Niall Lyons has three selections for The Sentry this week at Plantation Course at Kapalua, Maui, Hawaii.
The Sentry
The Sentry will be held at Plantation Course at Kapalua, Maui, Hawaii. The 2025 campaign kicks off kicks off with the familiar Sentry where the eligibility criteria has changed over the last few years to include fall series winners, the top 50 in last years Fedex standings and of course any 2023 PGA Tour winners.
There will be very few golf fanatics who don't know this course and it's topography very well with some of the widest fairways on tour and severe elevation changes throughout. It presents a unique challenge, with tee to green experts coming to the fore.
Putting also features highly enough in the statistics which spells out that all parts of your game need to be firing to score well enough here to win.
Therefore, it is no surprise that there have been little in the way of shocks here down the years with Harris English providing the biggest priced winner of 33/1 in the last eleven renewals prior to Chris Kirk's big priced victory last year.
It usually pays to concentrate on the best players here in this reduced field but with a slightly different field last year and this there may be more room for a similar shock winner like last year.
For anyone looking to the outsiders a glance to the WWT Technology leaderboard of 2023 and 2024 may prove fruitful.
El Cardonal designed by Tiger Woods hosted those events and it was the most similar course to the Plantation layout here I've seen on the tour.
Extremely wide fairways were presented there as well as plenty of elevation changes whilst winning scores of 27 and 24 under par means there are more similarities than differences between the two.
Wind is the primary defence here and at the time of writing it looks like it will blow hard on Thursday but be relatively calm the remainder of the tournament.
Below is a look at the stats of the top performers in the last three editions of this tournament.
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The Sentry Tips
- 2.5pts each-way L.Aberg 18/1 (1/4 5) Betfred, BetVictor
- 2pts each-way S.Burns 28/1 (1/5 6) Paddypower
- 1.5pts each-way Byeong Hun An 40/1 (1/5 6) Unibet, BetMGM
Ludvig Aberg at 18/1 (Five Places)
Ludvig Aberg's return to golf late on in 2024 following surgery was a successful one with a top 20 at the RSM then 6th at the Hero.
His ball striking improved plenty for the run at Sea Island and that's a huge positive heading into 2025 where we really should see a much different story for the hugely talented Swede. Winless in 2024 certainly wasn't on my bingo card for Aberg but he had plenty of setbacks and a season injury free is an exciting prospect given what he achieved in 2023.
His debut didn't go to plan here last year finishing 47th and having a poor week on the greens but it's a difficult place to get used to with many idiosyncrasies and he should strip fitter for having had a look at it last year.
There are plenty of birdies on offer here with aggressive driving and approach play and in many ways he reminds me of Dustin Johnson who is a double winner of this event.
For my money Aberg still remains one of the best handicapped options in this field and I'll always have an interest around these prices so long as there aren't many negatives.
His play towards the end of the year is enough for me to believe he's going well enough and following a period of regaining his fitness he may just be one of the sharpest out of the traps also.
Sam Burns at 28/1 (Six Places)
Sam Burns arrives here with a lacklustre record which is a little worrying but a repeat of a few of his recent performances would see him go close to winning this.
I say recent, but he finished 5th at the St Jude and then 2nd at Castle Pines and either of those efforts if matched would see him go close.
Burns improved a fair bit over the latter half of 2024 and his ability to putt extremely well on these greens should give him enough opportunity to get into the mix come the weekend. 19-32-33 are Burns' finishes here which make poor reading in reduced fields, but he has putted very well on all three occasions with his long game being the main issue.
It was the long game that scuppered him last time out in the Bahamas in December but I can see a much improved performance here given the way he has hit the ball with his irons over the last six months or so.
He is one of the better players in the field for birdie or better percentage also and if his irons fire this week he will be a very dangerous opponent to all.
Byeong Hun An at 40/1 (Six Places)
Byeong Hun An was last seen in action winning the Genesis in Korea managing to overcome Tom Kim in the process and that may be the catalyst to kick on and manage that elusive PGA Tour victory.
An has transformed his game in the last 18 months to become one of the longest hitters in the game and that really helps around a track like Kapalua.
He was solid enough last year to make it all the way to the Tour Championship and there is every chance he runs with these opportunities this year courtesy of his place inside the top 50 of the Fedex rankings.
His approach play has been really solid this last year or so and I'm bullish about the way he will attack this golf course and attempt to make plenty of birdies.
He did that last year on debut where he shot 26 under par to finish 4th and another bold bid can not be ruled out. His back was against the wall a few times against Kim in Korea and managed to pull out a couple of spectacular shots to land the victory there.
He will take plenty of confidence from that and he will shake off plenty of rust early doors here being able to swing with total freedom with the driver here.
