Odds Outlook: Scottie Scheffler, Viktor Hovland highlight betting favorites at The Sentry

A new year is welcomed by a brand-new season on the PGA TOUR beginning this week at The Sentry in Hawaii. The first of eight Signature Events of the new 2024 season tees off at the Plantation Course at Kapalua.

Easing out of the holidays and back into competition, the field of 59 will have 72 holes to figure out the 26th edition on Maui. Formerly known as the Sentry Tournament of Champions, players for the 2024 edition qualified by advancing to the 2023 BMW Championship or winning an official tournament during the 2023 calendar year. The only qualified and eligible player not in the field this week is Rory McIlroy.

Stretching 7,596 yards and playing to par 73, Scottie Scheffler (+600 at BetMGM Sportsbook) has plenty of firepower and will highlight the chalk. Coming off a three-shot win at the Hero World Challenge to wrap up a three-win 2023, the Texan will look to keep the momentum rolling. Making his third visit to Maui, he will look to improve on T7 from 2023 and T13 from 2021. From his eight previous rounds, his elite ball-striking produced scores of 70 or better with six registering in the 60s.

Reigning FedExCup Champion Viktor Hovland (+800) added a Ryder Cup title plus three additional top-10 finishes worldwide in the fall before the ball dropped on New Year’s Eve. Unable to make it three consecutive titles at the Hero, his closing round of 63 was the best of the week for the field. Making his fourth consecutive appearance at the Plantation Course, the Norwegian star will look to crack the top 17 for the first time.

Debuting as event host in 1999, the first Ben Crenshaw-Bill Coore design has fit the eye of Collin Morikawa (+1200). Since his arrival in 2020, he's posted four finishes inside the top 10, and his last two visits, 50-under aggregate, are the best of the bunch and paid off T5 in 2022 and T2 last year. Winning in the Pacific Rim in October at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP, the two-time major champion tuned up his game with a solo seventh at the Hero in December.

The ascent of Max Homa (+1200) was on full display in 2023 as he bagged his first top-10 result in a major championship and compiled a career-best 13 top-10 paydays. Over the last three seasons, he’s improved in every Strokes-Gained category highlighted by sitting No. 6 in SG: Putting, a major factor this week. Making his fourth start, he will look to carry the momentum of 63-66 to close last year for T3, his best in three trips.

The legend of Ludvig Åberg (+1400) continues to meet expectations on the biggest of stages. “If” finally became “when” in the final event of 2023 as he delivered his first TOUR title at The RSM Classic. Closing 64-61-61 on the par-70 layout wiped out any questions (not that there were many) about the class of the prodigious Swede. His streak is now at eight consecutive events worldwide T14 or better. Over the years, the Plantation Course has taken a bite out of the first-time players, but there have always been exceptions to this rule. Consider Åberg another one.

A winless 2023 should have Patrick Cantlay (+1400) recharged and refocused for the 2024 campaign. Newly married the day after the conclusion of the Ryder Cup in Rome, the eight-time winner hasn’t signed for an official round on his own ball since finishing fifth at the TOUR Championship. Playing on Maui for the sixth time in seven years, the Californian has never cashed better than solo fourth (twice).

One of three past champions in the field, Xander Schauffele (+1400) will look to become the fifth player to win multiple titles at Kapalua. The 2019 winner almost became the first player to go back-to-back but was knocked out in a playoff in his defense. The Californian is legendary for his results in limited field, no-cut events, and this week qualifies again. After T8 at the BMW and second at the TOUR Championship, his only other appearance on his own ball was T38 at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP in October.

Here's a look at the other notable odds in this week’s limited field as a new year and a new season on TOUR starts along the scenic coastline in Hawaii (odds via BetMGM):

+2500: Tom Kim, Jordan Spieth (2016 champ)
+3000: Matt Fitzpatrick, Rickie Fowler, Sungjae Im, Tommy Fleetwood, Tony Finau, Tyrrell Hatton
+4000: Cameron Young, Hideki Matsuyama, Sam Burns
+4500: Jason Day, Russell Henley, Sepp Straka, Wyndham Clark
+5500: Brian Harman, Keegan Bradley
+6000: Corey Conners, Denny McCarthy, Eric Cole
+6600: Cam Davis, Justin Rose, Sahith Theegala
+10000: Adam Hadwin, Adam Svensson, JT Poston, Luke List, Byeong Hun An, Harris English (2021 champ)
+12500: Akshay Bhatia, Andrew Putnam, Brendon Todd, Chris Kirk, Emiliano Grillo, Lucas Glover, Mackenzie Hughes, Matt Wallace, Si Woo Kim, Tom Hoge, Vincent Normann
+15000: Adam Schenk, Erik van Rooyen, Kurt Kitayama, Nick Taylor, Patrick Rodgers, Taylor Moore
+20000: Camilo Villegas, Davis Riley, Lee Hodges, Seamus Power
+25000: Nick Hardy
+40000: Nico Echavarria

• No alternates and no open qualifying.

• Purse of $20 million, with the winner taking home $3.6 million plus 750 FedExCup points.

Circle back tomorrow as I post more details in Horses for Courses.

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