2019 Sentry Tournament of Champions

Dustin Johnson
Dustin Johnson is the defending champion and a two-time winner at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Golf is back, ladies and gentlemen.

The PGA Tour’s 2018-19 season resumes this week with the Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua’s Plantation Course in breathtaking Maui.

Thirty-four of the 37 PGA Tour winners from 2018 will be there, including defending champion Dustin Johnson – a two-time champ at Kapalua.

So, who will prevail this week?

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Two caddies on the ground in Hawaii took a good look at the field. Here are the players they belief you should keep a serious eye on…

Caddie 1

  1. Dustin Johnson, “The course is a little softer than last year. We probably won’t see any near aces on par 4s from DJ this time, but he certainly showed he is a ‘horse for the course’ and can handle the gusty winds as a two-time champion. This course (especially when on the softer side) caters to the big hitters and in my opinion he’s the gold standard.”
  2. Matt Kuchar, “He’s a patient golfer who can get hot with the putter. He has his man John Wood back on the bag after winning Mayakoba with a local looper. He doesn’t make many mistakes and with the wide fairways and his methodical approach, he will have plenty of birdie chances. If he gets it rolling, he could be dangerous.
  3. Gary Woodland, “Another bomber who is great in the wind. He’s showing some nice recent form, playing well in the QBE Shootout in early December, with a hole-in-one on a blustery Sunday. He’s treating more than 10 family members to a vacation in Maui this week, so he’s got a little extra motivation to make as many birdies as possible.

Caddie 2

  1. Dustin Johnson, “He’s the defending champ! A two-time winner here (obviously the course fits his eye) with at least one victory on Tour every season since 2008, DJ is a favorite whenever he tees it up. Eight of his 19 career wins have come before the month of April, so he’s no stranger to picking off wins early in the year.”
  2. Brooks Koepka, “He started 2018 with an injury that could have been cause for a lost season. It caused him to miss the Masters, yet he went on to win two of the three majors in which he played and ascended to No. 1 in the world. He finished dead-last here a year ago, but I don’t care about that – he was playing hurt. Now, he’s on top of his game and already has a win in the new season at the CJ Cup. Brooks is one of the longest players on Tour and with a very soft course, the bombers have a big advantage this week.”
  3. Justin Thomas, “Everyone loves Hawaii, but that goes double for JT. In 2017, the year where he would later win his first major at Quail Hollow in the PGA Championship, Thomas started the year with back-to-back wins in Hawaii at Kapalua and then Waialae. Put together the confidence from past play in Hawaii, along with the fact that he too is a bomber and it wouldn’t be the least bit surprising to see JT hitting double-digit PGA Tour victories come Sunday evening.”

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