The Sentry First-Round Leader Tips: Picks from 16/1 to 70/1

• 16/117.00 Justin Thomas has a brilliant first-round record here

• 50/151.00 Eric Cole can make his mark on a course that should suit

• 70/171.00 Kevin Yu has a good record on Bermuda and has been starting fast

Weather forecast for Thursday

It's going to be a sunny day on Maui for Thursday's opening round, with temperatures in the early-to-mid 80s.

The winds can really get up here but that's not the case with speeds around 9-13mph on day one.

Given the field of just 60 and fairly bunched tee-times, there's no obvious advantage in the draw.

Justin Thomas @ 16/117.00

I'm not keen on taking such short price in the FRL market but Justin Thomas is one who justifies it in this limited field.

Thomas is a two-time winner of this event, the first of those coming in 2017.

In a five-year stretch from 2017 to 2021, these were his first-round leader positions here: 2nd, 12th, 2nd, 2nd, 1st.

He also holds the course record of 61 having shot that 12-under round on day three in 2022.

Thomas missed last year's event so will be itching to get back and don't be surprised to see him hit the ground running.

As for latest form, Thomas shot 6-under to sit second after 18 holes of December's Hero World Challenge while in his two previous two starts his end of day one positions were seventh and second again.

Boosted by enjoying Christmas as a Dad for the first time, J.T. is worth a go each-way (1/4, 5 places) at 16s.

Eric Cole @ 50/151.00

We're told that a good bank of course form helps players adjust to this rather unique course which is wide open, severely undulating and has massive greens.

But Eric Cole worked it out pretty quickly last year and closed with an 8-under 65 to finish 14th.

He then went to the Sony Open a week later and set out with a 66 to sit seventh, eventually finishing 13th in the second Hawaii event.

It all makes sense given how he loves playing on Bermuda greens.

He arrives in good nick after finishing 2024 with a sixth and two top 16s in his final four starts.

Cole opened with 66s at the Sanderson Farms and RSM Classic while a Thursday 64 put him second after the opening lap of the ZOZO.

One final useful bit of evidence is his opening 62 in the 2024 John Deere, a course that correlates well with this one.

Kevin Yu @ 70/171.00

Kevin Yu won the Sanderson Farms on Bermuda greens and had three other top fives on such surfaces in 2024 - the American Express, Malaysian Open and Myrtle Beach Classic.

In terms of fast starts, he was the 18-hole leader at the Farmers Insurance while he opened with 65s in two of his three final events of 2024.

That put him fifth after round one of the ZOZO Championship and sixth following the opening lap of the RSM Classic. He finished 16th and 11th in those two tournaments.

Short-game improvements were evident at the back end of the campaign and that will help him here.

Yu was 2nd for SG: Putting on the Bermuda greens at the Sanderson Farms and 14th for SGP at the RSM Classic. He was also in the top 20 for SG: Around The Green in those two events.

If looking near the bottom end of the betting, Yu could just make a mark on debut at 70s.

Read Dave Tindall's each-way outright preview of the 2025 Sentry