The first tournament of the year on the PGA Tour will begin at 2:30 p.m. ET on Thursday when the 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions tees it up on the Plantation Course at Kapalua in Maui, Hawaii. With last year's winners and the top 30 from the FedEx Cup standings earning entry, the Sentry Tournament of Champions 2023 field was already guaranteed to be a strong one. But its new elevated status and a $15 million purse have drawn 17 of the top 20 players in the world despite the fact that the field only consists of 29 players.
Last year's runner-up Jon Rahm has won two of his last four worldwide starts and the No. 5 player in the Official World Golf Ranking is listed as the 8-1 favorite in the 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions odds from Caesars Sportsbook. Two-time tournament winner Justin Thomas is coming off a year where he won his second major championship and he's listed at 10-1 in this week's PGA Tour odds. Before locking in your 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions picks, be sure to see the golf predictions and projected leaderboard from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
SportsLine's proprietary model, built by DFS pro Mike McClure, has been red-hot since the PGA Tour resumed in June of 2020. In fact, the model is up over $9,500 on its best bets since the restart, nailing tournament after tournament.
McClure's model included J.T. Poston in its best bets to win the 2022 John Deere Classic. That bet hit at +5500, and for the entire tournament, McClure's best bets returned almost $1,100. At the 2022 Masters, McClure's model was all over Scottie Scheffler's first career major championship victory heading into the weekend.
In addition, McClure's best bets included Collin Morikawa winning outright at the 2021 Open Championship, even though he was listed as a massive 40-1 long shot. The model was also all over Jon Rahm's (10-1) first career major championship victory at the 2021 U.S. Open. Rahm was two strokes off the lead heading into the weekend, but the model still projected him as the winner.
This same model has also nailed a whopping eight majors entering the weekend. Anyone who has followed it has seen massive returns.
Now that the 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions field is locked, SportsLine simulated the tournament 10,000 times, and the results were surprising. Head to SportsLine now to see the projected leaderboard.
Top 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions predictions
One major surprise the model is calling for at the 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions: Patrick Cantlay, an eight-time PGA Tour champion and one of the top favorites, stumbles and doesn't even crack the top-five. The 30-year-old is coming off a sensational season, which culminated in a top-10 finish at the Tour Championship. Cantlay secured one victory and 11 top-10 finishes, which included a T-4 finish at the Sentry Tournament of Champions.
However, Cantlay struggled with his driving accuracy percentage last season, ranking 93rd on the PGA Tour. In addition, Cantlay ranked outside the top-40 in total putting (153.1) and overall putting average (1.592) last season, which doesn't bode well for his chances to finish on top of the leaderboard this week. He's not a strong pick to win it all and there are far better values in the Sentry Tournament of Champions 2023 field.
Another surprise: Matthew Fitzpatrick, an 18-1 longshot, makes a strong run at the title. Fitzpatrick has a much better chance to win it all than his odds imply, so he's a target for anyone looking for a huge payday. The 2022 U.S. Open champion is up to a career-best No. 9 in the world rankings after putting together eight top-six worldwide finishes last year.
Fitzpatrick finished the 2021-22 PGA Tour season as the No. 2 golfer on the PGA Tour in strokes gained: total (1.792) and as a top-50 player in each of the four major strokes-gained categories he's one of the most well-rounded players on tour. And the par-73, 7,596-yard Plantation Course should be a good fit for his game, as it has recently favored other high-level ball strikers like Thomas and Xander Schauffele. See who else to pick here.
How to make 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions picks
The model is also targeting four other golfers with odds of 18-1 or longer who will make surprising runs. Anyone who backs these longshots could hit it big. You can only see the model's PGA picks here.
So who will win the Sentry Tournament of Champions 2023? And which longshots stun the golfing world? Check out the 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions odds below and then visit SportsLine to see the projected 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions leaderboard, all from the model that's nailed eight golf majors, including last year's Masters.
2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions odds, field
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
