Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas Favored at Sentry Tournament of Champions in Maui

Posted on: January 2, 2020, 09:58h. 

Last updated on: January 2, 2020, 10:24h.

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World No. 3 Jon Rahm and No. 4 Justin Thomas are the favorites at this week’s Tournament of Champions at the Plantation Course at Kapalua in Maui, Hawaii.

Jon Rahm golf odds Justin Thomas
Jon Rahm and 34 other 2019 PGA Tour winners tee off their 2020 calendar years in Hawaii. (Image: AP)

The field is open to those who won on the PGA Tour in the previous season. In 2020, 35 players are in Maui for the calendar opener.

Rahm is at 9/2 (+450) – implied odds of 18.18 percent, a $100 bet netting $450. Thomas has the second-shortest line at 5/1, a $100 wager returning $500 should JT open 2020 with a victory.

Thomas won the Tournament of Champions in 2017 with a score of -22 to win by three strokes.

Defending champion Xander Schauffele is next at 8/1, a line he shares with Dustin Johnson. DJ has dominated Kapalua in the past, winning in 2013 and 2018, the latter victory by a margin of eight strokes.

Bettors looking for a longshot will find it with Martin Trainer, the winner of the 2019 Puerto Rico Open, held as an alternative event for those players who didn’t qualify for the WGC-Dell Match Play. Trainer is listed at 500/1, meaning just a $5 bet would net $2,500.

JT “Disappointed”

Justin Thomas is building a Hall of Fame resume. The 26-year-old has one major (2017 PGA Championship), 11 PGA Tour wins, and was the leading money winner in 2017 and 2018.

Despite all of his successes, Thomas admits he believes he should have won more.

I’m disappointed I haven’t achieved more, to be honest,” Thomas said Tuesday at Kapalua. “I shouldn’t say disappointed. But, I mean, I’m pleased with my career thus far. But I feel like I could have and should have won a lot more tournaments, and definitely should have contended and won some more majors”

“So, that’s just my opinion,” Thomas said candidly. However, his recent goals haven’t been only related to golf.

“Last year, a big goal of mine was to start a foundation, and we had a very successful first foundation event,” Thomas explained. “Although last year might not have been the golf year I wanted, it was pretty awesome starting a foundation and having such a successful first event. It kind of puts things in perspective.”

Woods Schedule

Tiger Woods opted to forego the Tournament of Champions, leading to the question as to when we might see the 2019 Masters winner back inside the ropes in 2020.

Woods hasn’t committed to any events yet. But he could make his first start of the year at the Farmers Insurance Open January 23-26 at Torrey Pines, the famed course where he won the 2008 US Open.

In 2019, Woods teed off his year at the Farmers where he finished T20. He then played the Genesis Open in February, as well as the WGC-Mexico Championship that same month.