RADIO
As we ring in the New Year, it seems an appropriate time to ponder the beginnings and endings that are all around us. As golf fans, we've had plenty to consider in our little corner of the world over the past 24 months, and yet even with all that's transpired in the game of golf, it seems as though we enter 2024 with more questions than answers.
In this article, you will find my Power Rankings for The Sentry, which gives golf fans a first look into the top 10 golfers who are primed to make a significant impact in this year's edition of the event that's the traditional kickoff to the PGA Tour year. These players should be considered serious contenders at Kapalua this week when the tournament gets underway on Thursday, January 4, 2024.
Hopefully, these rankings provide some insight into the current landscape of the PGA Tour, the upcoming season, and this week's tournament. Players have been evaluated on recent performances, statistical analysis, course history, and this week's projected course fit. Since this is our first tournament of the new year, each player's write-up will contain a brief summary of how they performed in 2023, as well as their outlook for the coming season and this week's Sentry.
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#10. Tommy Fleetwood
The good news for Tommy is that The Sentry dropped the "Tournament of Champions" portion from its moniker and its qualification requirements. The hard-luck Englishman enters 2024 still searching for his first victory on U.S. soil, but man, did he come oh-so-close on multiple occasions last year.
…my support team who work harder than ever to do what they do, and my friends and family who are my constant support and love through good and bad days.
Thank you everyone for a great 2023 and I wish you all a happy New Year and an amazing 2024! pic.twitter.com/QCmsTtCTaS— Tommy Fleetwood (@TommyFleetwood1) December 31, 2023
While Fleetwood lost some heartbreakers in 2023 -- most notably the RBC Canadian Open at Oakdale to a 72-foot Nick Taylor putt that was heard all 'round the North Country -- he was a top-five machine that consistently put himself in a position to win. He exited the season with nine top-10s in 21 PGA Tour starts and closed 2023 with an all-too-familiar runner-up finish in November's DP World Tour Championship. Tommy Lad will begin his quest for a PGA Tour victory anew in 2024 in what will be his first career start in the Sentry.
#9. Tom Kim
The late-season wunderkind of 2022, Kim dazzled in his Sentry debut last year, firing four rounds of 69 or better en route to a T5 finish. His performance at Kapalua was the high point for the rising star for a good portion of 2023, as the 21-year-old struggled to find his footing in his first full season on the PGA Tour.
However, talent always seems to find a way, and Kim's talent resurfaced as the season progressed with a T16 at the Masters paving the way to a T8 at the U.S. Open, and eventually, a runner-up finish to Brian Harman at the Open. After battling an ankle injury, Kim put a nice exclamation point on 2023 with a win in Vegas at the Shriners Children's Open.
#8. Matt Fitzpatrick
After a breakout 2022 that included a U.S. Open victory, 2023 was not without some trials and tribulations for the studious Englishman. Despite a rocky start to the season, Fitzpatrick rebounded to secure a spring victory at his beloved Harbour Town as well as a fall triumph closer to home at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
Fitzy took an instant liking to the Plantation Course last year, posting an impressive T7 in his Sentry debut. He's one of the best Bermuda putters in this week's field (second in SG: Putting L100 Rounds).
#7. Ludvig Aberg
I love Ludvig Aberg, you love Ludvig Aberg, everybody loves Ludvig Aberg! The 24-year-old phenom wasted little time announcing his presence on the pro golf scene following a legendary collegiate career at Texas Tech. Playing on the new PGA TOUR U exemption, Aberg hit the ground running by consistently making cuts on the PGA Tour and winning at the Omega European Masters in September.
Ludvig Aberg breaks through at the RSM Classic!
At the last event of the season, Aberg gets his first PGA Tour victory with a final round 61. pic.twitter.com/naXDCvLzIb
— GOLF.com (@GOLF_com) November 19, 2023
Those performances springboarded him to a Ryder Cup appearance on the winning Euro team in Rome. Aberg closed out his dreamy 2023 with his first career PGA Tour victory at the RSM Classic. He enters the new year as one of golf's brightest young stars.
While the possibilities seem endless for Aberg, this week's Kapalua environment is a tough ask for first-timers and his excellence off the tee might not be properly rewarded on the Plantation Course's mile-wide fairways. That said, this kid has already proven himself capable of shattering even the highest of expectations.
#6. Patrick Cantlay
The PGA Tour's alleged shadow commissioner had quite a 2023, whether it be enraging fans (and players) with his molasses-like pace of play, refusing to wear a hat in the Ryder Cup for cloudy reasons, flirting with LIV, or wielding an outsized amount of power on the PGA Tour's policy board. Yep...the previously vanilla Cantlay has remained a constant source of conversation over the last 12 months.
I got breakfast with Patrick Cantlay and we talked about his year.
On his PGA Tour role, LIV offers, Ryder Cup pressure, hats, lack thereof, Rory, Tiger, slow play, golf’s future and what it’s like for everybody to suddenly have an opinion about you:https://t.co/bNAA7zQUpB
— Dylan Dethier (@dylan_dethier) December 31, 2023
Let's not forget that the suddenly-controversial Californian can also play a little golf. Although he failed to lift a trophy in 2023, Cantlay was once again one of the PGA Tour's most consistent players, making the cut in 19 of his 21 starts with 10 top-10 finishes last season. He's also been a powerhouse at the Sentry, posting fourth-place finishes in half of his last four trips to the Plantation Course.
