Course Preview and Fits: The Sentry

After a very brief holiday hiatus, the 2024 PGA season is upon us, meaning we can all stop pretending that we enjoy other things more than the sweet, sweet feeling of rooting for guys that no one has ever heard of to make a birdie so they can go into the weekend tied for 65th place. That, boys and girls, is living. This week, we’re in the cushy confines of Kapalua, the ritziest stop on tour, for the newly rebranded Sentry (formerly the Sentry Tournament of Champions), now expanded to include not only all of last season’s winners, but also the top 50 on the FedEx Cup points list. The Sentry is now a “signature event”, with a purse of $20 million, so while this has always been a bit of a vacation event that guys bring their families along for, they might be rethinking that strategy with all that cash on the line. The big story this week will of course be the absence of the defending champion, Rahmbo, who has jumped ship to the greener pastures of LIV. Still, it will be a star-studded, no-cut field of 59 top golfers, with 11 of the top 12 in attendance, so there’s plenty more to talk about. Let’s get into it, shall we?

The first few events of a new season can be tricky, since even though a month off may seem like a flash for us, it’s a long time to not play competitive events, and we don’t always know what guys are doing. For those of you that have been with us for a while, you know that a long lay off doesn’t help a guy’s projection, but there’s even more to it than that in the offseason. How much were guys practicing? Who made swing changes? Equipment changes? Who got married? Had a kid? Got divorced? Found Jesus even, I don’t know. Question marks abound, and while we do our best to keep up to date, things can be a bit nebulous in the early season (If you happen to know any PGA golfers’ wives or caddies or barbers, please let us know). Still, we have plenty of data to rely on, and we’re ready to get back into some meaningful events. All of this is to say that if your buddy just saw Eric Cole at Sandals Resort talking about how now that he’s married golf is meaningless to him, you might want to IKB that one this week.