2025 Sentry Betting Preview: Picks, Predictions and Odds for Kapalua

Breaking down the odds, notable golfers, and best bets to place for the first PGA Tour event of 2025.

Xander Schauffele is favored to win this week's Sentry, the 2025 PGA Tour season opener at picturesque Kapalua. / Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

The first tournament of the 2025 PGA Tour season is here.

Some of the Tour's best will tee it up at Kapalua Resort for the Sentry this week, formerly known as the Tournament of Champions. The field used to be restricted to tournament winners from the previous calendar year but now features last year's winners as well as any golfer who finished inside the top 50 of last season’s FedEx Cup standings.

One notable name is missing from this year's field: Scottie Scheffler. The No. 1 golfer suffered a bizarre injury during Christmas dinner that led him to need surgery on his hand. He is expected to miss the next three to four weeks, including withdrawing from The Sentry.

Rory McIlroy will also miss the event. The world No. 3 typically skips the Hawaii swing, instead opting to prepare for the Dubai swing on the DP World Tour later this month.

Let’s take a look at the latest list of odds to win.

The Sentry odds

The top 15 odds to win listed below are via DraftKings Sportsbook

• Xander Schauffele +500
• Justin Thomas +1000
• Collin Morikawa +1000
• Sungjae Im +1800
• Patrick Cantlay +1800
• Ludvig Aberg +1800
• Hideki Matsuayama +1800
• Viktor Hovland +2000
• Sam Burns +2800
• Corey Conners +2800
• Tony Finau +2800
• Sahith Theegala +3000
• Adam Scott +3000
• Russell Henley +3500
• Robert MacIntyre +3500

The Sentry how to watch

• Thursday: 12:30–6 p.m. ET (ESPN+), 6–10 p.m. (Golf Channel)
• Friday: 12:45–6 p.m. ET (ESPN+), 6–10 p.m. (Golf Channel)
• Saturday: 4–6 p.m. (NBC/Peacock), 6–8 p.m. (Golf Channel)
• Sunday: 4–6 p.m. (NBC/Peacock), 6–8 p.m. (Golf Channel)

The Sentry purse

• Date: Thursday, Jan. 2–Sunday, Jan. 5
• Purse: $20 million ($3.6 million to winner)
• Defending champion: Chris Kirk

The Sentry notable golfers

Xander Schauffele: With both Scheffler and McIlroy missing the event, Xander Schauffele becomes the obvious favorite. He's the No. 2-ranked golfer in the world and won not only his first major in 2024, but his second as well. With that monkey off his back, Schauffele could be in for an even bigger year in 2025. Schauffele won this event in 2019 and has posted four top-10 finishes.

Collin Morikawa: Collin Morikawa has always posted strong results at this event, finishing T7 or better in all five appearances. He was the runaway live favorite halfway through the final round in 2023 but stumbled down the stretch, allowing Jon Rahm to storm back to win. Can he finally get over the hump at Kapalua?

The Sentry best bets

Justin Thomas to Win +1000 via DraftKings

2025 could be a resurgence year for Justin Thomas and I'm going to hop on that train before it's too late. His two starts in the fall season were extremely promising, finishing T2 and the ZOZO Championship and solo third at the Hero World Challenge. What sticks out the most to me is the fact he finished first in strokes gained: tee-to-green at the ZOZO Championship and second in that stat the Hero World Challenge. Only Scheffler had a better ball-striking performance than him.

Now, he gets to return to a course he's had a ton of success at. He won this event in both 2017 and 2020 while posting three other top five finishes.

It could be the year of JT, starting with a third win at Kapalua.

Akshay Bhatia Top 10 (incl. ties) +250 via DraftKings

Akshay Bhatia is another golfer who had an intriguing swing season. He finished T2 at a Japan Golf Tour event in December and followed it up with a solo fourth at the 20-man Hero World Challenge. He and Jennifer Kupcho from the LPGA also finished third at the Grant Thornton Invitational.

His approach numbers at the Hero World Challenge of +1.69 true strokes per round was his best iron performance since his T18 finish at the RBC Heritage in April, which is a great sign for the direction his game is headed in.

It’s also worth noting he has had some level of success putting on Bermuda greens, gaining +0.37 strokes putting on Bermuda grass over the past year compared to -0.47 on bent. That's backed up by his T14 finish at this event last year. I’m willing to bet he takes a step forward at Kapalua this time around. Taking him at +250 to finish T10 or better is more than a fair wager.

Taylor Pendrith Top Canadian +225 via DraftKings

If you're looking for a prop bet, consider Taylor Pendrith to finish as the top Canadian at +225. Corey Conners is the obvious choice in this pool of golfers but has never had success at Kapalua, not finishing better than 18th in any of his three appearances. A big reason for that his been has horrific putting on Bermuda, losing an average of -0.41 strokes per round.

Meanwhile, Bermuda has been the grass Pendrith has had the most success putting on, averaging +0.71 strokes per round. He’s also coming off a solid few months of golf. He finished T14 at the Tour Championship, then tied as the highest point scorer for Team International at the Presidents Cup, and then finished solo eighth at the Shriners Children’s Open in October. The Canadian hasn't finished worse than T22 at an event since the Rocket Mortgage Classic in June.

We can effectively disregard the other two Canadians competing, Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor. Hadwin hasn’t finished in the top 25 in an event since the Memorial in June and Taylor had just two top 25 finishes in solo events since winning the WM Phoenix Open in February.

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Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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