Another busy week to start off the New Year in the golfing world with the Tournament of Champions taking place last weekend and the Sony Open teeing off later today.
Tournament of Champions
Xander Schauffele opened 2019 with his second consecutive victory with a one-shot win in the exclusive, winners-only field at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. He tied the course record with an 11-under 62 in the final round to come from five shots back and defeat Gary Woodland by one shot.
Schauffele moved up to No. 6 in the Official World Golf Rankings following his win in Hawaii and is all but assured of being the top ranked player of his group at the Dell Technologies Match Play as one of the top 16 ranked players in the world.
If Schauffele were to win any of the last three World Golf Championships events of the 2018-19 Season, he’d join Tiger Woods and Dustin Johnson as the only players in history to win multiple World Golf Championships events in a season.
Dell Technologies Match Play defending champion Bubba Watson finished 31st in his first start of the 2018-19 PGA TOUR Season at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Past Dell Technologies Match Play champions Dustin Johnson (2017) and Rory McIlroy (2015) each finished T4 at Kapalua.
Masters Odds
The latest odds for the 2019's Masters were released earlier this week. Xander Schauffele made a significant climb from 50/1 right down to 30/1 after his victory last weekend. He joins Fleetwood, Reed and Matsuyama who are all listed as 30/1. There is a tie for favourite with McIlroy, Spieth, Woods and world No.1 Rose all listed at 12/1. Woods has won the green jacket 4 times previous and went in as far as 9/1 last October. McIlroy is looking to complete his career grandslam by attaining the only major that has eluded him so far.
Followed closely behind this foursome are the likes of Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas and Brooks Koepka who are all more than capable of winning the tournament. Going into 2018's event, a case could have been made for nearly every golfer in the field. McIlroy had his first win in months under him, Mickelson and Thomas had wins underneath them and then Woods, Johnson and so on had all shown glimpses of potential. We cannot wait to see what this years event will behold.
Sony Open
The Sony Open this weeks signals the first full field PGA Tour event in nearly two months which is a welcome sight to all golfing fans. It is to be played at Waialae Country Club, Honolulu, Hawaii. Designed by Seth Raynor, Waialae is a short, tree-lined, wind-affected course with small Bermuda Greens.
Justin Thomas is a very worthy favourite having won this event in 2017. He had a solid outing last weekend with a tie for 3rd. We know he can play this course with rounds of 59 and 61 so it will be interesting to see what package he brings this week. It is the first time this year Jordan Spieth is to tee off and as a newly married man.
Coming off the back of his worst year as a Pro, Spieth will be looking to get back to Major winning form. Gary Woodland and Bryson Dechambeau have to be respected in the field after last weeks performances. Another event to see how some of the big golfers are shaping up for what will be a hectic 2019 season.