New year, new leaderboard! As the 2025 season tees off, we’re back to run down the game’s biggest stories, every week. And we start with a bit of history …
1. Matsuyama goes low, low, low
The setup at The Sentry is ideal for low scoring: a favorable course whose strongest — really, only — defense is the wind. So when there’s no wind, well, you get results like you had this weekend, where Hideki Matsuyama carded. He won, of course, a three-shot victory over Collin Morikawa. This is Matsuyama’s 11th career victory and third in the past 10 months. He rose to 5th in the world with this win, and is in prime position to claim his second major in 2025. Structure your wagers accordingly.
2. Morikawa again comes up just short
We’re just days into 2025, but Morikawa reeled off a strong early contender for quote of the year when commenting on Matsuyama: “Excuse my language, but f—! Thirty-five under par, that’s low!” Morikawa finished second for a maddening 10th time in his 122 Tour starts. He has finished in the top 7 in all six of his appearances at The Sentry. One of these times he’s got to break through, right?
3. TGL begins; will indoor golf thrive in ‘25?
TGL, the new tech-infused indoor golf league, begins play this week with players including Xander Schauffele, Wyndham Clark and Ludvig Aberg teeing it up for some virtual/real golf. The league is a significant gamble by the Tour and TGL’s founding organization, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s TMRW Sports. The hope is that prime-time weeknight golf will keep the interest of golf fans through the chilly days of winter right up until the azaleas bloom.
4. Could the Tour Championship become match play?
The PGA Tour’s season-ending event has spent most of its existence as the target of criticism, and this most recent iteration — which gives the leader coming into the event a multiple-stroke bonus on the field — hasn’t quelled critics. and the Associated Press reported that the Tour has been in conversations to change the Tour Championship’s format to some form of match play to stoke interest. TV generally hates match play because of its uncertain timing and possibility that stars could get knocked out early. But a bit more tension to an event that, in fans’ minds, has grown stale could be exactly what the Tour Championship needs.
5. Taylor Pendrith, albatross hunter
Out for 2025: Holes-in-one. In for 2025: Albatrosses! Sure, anyone can roll in an ace. (Well, except me. And probably you.) But an albatross on a par 5? That’s a whole different skill set and luck equation. On Sunday, Taylor Pendrith carded the first albatross in the history of the Sentry, draining his second shot from 203 yards out on the par-5 5th hole:
Even more ridiculous: Pendrith said that was his eighth career albatross, compared with three holes-in-one. Folks, that’s just silly. Also, you definitely want Pendrith on your alternate-shot team at the company outing.
Mulligan of the Week: JT knocks out Adam Scott
Adam Scott (T15, -21 on the week) and Justin Thomas (T26, -19) were well off the pace all week, but they had a fun — if maddening — moment on Friday. Thomas’ approach on the par-4 6th looked good, very good … right up until Scott got in the way:
Both players ended up parring the hole, so no real harm done. And hell, it’s Hawaii; nobody’s getting too upset about anything this week.
That’ll do it for this week! Swing away and roll ‘em true, and we’ll see you back here next week!
