Players Championship winner Webb Simpson. Bryson DeChambeau will be looking for a first victory in 2019 this week. Australian pair Jason Day and Marc Leishman are also teeing it up in this tournament.
Market Leaders
Dustin Johnson is the 5/1 favourite to win the title for a third time. Last year he arrived here with his game firing fully but I’m not convinced that is the case this time around. He wouldn’t be for me at the price anyway but given that we’re not going to make much if he doesn’t win, even on a solid each way punt, I’m happy to leave him alone. Even if he does win, which I don’t think is anything like a certainty, the chances are we can make more money betting the value elsewhere.
Jon Rahm looks to have all the credentials required for a serious tilt at this title and as such he is only 15/2 to win the tournament. He will get it out there off the tee and he’ll probably be as good as anyone on the greens and around it so it is hard to make a case against him other than the price once again is not a huge amount to write home about and better value could be had in other players.
Justin Thomas is 9/1 to regain the title he won here in 2017 but that feels a little short on his form towards the end of the year, although admitted he needed a break for much of that and he has had that now. There is a lot of quality in this field this year and as such I’m not sure I want to be on anyone at a single figure price even allowing for the quality of Thomas.
US Open and USPGA champion Brooks Koepka is another one who has all the tools required to success around here but he often fails to bring his best game to these regular season PGA Tour events which is a concern. I have to admit I’m tempted at 11/1 but ultimately I can’t get his relatively poor conversion rate on normal events out of my head so I’ll leave him alone. It is 12/1 bar the quartet named.
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Main Bet
Usually I look at the bombers around this place but with 30-35mph winds forecast for the first three days I’ll sacrifice the length for players who are comfortable in the wind and the field soon gets whittled down to the three men that I’m taking.
Marc Leishman stands out as a pretty obvious pick for me. He has a wonderful all-round game which flourishes in the wind as he showed down under late on in 2018. We’ve seen him play well in the winds at The Open and with Augusta being a pretty good comparison to the profile of this course, Leishman goes well there too. He won the CIMB Classic in October so he finished the year well and at 25/1 he looks a perfectly acceptable bet to begin this one strongly too.
Outsiders
I’ll take a couple of outsiders who have good records here in more benign conditions in the hope the wind moves them up the leaderboard a little. Brandt Snedeker is the first of those. We’ve seen him play well in the wind quite regularly, not least when he won at Torrey Pines a couple of campaigns ago. He has finished third around here twice and his proficiency in the wind and his short game and putting can see him go well again this week too.
2018 was looking like a year to forget for Matt Kuchar but he saved it with a win in the Mayakoba Classic when the wind was up to further confirm what we already knew about how good he is in windy conditions. He has a wonderful touch on and around the greens and a solid record at Augusta further highlights his credentials here. This might be a course for bombers but that is becoming the case at Augusta too and his lack of length doesn’t hamper him there. With the wind around this week I don’t think it will hurt him here either and he’s another fairly obvious bet.
Tips
PLACED – Back M.Leishman to win Sentry Tournament of Champions (e/w) for a 1/10 stake at 26.00 with Coral (1/4 1-4)
Back him here:
Back B.Snedeker to win Sentry Tournament of Champions (e/w) for a 0.5/10 stake at 51.00 with Boylesports (1/5 1-5)
Back him here:
Back M.Kuchar to win Sentry Tournament of Champions for a 0.5/10 stake at 61.00 with Betfair (1/5 1-4)
Back him here:
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