2021 SENTRY TOURNAMENT of CHAMPIONS

Welcome to the 2021 Sentry Tournament of Champions and PGA Tour Brunch coverage of this weekend’s tournament in Kapalua, Maui, Hawaii. We’re looking forward to an entire 2021 PGA Tour season of simple, must-know news and coverage sent to your inbox by Noon each day, six days a week.

This week? Prime Time Golf for the East Coast starts Thursday!

THIS WEEK on the PGA TOUR:

COURSE: Plantation Course at Kapalua (Maui, Hawaii)

ARCHITECTS: Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw

YARDS/PAR: 7,596 yards/Par 73

PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $6,700,000/$1,340,000

DEFENDING Champion: Justin Thomas (2020 Leaderboard link)

PAST CHAMPIONS of Event: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points/Winner Share for points: 2,989/500

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedEXCup #SentryTOC or @Sentry_TOC

TV COVERAGE: (All on Golf Channel) Thursday, January 7 - Friday, January 8: 1:00pm- 5:30pm (local); (7-10:30pm ET) and Saturday, January 9 1:00pm-5:30pm (local) and (7-10:30pm ET) - Sunday, January 10th (Final Round): GOLF Channel: 1:00pm-5:00pm (local) and 6:00pm-10pm (ET).

PGA Tour Radio Coverage: Thu-Fri-Sat - Noon-5:30pm (local) and 5:00pm-10:30pm ET); and Sunday final Noon-5pm (local) and (5:00pm-10:00pm EST)

The Field (QUALIFIERS) (As of Dec. 31, 2020) - (link)

Sentry Tournament of Champions Notebook

This event began in 1953 as The Tournament of Champions and has held a number of different title sponsors. Before moving to Maui, it was played at LaCosta in Carlsbad, California.

A tournament record forty-two (42) players - rather than the usual 30 tournament winners - are scheduled to tee-off at Kapalua. The record (large) field is a combination of the tournament winners and Top 30 players in the FedEx Cup 2020 listing (see below).

FedExCup leader and world No. 1 Dustin Johnson and defending champion Justin Thomas headline field that includes four of the top five in the official World Golf ranking and 14 of the top 15 in the FedExCup standings. In other words, the field is PACKED!

Each of the last four winners of the TofC (Justin Thomas (2017), Dustin Johnson (2018), Xander Schauffele (2019), and Thomas again, in 2020, went on to finish in the top five in the overall FedExCup standings.

Hudson Swafford (Saint Simmons, Georgia) and Martin Laird (Glasgow, Scotland) will have the honor of teeing-it-up for the first start of 2021. With the limited field everyone is going off No. 1 (in pairs) and they tee-off at 9:10am (local) on Thursday.

The tradewinds of Hawaii are often a major factor at the Tournament of Champions. This year, the forecast is calling for some winds and gusts on Thursday (10-20mph w 25 mph gusts) but relatively light wind on Friday (4-12 mph) and Saturday (5-15mph). On Sunday, the forecast calls for AM showers and (8-16 mph) winds. Passing showers are a way of life at Kapalua. Overall weather reports? Not bad.

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Breaking LPGA News

LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan announced that he will step down from his post after 11 years of leading the women’s pro golf circuit. Whan made his announcement in a letter posted on LPGA.com (link). He will step down sometime in 2021, leaving the LPGA Board plenty of time to find his successor.

A sample of Media reaction from ESPN’s Bob Harig today is HERE.

PGA Tour - What They’re Saying

The Field is a Little Different (Golf Digest)

Who’s Got Next (Golf Channel)

PGA Youngsters Ultra Competitive (Golf dot com)

Westwood Named European Tour Player of Year (AP/ESPN)

Practice! Phil Mickelson in the backyard (ESPN)

Horses for the Course (PGA Tour dot com)

Sports Biz and the Golf Industry

The Sports Business Daily (John Lombardo) today reported: “The PGA Tour signed Whoop as an official marketing partner, a deal that makes the company the official fitness wearable of the Tour and PGA Tour Champions circuit. Boston-based Whoop also will sponsor of PGA Tour Active, the Tour’s new digital health, fitness and lifestyle initiative. Financial terms of the multiyear deal were not disclosed.

CNN Reports Golf Booming Amidst Pandemic (CNN)

Aberdeenshire (Scotland) Course Still Losing Money (USA Today)

Masters Delays Ticketing Process (ESPN)

Morning Drive Canx and Replaced with Golf Today on Golf Channel - (USAT)

Jon Rahm Signs with Callaway Golf (Golf Channel)

Tournament Odds and Betting Links

2021 Sentry Tournament of Champions (Odds via William Hill)

Dustin Johnson 6-1

Justin Thomas 13-2

Jon Rahm 15-2

Xander Schauffele 10-1

Bryson DeChambeau 10-1

Patrick Reed 16-1

Hideki Matsuyama 18-1

Patrick Cantlay 18-1

Viktor Hovland 20-1

Webb Simpson 20-1

Collin Morikawa 25-1

Tony Finau 25-1

Daniel Berger 25-1

Harris English 30-1

Joaquin Niemann 35-1

Sung-Jae Im 35-1

Abraham Ancer 40-1

Adam Scott 40-1

Scottie Scheffler 40-1

Cameron Smith 40-1

Cameron Champ 45-1

Sergio Garcia 60-1

Kevin Kisner 60-1

Billy Horschel 66-1

Marc Leishman 66-1

Jason Kokrak 66-1

Carolos Ortiz 80-1

Brendon Todd 80-1

Ryan Palmer 80-1

Kevin Na 90-1

Lanto Griffin 100-1

Mackenzie Hughes 100-1

Sabastian Munoz 100-1

Stewart Cink 125-1

Martin Laird 150-1

Robert Streb 200-1

Andrew Landry 200-1

Michael Thompson 200-1

Hudson Swafford 250-1

Richy Werenski 250-1

Brian Gay 250-1

Nick Taylor 250-1

PGA Tour Brunch Thinks: You cannot ignore the “chalk” of Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas, but many times the Australians fare well at Kapalua so we’re tossing Adam Scott in with our top three and - maybe, just maybe, Marc Leishman as the long shot sleeper pick to round-out our foursome. Thomas is the top choice.

Sentry Tournament of Champions Predictions (CBS Sports)

Action Network Preview on Sentry T of C - (Action Net)

Parting Putt

Highlights from last year’s Final Round at Kapalua: