There’s been plenty of drama off the course with the PGA Tour, but it’s finally time to start making headlines on the greens. The PGA Tour kicks off its 2024 schedule in Hawaii this week at The Sentry. With that in mind, we’re going to be making our 2024 The Sentry picks, including coupling talent like Jordan Spieth with a FanDuel edge.
Normally reserved for just winners of the previous season, this year anyone in the 2023 Top 50 FedEx Cup Standing is eligible to tee it up. That means a slightly larger field and a pretty strong who is who of possible winners. In the betting market, this gives us a little more flexibility, and if we can find a winner a better payout than the usual 30 man field.
Lets dive into a few guys to keep an eye on for this for tournament of the season and get to some of our 2024 The Sentry picks.
2024 The Sentry Picks – PGA Tour Mania Begins
Viktor Hovland 10-1 Outright: FanDuel
We have nearly 60 golfers in the field providing us a lot more to choose from especially in the middle tier of outright odds. However, at the top it’s still the usual suspect minus (Rory McIlroy who isn’t here). In turn, this means Scheffler and Viktor Hovland near the top.
Seeing Hovland 10-1 wasn’t surprising, but it did cause me to dig deeper and I liked what I saw. I don’t need to tell anyone Hovland is a world class player with goals a lot bigger than winning The Sentry in 2024. He’s played the event in 3 straight years and been a non-factor all three times. That doesn’t seem like a positive, but drilling down you can quickly figure out the issue and the potential solution.
In all three events at Kapalua, Hovland was lost around the green and putting, which is the obvious issue. It’s been an overall weakness in his game, but I’m not alone in thinking those issues are now in the past. Hovland made incredible strides on and around the greens in 2023 and we saw the results culminating in a Fed Ex Cup title.
If Hovland brings that same form around the green, then its absolutely all systems go here as his off the tee abilities were never in question. These are extremely generous fairways, and he is primed to win at a crazy low number which this will be. If you want one of the favorites on the board Hovland is the guy id look to.
Jordan Spieth 22-1 Outright: FanDuel
You aren’t going to confuse Jordan Spieth and Viktor Hovland’s games, but at a course like this a lot of different styles can thrive. Spieth is a wizard at times with the short game. The layout of Kapalua allows him to get away with some of those erratic tee shots we see from time to time. Spieth hasn’t done much at this event in recent years, but he also already has this trophy on the shelf with a 2016 victory at a massive 30 under par.
It’s the beginning of a new season so its always a question of where guys games are off a layoff. For some the time away is a chance to reset, while others probably wanted to continue to play while they were in form. For Spieth I’d say it’s more a chance to reset, specifically with the irons that plagued him late in 2023.
That’s going to be needed here as calm conditions mean a ton of birdie chances will be needed. If Jordan Spieth can just stay in line on the greens in regulation and proximity numbers with the field he is towards the top of players I’d choose in the classic putting competition. During his 2016 win he gained nearly 8 strokes putting and if he replicates that he will once again be in the hunt. 22-1 is out there for an outright and he is a solid option on the card this week.
Erik Van Rooyen 200-1 Outright, +320 Top 20 FanDuel
We talked about two legitimate threats to win this tournament, so let’s close it out with a guy in a completely different situation. We have Erik Van Rooyen sitting 200-1 on FanDuel to win this tournament and over 3-1 just to finish inside the Top 20. The 200-1 is a lotto ticket, but the Top 20 price is very appealing for a guy whose best golf was being played late in 2023.
EVR won in early November in Mexico at a course that I think has some comps to what he will see here. The ball striking numbers were never the issue, having gained off the tee and with the irons in four straight events. Asking if his putter will spike is a guessing game, but if it does what is the potential payoff? With Par 5’s, a flag hunting mentality, and a seemingly in form game I don’t mind Van Rooyen as a lotto ticket at the end of the card who you can buy up to Top 20 positions at very sizeable plus money.
It’s going to be a great season and I cannot wait for it to get started. Good luck everyone and lets have a great playing our 2024 The Sentry picks.
