Fantasy Golf Tournament Preview- Sentry Tournament of Champions
OVERVIEW
Welcome back returning subscribers and hello to any new ones! If you’re new here, this is a preview article where I give my first look analysis on the field often before salaries are released. This year I’m changing the article up a bit from the normal format of “studs, duds, value etc” to “Cash plays, GPP plays, and Value plays”. I think this will make it easier to navigate through the article and distinguish which players our readers should only be looking at for GPPs (this is the only type of contests I play in all of DFS) and I’ll hit on the chalkier side of the coin for those of you who enjoy cash games. In most cases, the top tier of cash plays can be used in GPPs as well, considering they are usually the best players in the world and have a higher probability of winning the event based on their skillsets.
We begin the 2020 with the Tournament of Champions in beautiful Maui, Hawaii where the bermuda rough is cut as short as possible to help these players ease back into the swing of things and enjoy a nice vacation/payday. The course is very hilly, and a lot of the holes play downhill off the tee, which explains the massive driving distance bumps a lot of players get at this course. A lot of players will hit drives over 350 yards this week, even the guys who average less than 300 off the tee. That being said, there’s still some strategy to hitting your spots off the tee because it gives you a better chance at a better approach shot. There’s also a drivable Par 4 on the course, which Dustin Johnson nearly aced in the last two years. It’s a fun course to play and a fun course to watch the best of the best play. There’s no cut at this event as this tournament is comprised solely of players who won events last year and basically a free getaway to start the year. As usual, there will be a lot of excitement to burn through some new holiday cash, but I recommend scaling the excitement back a bit because it’s a long season and we’re just getting started. Practicing sound bankroll management is just as important as hitting on the correct players, so it would be in all our best interests to play what we’re comfortable with losing and wait until the bigger prize pools come around in February. I’m more than likely going to fire a few GPP lineups and turn my attention to the Sony next week.
TOURNAMENT BACKGROUND
- The Course
- Kapalua Resort – Plantation Course
- Par: 73
- Yardage: 7,500 yards
- Greens: Bermuda
- Location: Maui, Hawaii
- Corollary Courses: Albany Course – Hero World Challenge, John Deere Classic (both are wedge-fests)
- Past Champions:
- 2019: Xander Schauffele -23 over Gary Woodland
- 2018: Dustin Johnson -24 over Jon Rahm (by 8 strokes)
- 2017: Justin Thomas -22 over Hideki Matsuyama
- 2016: Jordan Spieth -30 over Patrick Reed
- 2015: Patrick Reed -21 in a playoff over Jimmy Walker
KEY STATS TO TARGET
- Strong Emphasis – SG:OTT, SG:APP, SG:T2G, SG:P, Birdie Or Better
- Important – Course History, Scrambling, Bermuda Putting splits
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