Sentry Tournament of Champions Round 1 Recap
Rahm and Cantlay Pick Up Where They Left Off, Trail Cameron Smith by 1 Stroke After Round 1 of PGA Tour’s Sentry Tournament of Champions
Here we have a Sentry Tournament of Champions round 1 recap, in case you don’t want to miss the details. After 12 holes, Patrick Cantlay and Jon Rahm—the top-two finishers in last year’s FedEx Cup—were racking up pars at Kapalua but sat well behind leader Cameron Smith, who finished his round with an 8-under 65 in round one of the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii.
Then starting at the 13th hole, the defending FedEx Cup champ and world’s No. 1 golfer turned things up. Cantlay finished the last six holes in a fury, going six-under in that span with four birdies and an eagle on the par-5 15th hole. Rahm birdied four of the last six, and both men finished at 7-under, one shot behind Smith.
Not bad for two golfers coming off a long layoff. Besides the Ryder Cup in late September, Cantlay hadn’t competed since the Tour Championship in early September, and Rahm took a break from golf in October after suffering from burnout.
“I still think I’m a little rusty and I saw that in my start,” said Cantlay, referring to going 1-under in his first 12 holes. “I got away with a couple of loose swings and one flier on the sixth hole where I was able to make a par, but maybe shouldn’t have.”
“You can always expect a little bit of rust,” Rahm said. “I took time off, but I wasn’t on the couch doing nothing. I was still working out. I was still practicing as if I was still in the season. I took maybe three weeks off of golf, which were very needed. But even though I was home, I was practicing.
Smith, an Australian who could’ve made more noise in the FedEx Cup last year if not for losing a playoff to Tony Finau at The Northern Trust, started with two eagles early on his way to the first-round lead.
Daniel Berger joined Rahm and Cantlay at -7 on the day. Behind that trio, three golfers were at -6: Sungjae Im, Kevin Na, and Erik van Rooyen.
Only four golfers didn’t break par, but three are surprises. Justin Thomas, a two-time winner at Kapalua and a co-favorite with Rahm to start the tournament, is tied for last at +1 with Patrick Reed. Defending champion Harris English also shot even par.
Fortunately for that group, this is a no-cut event, so they have time to make their way back into contention starting in round two on Friday.
Top Odds
After Rahm proved that he hasn’t lost a step, he dropped from +750 to open the tournament to now sit at +400 to win it. Cantlay improved from +1000 to +550. Im was one of our longshots to watch before the event began at +2500, and he can now be had for +1400. Viktor Hovland and Xander Schauffele (both at +2000) are worth a look, as each sit four shots off the lead.
Golf betting odds to win the Sentry Tournament of Champions courtesy of Jazzsports
| GOLFERS | ODDS TO WIN THE 2022 SENTRY TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS |
| Jon Rahm | +400 |
| Patrick Cantlay | +550 |
| Cameron Smith | +650 |
| Daniel Berger | +900 |
| Collin Morikawa | +1100 |
| Sungjae Im | +1400 |
| Brooks Koepka | +1600 |
| Bryson DeChambeau | +1600 |
| Viktor Hovland | +2000 |
| Xander Schauffele | +2000 |
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