#5. Xander Schauffele
A back injury forced the X-Man to W/D from last year's Sentry. Despite that bad memory, we have to imagine that Schauffele will be happy to get back to a Kapalua layout on which he's found so much previous success. Before last year's injury-related issues, the Californian had been borderline dominant in the Sentry -- winning the 2019 edition, nearly repeating in 2020, and scoring a T5 in 2021.
It's a great opportunity for Schauffele to get back in the winner's circle and end a drought that now stands at nearly a year and a half. Despite ending his 2023 campaign without a victory, the 30-year-old was unsurprisingly consistent in posting strong results. We can expect more of the same in 2024.
#4. Max Homa
Homa continued to solidify himself as one of the game's elite players in 2023. After opening the year on fire with outings that included a T3 in this event, a win at Torrey Pines, and a runner-up at Riviera, Homa cooled a bit as the season progressed.
However, he still managed to log his best-ever finish in a major at the Open (T10), be one of the lone U.S. bright spots while making his Ryder Cup debut, and close out the year with an international victory at the Nedbank Challenge in November.
The sweet-swingin' Californian has always played his best golf on the West Coast and it appears as though that extends all the way to Hawaii. He scored a T3 in last year's Sentry and has improved his results on every trip to Kapalua.
#3. Collin Morikawa
2023 was a largely frustrating year for Morikawa and his backers. Though the two-time major champion's overall results from last year will look solid enough on paper, the Californian would probably be the first to admit he didn't play the sort of golf he's capable of for much of the year.
However, a long-awaited victory at the ZOZO Championship in October helped Morikawa to close out his otherwise disappointing campaign on a positive note, and for what it's worth, he looked solid en route to a seventh-place finish at the Hero World Challenge last month.
Collin Morikawa Outright (+1200) ✅@TeeOffSports and @robertoa213 nailed their ZOZO Championship winner pick and analysis last week on Links and Locks ⛳️🔒
(presented by @bet365_us) pic.twitter.com/pzLcPk6GHM
— ActionGolfHQ (@ActionGolfHQ) October 23, 2023
The 26-year-old has been phenomenal at Kapalua in previous visits. He'll need to overcome some demons, as he choked away a seemingly insurmountable lead in last year's Sentry down the stretch. Despite that meltdown, it's clear that this layout suits his eye perfectly, as he's never finished worse than T7 in four career Sentry outings.
#2. Viktor Hovland
By any measure, 2023 was a breakout year for the lovable Norwegian. Hovland closed out the season by capturing a huge payday and the FedEx Cup title. His season-ending coronation at East Lake was aided by victories at the Memorial and the BMW Championship, wins that largely exceeded his previous PGA Tour wins in significance.
In addition to the breakthrough wins at upper-echelon events, it was the 26-year-old's play in the major championships that truly signaled his growth as a player. Hovland stood toe-to-toe with Brooks Koepka at Oak Hill to earn a runner-up finish in the PGA Championship. He also logged a career-best finish in the Masters (T7), while playing well at both the U.S. Open (19th) and Open Championship (T13).
Hovland will look to continue his climb up the world rankings in 2024, though he's yet to find any success at the Plantation Course in three previous Sentry starts. He's lost a total of 8.21 total strokes and never finished better than T18 in this event, but a runner-up finish at the DP World Tour Championship in November and a final-round 63 at the Hero World Challenge indicates that Hovland has no intentions of cooling off.
#1. Scottie Scheffler
Consistently the best player in the world in 2023, Scheffler posted historically good numbers from tee-to-green, finishing the season ranked first on the PGA Tour in SG: Total, T2G, OTT, and APP, as well as scoring average and about a million other statistical categories. Unfortunately, the Texan had no such success on the greens and finished 2023 ranked an abysmal 162nd on Tour in SG: Putting.
Scottie Scheffler’s incredible 2023 season:
• Won WM Phoenix Open 🏆
• Won THE PLAYERS 🏆
• Won Hero World Challenge 🏆
• Made every cut (23/23) with 17 top-10s
• Recorded 18 consecutive top-12 finishes
• 1st in SG: Total
• 1st in SG: Tee-to-Green
• 1st in SG:… pic.twitter.com/GOq1XX2ywF— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) December 4, 2023
Despite getting no help from the flat stick, Scheffler still managed to win two significant tournaments (WM Phoenix Open & The Players) while making the cut in every tournament he played and posting top-three finishes at both the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open last year. He closed out 2023 with a silly season victory at the Hero World Challenge while deploying a shiny new Olson putter that he'll presumably keep in play at Kapalua to open 2024.
Scheffler has been solid, if unspectacular, in his two previous Sentry starts, logging a T7 last year and a T13 in 2021. There's lots of nice Augusta National for the former Masters champion, which has often translated to success at the Plantation Course. He'll just need some putts to drop this week.
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