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Steve backs Scheffler to start 2024 with a win
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Dave says Sepp to strike at 40/141.00
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12/113.00 Morikawa boasts good course form
The Sentry: Scheffler all set to kick the year off in style
Steve Rawlings: "This hasn't been a great event for longshots so there wont be a Find Me a 100 Winner column this week and I'm happy to start the year off with a small punt on the jolly.
"Scheffler is at a very interesting crossroads as we start 2024 and his career really can go in two very different directions. Putting as badly as he did for the bulk of 2023 isn't sustainable for anyone and it will be sad to see him struggle again this year.
"He's the best player on the planet from tee-to-green and if he really has put his putting woes behind him, he's going to be a force to be reckoned with week after week and I want to be onside from the get-go if that is the case."
The Sentry Each-way Tips: Picks from 40/1 to 66/1
Dave Tindall: "As well as ending the year with a second place, Sepp Straka had done some great things in 2023, his most notable period in July when winning the John Deere Classic and then finishing runner-up in the Open Championship at Hoylake.
"Like many past champions here, he's also in the 'played it just once' camp. Finishing 21st in a limited field last year was nothing to write home about but he got better each day - 71-70-68-67 - and arrives with both better knowledge of the course and his confidence sky high.
"A Ryder Cup winner with Europe, Straka belongs at the top table now and his excellent record by the sea and 2022 Honda victory at PGA National, another exposed windy track, are further pointers that he could hit the ground running in 2024."
The Sentry 2024: Course and current form stats
Andy Swales: "This is the only PGA Tour course with seven holes longer than 500 yards, and has a total par of 73 - which is also unusually high among tournament venues. This island location has wide fairways, large greens and not a single water hazard;
"The Plantation Course greens (which average over 8,700 square feet) are the biggest the players will have to cope with all season on the PGA Tour. And because of its big, undulating, windswept putting surfaces, players will need to be adept at scrambling, as well as avoiding the dreaded three putts.
"In terms of good course form, Collin Morikawa 12/1 is one of just two qualifiers to have posted top-10 finishes in each of their last four visits to Kapalua - the other is Rickie Fowler 28/1."
The Sentry First-Round Leader Tips: Three from 33/1 to 66/1
Dave Tindall: "Having a strong first-round record in a particular event is far from uncommon. And repeated day one success may just count for more on distinctive courses such as this one, especially when the event is played at a time of year when many players have some Festive ring rust.
"Plenty will need a round or two to adjust to the downhill and sidehill lies but one who seems to instantly find his groove at The Plantation is Sungjae Im.
"The Korean has fired 66, 67 and 67 in his three openers here, those birdie-laden laps good enough for positions of fifth, fifth and third on the 18-hole leaderboard. Im has also twice fired 8-under 65s (both in round three) on this quirky par 73 so he's very comfortable at this location.
"We haven't seen much of him of late but Im was the first-round leader in the Korean Tour's Genesis Championship in October and he followed that with an opening 67 at the ZOZO Championship to lie eighth on the Thursday board."