Happy New Year! I'm back with PGA Tour picks for a brand new year, and I'm hoping to get into the swing of things pretty quickly. After giving birth to my son, Greyson, at the start of November, the last 2 months have solely consisted of feeding schedules, diaper changes, minimal sleep and lots of cuddles (but they have been the best 2 months ever!). I'm so excited for the return of golf, and the new golf year always kicks off in such a great way.
It's off to Hawaii for the first 2 events, and this week's Sentry Tournament of Champions means we get to see the biggest names right out of the gate. This tournament is for all the winners from the previous year, but there's some new additions to this field of 39. For the first time, those who didn't win but finished within the top-30 of the FedExCup standings have earned a spot. That means Cam Young, Collin Morikawa, Sahith Theegala, Adam Scott, Scott Stallings, Corey Conners, Brian Harman, Aaron Wise, Viktor Hovland and Sungjae Im are in. The only champion from 2022 who won't be making the flight to Kapalua is Rory McIlroy.
There's more to play for this week, too. The Sentry TOC is now one of the “elevated” events, which means the purse jumps from $8.2M to $15M. Safe to say it's a lucrative week for the 39 players who made it to this no-cut tournament.
The Plantation Course at Kapalua: What you need to know
This is one of the longest courses on the PGA Tour, but don't let that fool you. Standing at 7,596 yards, this is a rare par-73 that plays as one of the easiest courses on the schedule. Last year, Cam Smith romped to victory at -34, with Jon Rahm right on his heels at -33. Crazy!