The Sentry Prop Bets: Can Tom Kim, Matt Fitzpatrick Shine in Hawaii?

The Sentry Prop Bets: Can Tom Kim, Matt Fitzpatrick Shine in Hawaii?

The PGA Tour stops off at its usual luxurious paradise, Kapalua golf resort in Hawaii to kickstart the year. The tournament has had a name change, it's no longer the 'Tournament of Champions' with the field being made up of last years winners and the top 50 in the FedEx Cup standings. It's the first of eight signature events, which is an attempt to get the best players on tour competing more regularly together for heightened prize money.

This event always requires a bit of guesswork as we haven't seen most of these players compete for nearly two months, some longer. We've had the Hero World Challenge and the Grant Thornton Invitational played in December, where a number of players in the field shredded a bit of a rust. Both events are very much in the 'hit and giggle' category, Hero World Challenge less so with world ranking points up for grabs. Even so, we don't have a lot of recent form to work with so they do get taken into account.

What we do know about this event is that course form is usually important. There have only been two debutant winners over the years and playing in this event at least once is a noteworthy trend. The Plantation course is long with generously wide fairways, there isn't any trouble off the tee and with calm conditions this is usually a birdie fest. The winning score has only fallen below -19 once in the last 10 years. The weather looks relatively calm this week so I'm expecting another low scoring affair.

Below I've targeted two players to finish top of their categories after impressing on their first visit here, last year.

Sentry Tournament of Champions Date, Time, and Where to Watch

• Date: Thursday, January 4, 2024 - Sunday, January 7, 2024
• Opening Tee Time: 12:30 p.m. ET - 10:00 p.m. ET
• Where to Watch: ESPN+, NBC, Golf Channel

The Sentry Prop Bets

Tom Kim Top Rest of the World Player +450 Click here to see which sportsbook has the best odds

As previously mentioned the Plantation course at Kapalua has proven a tough place to contend over the years on first visit. Tom Kim took a liking to the course straight off the bat, opening with a round of 65. He went on to finish T5th and was the best player tee to green that week. The putter let him down losing just over a stroke on the greens.

Since moving to the PGA Tour he hasn't been very successful on TifEagle Bermudagrass greens. Although, he was on the Asian Tour in Indonesia and Singapore finishing 2nd and 3rd at their national opens. Kim also gained strokes on the TifEagle Bermudagrass greens at the DPWT Championship last time out which was encouraging to see.

He closed out the year in excellent form successfully defending his Shriners Children Open title and had a respectable 15th place finish at the DPWT Championship. What caught my eye was his approach numbers, if his irons are in that kind of form this week, he'll give himself a bundle of scoring opportuntities. We know from previous years how important it is to go low round this course when it's calm and playing easy. Tom Kim has three wins already on the PGA Tour at the tender age of 21 and each win has been -20 or better. He is more than comfortable in these birdie fests and can go seriously low when needed.

I also like the fact he hasn't had that long of a break as he continued to compete in November. Sungjae Im stands as the biggest threat to Kim in this market, who has an excellent record in this event. He had a poor year for his standards but did improve towards the end of the year. Tom Kim is still the man to beat for me and I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if he went a step further and won the event. A win would take him into the top 10 for the first time in his short career.

Matt Fitzpatrick Top European +650 Click here to see which sportsbook has the best odds

Matt Fitzpatrick also impressed on his debut in this event last year. He was in contention to win, lying in second place going into the final round. He ended up slipping down the leaderboard into T7th after closing with a round of 70. A lot of encouragement to take from that performance. Fitzpatrick isn't usually the first name that pops into your head when a birdie fest presents itself but he didn't look out of place. He continues to add distance which can only help at this course and his short game has always been tidy.

There aren't many players better with a flatstrick than Fitzpatrick and a hot putter is absolutely needed this week. He relied on it probably too much last year, ranking 5th in the field for putting, gaining over 3 strokes. Fitzpatrick was poor on approach that week and it's probably the part of his game that he struggles with the most in terms of consistency. Although, he has been known to spike with his irons, notably at the RBC Heritage, which he won last year and the BMW Championship where he finished runner up.

Fitzpatrick finished his year off strongly winning the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and like Tom Kim played in the DPWT Championship in November. He dusted off the cobwebs at the Hero World Challenge, where he was in contention to win going into the final round, ended up finishing T4th. As a whole it's been a successful year with wins on both the DP and PGA Tour.

Three of his 10 wins have come on TifEagle Bermudagrass which outlines his strength on these greens. I've taken him outright as well as in the Top European market. Hovland surprisingly has a poor record at this course and has to be taken on. It will be Aberg's first visit, tough place to find success on first attempt. Having said that he does look a fantastic course fit and has the world at his feet, he has to be respected. Nevertheless, Fitzpatrick stands out as the value in this market and should be closer to the two favorites in price.

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