Golf Glance: The Sentry's $20M purse draws elite field to Hawaii

The PGA Tour begins the 2024 season while other major North American golf tours are off this week.

PGA TOUR

LAST TOURNAMENT: Hero World Challenge (Scottie Scheffler)

THIS WEEK: The Sentry, Kapalua, Maui, Hawaii, Jan. 4-7

Course: Plantation Course at Kapalua (Par 73, 7,596 yards)

Purse: $20M (Winner: $3.6M)

Defending Champion: Jon Rahm

FedEx Cup Champion: Viktor Hovland

HOW TO FOLLOW

TV: Thursday-Friday, 4-10 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 4-6 p.m. (NBC), 6-8 p.m. (GC)

Streaming: Thursday-Friday, 12:45-10 p.m. ET; Saturday-Sunday, 1-8 p.m. (ESPN+)

X: @TheSentry

NOTES: The PGA Tour returns to a calendar-based schedule for 2024 with The Sentry, the first of eight signature events with limited fields on the schedule. Previously limited to winners from the previous season, The Sentry is now also open to all players who finished in the Top 50 in the FedEx Cup standings and the eligibility points list. ... The eight signature events feature $20 million purses and 700 FedEx Cup points to the winner. ... Rahm will not defend his title after signing with LIV Golf last month. The only other event winner from last year not in the field is Rory McIlroy. The other 35 winners will be joined by 24 players who did not win an event but finished inside the top 50. Eighteen players will be making their tournament debuts. ... The Plantation Course was the easiest course on tour relative to par last season for the third consecutive time with an average of 4.078 strokes under par. Five of the six scores of 30-under or better on tour since 1950 have come at The Sentry, highlighted by Cam Smith's 34 under in 2022. ... Tommy Fleetwood is ranked No. 14 in the world, the highest in the field without a win on the PGA Tour. He has 29 top-10s since joining the tour for the 2017-18 season.

BEST BETS: Scheffler (+550) is coming off a win Dec. 3 at the Hero World Challenge exhibition tournament as he makes his first official tour start since a T6 at the Tour Championship on Aug. 27. ... Hovland (+800) won the final two playoff events and is seeking to become the first player to win three consecutive official events since Dustin Johnson in the 2016-17 season. Hovland does not have a top-10 finish in three previous appearances. ... Collin Morikawa (+1200) held a six-shot lead entering the final round last year before finishing solo second. He won his most recent official start at the Zozo Championship. ... Xander Schauffele (+1400) won the event in 2019 and owns the longest current active streak as he makes his seventh consecutive start. ... Tom Kim (+2500), 21, is the youngest player in the field for the second consecutive year. He finished T5 in his debut last season.

NEXT TOURNAMENT: Sony Open in Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, Jan. 11-14

LPGA Tour

LAST TOURNAMENT: CME Group Tour Championship (Amy Yang)

THIS WEEK: Off.

Race to the CME Globe winner: Lilia Vu

NEXT TOURNAMENT: Tournament of Champions, Orlando, Fla., Jan. 18-21

PGA Tour Champions

LAST TOURNAMENT: Charles Schwab Cup Championship (Steven Alker)

THIS WEEK: Off.

Charles Schwab Cup champion: Steve Stricker

NEXT TOURNAMENT: Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai, Maui, Hawaii, Jan. 18-20

LIV Golf League

THIS WEEK: Off.

Series Winners: Talor Gooch (Individual), Crushers GC (Team)

NEXT TOURNAMENT: Mayakoba, Mexico, Feb. 2-4

—Field Level Media