Sentry Tournament of Champions – Event Preview

Learn about the course for the Sentry Tournament of Champions and what types of golfers are likely to succeed on it for PGA DFS.

Before jumping into the details of this week’s PGA Tour Event, I wanted to mention a timeline for all PGA DFS items that you can expect each and every week from Frank and myself:

• Monday: Course/Event Preview
• Tuesday: Cash article, GPP article, Cheat Sheet, PGA DFS pre-recorded video
• Wednesday: Chat room (8pm EST) to answer lineup questions

Without further ado, let’s jump into this week’s event:

Event Details

Event: Sentry Tournament of Champions

Dates: Thursday January 7th through Sunday January 10th

Course:  Kapalua (Plantation course)

Field:   42 players

Cut: None

Past Winners: Thomas (2020), Schauffele (2019), D Johnson (2018), Thomas (2017), Spieth (2016), Reed (2015)

TV Coverage:

• Thursday-Saturday: 6pm-10pm EST (Golf Channel)
• Sunday: 4pm-6pm EST (NBC), 6pm-8pm EST (Golf Channel)

Course Details:

Course Description:

• The Plantation Course at Kapalua underwent extensive renovations in 2019 so this will be the second edition of the event post renovations. The course will still play similar to how it has in past years.
• Kapalua is a resort style course with massively wide fairways and large elevation changes. The largest protection for this course is the winds that Mother Nature produces.
• The course is a par 73 at almost 7,600 yards:
  • Par 5s: 4 (505, 509, 532, 675) all of which have a birdie or better rate of 44% or higher. The 1^st 3 par 5s will all be easily reachable for all players in the field. The par 5 18^th is massively downhill and is still reachable for most players if conditions aren’t soft and the wind isn’t into the player.
  • Par 3s: (200, 203, 153)
  • Par 4s:  Only 3 of the 11 par 4s are beyond 423 yards which means there will be a lot of wedges and birdie opportunities. The 3 par 4s over 423 are super long on the scorecard (522, 528 and 552) but they all play significantly downhill which means we will see mid irons into the greens for approach shots.
• Off the Tee:
  • There is less emphasis off the tee this week. The fairways are some of the widest on Tour. Distance isn’t that big of a factor either since most of the par 4s aren’t overly long and the par 5s are reachable for most of the field.

• Approach Shots:
  • There will be a higher than normal amount of approach shots with short irons and wedges this week. 8 of the 11 par 4s are 423 yards are shorter which will yield shots from these distances. Add that to the par 3 11^th being 153 yards and that means we will have 9 of the 18 approach shots be short irons or wedges. On the other nine holes we can expect 6 long irons/fairway woods (the 4 par 5s and 2 long par 3s) and 3 mid irons (the 3 long par 4s)
• Greens:
  • The greens this week are extremely undulating and much slower than normal speed on Tour. This is due to the extreme slopes and the propensity for high winds.
• Around the Green:
  • We typically see a larger number of greens hit in regulation here compared to a normal Tour event. As such, there is a decreased importance on around the green game.

What type of player typically succeeds here?

• There are many ways to succeed at this course so there is no massive area that needs to be focused.

What areas of a player’s game will be tested the most this week?

• Largest emphasis:
  • Strokes Gained Approach (specifically inside 150 yards)
• Smaller emphasis:
  • Strokes Gained Putting
  • Accuracy off the Tee
  • Driving Distance
  • Around the Green

Check back in on Tuesday for the Cash article, GPP article, Cheat Sheet and PGA DFS Video