Scheffler vs. Hovland Prediction on January 4–7, 2024

Match info

On Thursday, January 4, the PGA Tour will resume with The Sentry, formerly known as the Sentry Tournament of Champions, serving as the customary yearly opener. The first men’s golf tournament of the 2024 season in Maui, Hawaii, closes on Sunday, January 7. Big bucks, famous stars, and a large field are the highlights of this event. The Tour unveiled The Sentry commitment list last week, revealing that 59 out of the 60 qualified players will be competing at Plantation Course within Kapalua Resort, giving punters plenty of choices to put money in for their favorite players on the top bookmakers for golf wagering.

Meeting statistics

Rory McIlroy is the only qualified golfer absent; in past years, he’s chosen to start his season on the DP World Tour in the Middle East rather than attend the event in Hawaii. That’s what he plans to do in 2024 as well.

This year, players don’t need to have won a PGA Tour event in the previous 12 months in order to be eligible for The Sentry. As a result, the ex-Tournament of Champions will no longer be formally part of the event’s name. Not only do winners go into the field automatically, but so does every player who placed among the top 50 of the FedEx Cup rankings in 2023.

Twenty-one of the top 25 players in the Official World Golf Ranking will play in the no-cut competition, which has a $20 million total prize fund. Apart from McIlroy, Jon Rahm, last year’s winner, who overcame Collin Morikawa by two strokes after trailing by eight with 17 holes remaining, will also be absent from the competition. Naturally, when the Spaniard signed a contract with the LIV Golf League in 2024 last month, it created quite a stir. PGA Tour officials swiftly resolved the question of whether Rahm might be able to play at The Sentry and the American Express later in January, another tournament in which he won the title since the first LIV event wasn’t until February. Rahm was suspended from the tour and the FedEx Cup rankings from 2023 were updated to remove him from his No. 18 position and move all other players up in line. Mackenzie Hughes moved up to the 50th position as a result, gaining him entry for the event this following week as well as all other 2024 signature events.

Whether Scottie Scheffler’s superb putting display at the Hero World Challenge at the beginning of December was an anomaly will be interesting to see. The world number one played significantly better in the Bahamas, where he tied for sixth place in Strokes Gained: Putting, after months of misery on the greens. He appears to be kicking off 2024 in style.

Viktor Hovland finished the tournament with the lowest round of the day (a nine-under-par 63), but he ran out of steam when trying to win the Hero for a third consecutive time after having a really stellar finish to 2023. Although he might be rejuvenated and ready to go when he rejoins the fight, his event form statistics of 31-30-18 show that he hasn’t exactly taken off in any of the previous three years.

The Swedish sensation Ludvig Åberg will undoubtedly draw a lot of attention, but since this is his first visit to the Plantation Course, which is typically a huge deal, we’re delighted to give him a wide space before the off.

Match analytics

As 2024 begins, Scheffler finds himself at a fascinating crossroads where his career has the potential to go in two very different directions. From tee to green, he’s the finest golfer on the planet, and if he can truly overcome his putting difficulties, he’ll be a formidable opponent every week. If that’s the case, we want to back him up right away. He’s the one they all need to beat here, assuming the new “wand“ behaves itself once more.

Lead After 1st Round and Win for Scottie Scheffler with odds of 23.00 at Bet365 is the market we suggest for betting on 2024 The Sentry.