-
Course has largest putting surfaces on PGA Tour
-
Thomas 10/1 to build on solid end to 2024
-
Poston 40/1 a strong each-way candidate
Tournament and Course Notes
- The Plantation Course at Kapalua Country Club stages this tournament for the 27th time.
- First of eight Signature Events on the 2025 PGA Tour schedule.
- Those eligible to compete are the players who finished inside the top 50 of the 2024 FedEx Cup standings, along with every PGA Tour tournament winner from last season.
- Located on the Hawaiian island of Maui, the Plantation Course was co-designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, and opened in 1991.
- Coore and Crenshaw returned in 2019 to undertake a nine-month renovation project when all 18 greens were rebuilt.
- Averaging over 8,700 square feet, the TifEagle Bermuda putting surfaces are the largest on the PGA Tour.
- Because of its big, undulating, windswept greens, players need to be adept at scrambling, and have the ability to avoid the dreaded three putts.
- Third longest course on 2024 PGA Tour schedule.
- The only PGA Tour course with seven holes longer than 500 yards.
- The Plantation Course has wide, fast-running fairways but not a single water hazard.
This Week's Field
Five of the 65 qualifiers will not be teeing-up in Hawaii on Thursday.
World No 1 Scottie Scheffler has withdrawn citing a hand injury, while Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood and Shane Lowry have opted to stay away.
Bryson DeChambeau, who qualified as US Open champion, is not eligible to compete because of his membership of the Saudi-backed LIV Tour.
Five To Watch
As for those who are taking part, Xander Schauffele 5/1, Collin Morikawa 10/1 and Sung Jae Im 18/1 can boast of having a better course history than the majority of their competitors.
World No 2 Schauffele, who was a two-time major champion during 2024, has finished both first and second over the Plantation Course at Kapalua.
Morikawa, meanwhile, has never finished lower than seventh from five visits to this event. He has a 20-round average of 67.80 and is the current World No 4.
However, his only competitive golf since the Tour Championship, which concluded on September 1, has been the Presidents Cup and Zozo Championship in Japan.
As for Sung Jae, he has twice finished top five at Kapalua and the Korean has played solidly since the start of May.
One player who can combine an excellent course history with decent current form is the re-emerging Justin Thomas 10/1.
Thomas is a two-time champion in this tournament, along with his brace of other podium finishes.
And if you're seeking an outsider to either win, or post an each-way finish, then JT Poston 40/1 might be worth a flutter.
The 31-year-old from North Carolina tied-fifth here 12 months ago, while collecting his third PGA Tour title in October 2024.
He's currently a career-high No 33 in the World Ranking and could prosper in a field that has collectively played very little competitive golf since the Tour Championship three months ago.
Stroke Averages
Lowest 12 At Kapalua (2019-24)
Average .... (Rounds)
67.44: Sung Jae Im (16)
67.63: Matt Fitzpatrick (8)
67.63: Brian Harman (8)
67.80: Collin Morikawa (20)
67.90: Xander Schauffele (21)
68.00: Tom Hoge (8)
68.13: Sepp Straka (8)
68.20: Justin Thomas (20)
68.25: Patrick Cantlay (20)
68.25: Sahith Theegala (8)
68.38: Si-Woo Kim (8)
68.38: Cameron Young (8)
Min. No. of Rounds = 8
Only those entered this week are included in table