The Plantation Course at Kapalua in Hawaii is the traditional venue for the first PGA Tour event of the year - and a star-studded field will be in attendance this week for The Sentry.
Kapalua will host 59 players in the no-cut event, with world number one Scottie Scheffler headlining the field, along with FedEx Cup champion Viktor Hovland.
There are 21 of the world's top 25 players teeing up in The Sentry. LIV defectors Brooks Koepka, Cameron Smith and Jon Rahm are missing, while Rory McIlroy has opted to skip the event, but the rest of the best are in Hawaii.
Scheffler won the Hero World Challenge in The Bahamas on his last start. The Texas-based pro putted well in that event and may have turned a corner on the greens.
- Rickie Fowler to win The Sentry
- Sahith Theegala to win The Sentry
Fowler Can Contend Again In Kapalua
Rickie Fowler enjoyed an excellent 2023, contending for the US Open before winning the Rocket Mortgage Classic, and the popular Californian can continue his progress by getting in the mix at Kapalua.
Fowler has teed up at the Plantation Course four times previously, building form figures of 6-5-4-5, so he is used to featuring on the Sentry leaderboard. There seems every chance that the 35-year-old goes even closer to victory this time at a layout which plays to his strengths.
Fowler won the Hero World Challenge at The Albany in 2017, which is a similar assignment to this week's, and he will be confident of getting to grips quickly with Kapalua.
Fowler was last seen finishing sixth in the Grant Thornton Invitational a month ago, with Lexi Thompson as his partner. Refreshed from the Christmas break, expect the six-time PGA Tour champion to throw down a challenge to the title favourites over the next four days.
Theegala Should Improve On Second Visit
Rising star Sahith Theegala tailed off on his Sentry debut 12 months ago, but Kapalua is a venue where debutants have a miserable record, so much better can be expected from the Californian youngster this week.
Theegala has got a magical short-game - he is brilliant on and around the greens - and that is a key to success at the Plantation Course. His weakness is erratic driving, but there is a lot of margin for error off the tee at Kapalua, so he will be able to get away with the odd loose tee shot.
Theegala and Tom Hoge won the QBE Shootout pairs event at the end of 2022, then Theegala built on that success by finishing ninth on his Masters debut last year. A PGA Tour breakthrough came in September with a convincing Fortinet Championship triumph.
The 26-year-old has matured and grown in self-belief. With only 58 players to beat this week and juicy odds against his name, Theegala is worth backing to make his mark.
