Sport
Sentry Tournament of Champions preview: Patty Ice can turn up the heat in Maui
So here we are then. The PGA Tour returns for another season and like any other we can expect 12 months of drama, ecstasy and probably a bit of controversy thrown in for good measure.
The LIV Golf rebels might argue that their new, swanky tour is the one to be on at the moment, but with the game’s big guns and a certain Tiger Woods staying aligned to the PGA Tour, there’s more than enough to say it’s still the world’s flagship golf programme.
As is tradition, it kicks off with the Sentry Tournament of Champions, and here’s our preview.
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Cantlay fancied to make the perfect start to 2023
The glaring omission from this week’s field is Rory McIlroy, who showed, particularly at the backend of 2022, that he is back to his best. The current world number one has chosen to skip Maui this year and it looks likely he’ll begin 2023 in Dubai at the end of the month.
He would have been a short priced favourite for this by default, but with the Northern Irishman absent, that accolade falls to Jon Rahm at 6/1. The Spaniard has a fantastic record at the Plantation Course with a worst finish of 10th from five starts, including when finishing runner-up in 2018 and then last year to Cameron Smith. He shot a 61 on route to that second-place finish 12 months ago and it was quite incredible he finished 33-under par yet didn’t manage to win.
He’s a more than worthy favourite and will surely go well, but at 10/1 Patrick Cantlay looks a better play.
The American or ‘Patty Ice’, as he’s become known in the trade, has become one of the most consistent and solid players on the planet and you feel a Major win is all that’s really missing from his CV. He’s 8/1 to finish inside the top-20 in all four Majors this year and that could tempt a few, but what better way to kickstart a Major-winning year than by winning your first tournament of the 2023? And there looks to be plenty in Cantlay’s favour this week in Maui.
It’s been slightly feast or famine for the Californian at this tournament, with two down the field finishes in 2018 and 2021 sandwiched between finishing fourth in 2020 and 2022. His good finish last year ranks all the better given the fact he gained just 0.935 strokes on the field in putting. For context, the winner, Cameron Smith, was +6.464 and the runner-up, Rahm, was +4.266, so for Cantlay to get within eight shots of Smith and seven of Rahm was no mean feat.
The putter might not have behaved itself then but that’s certainly not the case so far this season as he currently ranks first in SG: Putting. We all know that the Plantation Course is a fairly benign test, so birdies, and lots of them, is very much needed and with that in mind a hot putter is a must. He also ranks second in driving distance so far and first for birdie average, another two important assets around here.
He somehow manged to triple bogey the last hole when last seen at the Shriners which cost him the tournament, but his 21-under par total once again showed his liking for tournaments where low scoring is required. He’s won eight times on the PGA Tour and only once has his winning score been worse than 10-under. Four of those wins have been 20-under or better and that will be the minimum that is required this week.
In short, there are lots of reasons to like Cantlay here…
