At long last, the PGA TOUR offseason is over and the 2025 season is set to begin. The TOUR will be in Maui this week for The Sentry, which is a Signature Event. The Plantation Course at Kapalua Resort will be the host and measures as a 7,596-yard par 73.
This will be a 60-man, no-cut event, with the only eligible players not teeing it up being Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood and Shane Lowry. McIlroy almost never plays this event, while Scheffler just underwent hand surgery and will be sidelined for three to four weeks.
This event used to be reserved for only the previous year’s winners, but the criteria has since changed to both the previous year’s winners and anyone inside the FedEx Cup top 50.
Below, I have outlined three of my favorite DraftKings plays for the week.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $500K Pitch + Putt [$100K to 1st]
Xander Schauffele ($11,000)
With no Scheffler or McIlroy in the field this week, it becomes simply too hard to fade Schauffele at just $11,000. Over the past 12 months in this field, the X-Man ranks No. 1 in SG: Tee-to-Green, SG: Off-the-Tee, SG: Approach and Total Strokes Gained, while sitting fourth in SG: Putting. If not for Scheffler’s magical season, Schauffele would have easily won Player of the Year in 2024, as he posted seven top-fives, six top-10s and two wins — both of which came at major championships.
In addition, he absolutely loves playing at Kapalua, having posted a win, a T2, T5 and T10 in four of his six full starts here. Schauffele’s floor/ceiling combination is higher than anyone in this field by a mile, and things would have to go incredibly wrong for him not to finish top-10 here again this week.
There is absolutely no reason to fade him in any contest format outside of game theory.
Byeong Hun An ($8,400)
I am expecting a massive season from Benny An in 2025, and that should start this week in Maui. He’s coming off his second career win on the DP World Tour in his last start, which was at the Genesis Championship back in October. In 2024, An made the cut in 15 of his 20 standard PGA TOUR starts, while posting six top-10 finishes.
He made his Sentry debut last season and absolutely cooked, finishing T4, while gaining 1.8 or more strokes ball-striking, putting and around-the-green. Kapalua sets up absolutely perfect for the South Korean, as it’s a bomber’s paradise with wide-open fairways and large greens. It’s a course designed for birdie makers, which is good because An ranks eighth in this field over the past 12 months in BOB% and 18th in Eagle rate.
An really turned up his game in big-boy events last season as well, finishing T16 at the Masters, T13 at the Open Championship, T8 at the Arnold Palmer and solo third at Wells Fargo.
At just $8,400, with four guaranteed rounds from him this week, I expect An to massively exceed his salary-based expectations and potentially even contend.
Eric Cole ($6,900)
Despite Kapalua being a longer track, it almost always ends up turning into a putting contest, and we know few can roll the rock like Cole. The 2023 rookie of the year regressed a bit last season, but still put up five top-10 finishes in 32 starts, most of which came at birdie-fest type of events (T6 Rocket Mortgage, T7 John Deere Classic, T7 Wyndham Championship). Cole also finished T6 the last time we saw him, which was at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP back in October.
In addition, he posted a T14 in his debut at Kapalua last season, while gaining 1.6 strokes on approach and another 4.19 putting. Over his past 50 rounds in this field (which was really when his game started to click), Cole ranks eighth in BOB%, and No. 1 in BOB% from the fairway, both of which will be paramount this week at arguably the easiest course on the PGA TOUR.
At just $6,900, Cole is one of the best value plays on the slate, especially when you factor in that he’ll be getting four full rounds, as he missed 10 cuts in 2024.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $500K Pitch + Putt [$100K to 1st]
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and customer (my username is Lan1228) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.