The Sentry (formerly known as The Sentry Tournament of Champions) marks the start of the 2024 season on the PGA Tour as the unique event hosts a smaller field of PGA Tour winners as well as the very best and most consistent players from 2023.
All but one of the 60 eligible players are teeing it up this week in what will be the first of eight signature events on the PGA Tour calendar, with the winner receiving a $3.6m check and 700 FedEx Cup points.
Only World No.2 Rory McIlroy is not taking part in the tournament as he opts to focus on the start of the DP World Tour season - something he has also done previously.
The other big name missing from the field will be defending champion Jon Rahm, who made headlines late in 2023 when he signed with LIV Golf for a reported fee north of $500m. Rahm fought back from eight strokes behind with 17 holes to play in the final round to take last year’s title by two shots over Collin Morikawa.
Meanwhile, Viktor Hovland will be looking to start his campaign the same way he finished at the BMW Championship and Tour Championship, winning both and taking home the FedExCup. Should the Norwegian claim victory at The Sentry, he would be just the fourth player in the last 15 years to win three consecutive starts.
The 2024 Sentry is also slightly bigger in field size than previous editions, with 12 first-time winners involved. Before, players qualified by winning a PGA Tour event in the most recent campaign. Whereas now, entry criteria involves last year's PGA Tour winners and any other players who finished inside the top 50 of the 2023 FedEx Cup standings.
Where Is The Sentry Being Played?
The Sentry is being contested at the Plantation Course at Kapalua Resort in Hawaii. 2024 marks the 26th consecutive year Kapalua will host a PGA Tour event, with the par-73 Plantation Course playing a starring role most often.
The 7,596-yard layout was originally co-designed by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, and it underwent a significant restoration in 2019 following Xander Schauffele's success. Those alterations made for extremely low scoring, and 2022 saw a bumper year in terms of broken records.
Cameron Smith knocked it around in just 258 shots (-34) on his way to winning to clinch the 72-hole record, while Rahm (third round), Justin Thomas (third round), and Matt Jones (fourth round) all managed rounds of 12-under in the same year to secure the 18-hole low.
Speaking of breaking records, the Plantation Course has regularly been the site of the PGA Tour's longest-ever drives as a result of its steep and sloping 18th hole. In the third round of the 2002 Mercedes Championship at Kapalua, Tiger Woods’ drive was recorded at 498 yards. The 15 longest drives of that season were all recorded on that hole during that round, but all those drives were later excluded from the official records.
Of the 10 that have stood, three took place on the Plantation Course - including the longest official drive in PGA Tour history. In 2004, Davis Love III smoked one a whopping 476 yards down the 18th. And almost 20 years later, in 2023, Ryan Brehm managed just 455 yards on the same hole which secured him eighth on the list of big hits. In the same year as Brehm, Luke List rocketed a drive 459 yards down the seventh to put himself sixth.
A handful of years before the controversial golf ball rollback plans kick into effect, might we see another top-10 effort recorded at this year's Sentry?
