The PGA Tour season gets rolling in the new year with an elite field teeing off Thursday at Kapalua in the 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions. The Plantation Course in Maui yields low scores, as evidenced by Cameron Smith’s PGA Tour-record 34 under winning score last year. Smith won’t be there this year, but runner-up Jon Rahm comes in on fire and is the tournament favorite. There are 39 golfers in this week’s PGA Tour field, with Smith, world No. 1 Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry the only top-20 players who will be missing. Past winners in the Sentry Tournament of Champions field include two-time champion Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth and Xander Schauffele. Favorable weather is forecast for the entire run, so scores are expected to go very low again.
Rahm is the 13-2 favorite in Caesars Sportsbook’s latest 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions odds. Scottie Scheffler (9-1), Schauffele (19-2) and Patrick Cantlay (10-1) also are among more than a dozen golfers listed at 20-1 or shorter. Tony Finau (14-1), Sungjae Im (16-1), Viktor Hovland (18-1) and Collin Morikawa (18-1) also are top contenders in the Sentry Tournament of Champions 2023 field. Spieth and U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick are priced at 20-1. Before locking in any 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions picks, be sure you check out the PGA Tour predictions and best bets from SportsLine golf insider Patrick McDonald.
After spending time at FanSided and NBC Sports EDGE, McDonald joined CBS Sports as a golf writer in the spring of 2022. Now covering the sport from a broader perspective, McDonald still likes to dip his toes into the betting pools on a weekly basis on the PGA Tour.
McDonald takes a measured approach to his outright selections and is having a profitable 2022-23 season in every category. He nailed the Houston Open, backing Tony Finau to win at 25-1, and is up more than 16 units on his plays overall. That’s a profit of more than $1,600 for $100 bettors. The expert also has been on the money on his matchup plays and cashed in huge on Brendan Steele (80-1) as the first-round leader at the Zozo Championship.
The expert finished the 2021-22 season up 42 units on his outright plays, having hit Cameron Smith (22-1) at the Tournament of Champions, Hudson Swafford (250-1) at The American Express, Joaquin Niemann (70-1) at the Genesis Invitational and Justin Thomas (66-1) live at the PGA Championship. Anyone who follows McDonald’s advice has been cashing in.
Now, McDonald has studied the 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions field and locked in his best bets, top sleepers and favorites to avoid. You can head to SportsLine now to see all his PGA picks and predictions.
Top 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions expert picks
Shockingly, McDonald is fading Fitzpatrick (22-1), who finished last season third in scoring average and won the U.S. Open last June. The problem is, the 28-year-old is consistent but doesn’t score low enough. His strength is playing in tough conditions, and Kapalua will be one of the easiest tests of the year. Fitzpatrick’s best score last season was 64, and he shot 71 in the next round. He has eight worldwide victories but didn’t shoot more than 17 under in any of them. He ranked 109th on tour in par breakers and 134th in birdie average in 2021-22.
On the flip side, the expert knows Rahm has a lot going for him this week. The Spaniard comes in on an excellent run of results and has the all-around skill to score really low at Kapalua. That was obvious last year, as he was one of three players to shoot a 61 to set the course record. Rahm has finished in the top 10 in five straight events, a run that includes two DP World Tour victories. He was first in total driving on tour last season, and his tee shots will go a long way on the undulating course. He ranked third in greens in regulation and 28th in strokes gained putting. You can see who else to back at Kapalua here.
How to make 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions golf picks
McDonald has locked in his best bets for the 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions. His outright plays include a golfer who has excelled on similar courses but just doesn’t have the victories to show for it. If he pulls off the victory at Kapalua, anyone who backs him would cash in at more than 20-1. You can find out who it is, and see the rest of McDonald’s Sentry Tournament of Champions picks, predictions, and best bets at SportsLine.
So which 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions picks should you target? Which talented golfer could pull off a surprise victory in this loaded Tournament of Champions field for a payoff of more than 20-1? Check out the odds below, then visit SportsLine to see Patrick McDonald’s top prop picks for Sentry Tournament of Champions 2023, all from the expert who is up more than $1,600 on his PGA Tour picks this season, and find out.
2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions odds, field, top contenders
See full Sentry Tournament of Champions 2023 picks, best bets, and predictions here.
Jon Rahm +800
Scottie Scheffler +1000
Xander Schauffele +1000
Justin Thomas +1000
Patrick Cantlay +1200
Viktor Hovland +1800
Tony Finau +1800
Joo-hyung (Tom) Kim +1800
Matthew Fitzpatrick +1800
Sungjae Im +1800
Collin Morikawa +1800
Jordan Spieth +2000
Cam Young +2000
Max Homa +2800
Sam Burns +2800
Will Zalatoris +2800
Hideki Matsuyama +2800
Sahith Theegala +3300
Billy Horschel +4000
Seamus Power +4500
Aaron Wise +4500
Corey Conners +4500
K.H. Lee +5000
Keegan Bradley +5000
Russell Henley +5000
Sepp Straka +5500
Tom Hoge +6000
Adam Scott +6000
Brian Harman +6000
Mackenzie Hughes +7000
Luke List +7500
Trey Mullinax +8000
J.T. Poston +8500
Adam Svensson +8500
J J Spaun +9000
Scott Stallings +10000
Chez Reavie +12500
Chad Ramey +12500
Ryan Brehm +20000
