2025 Sentry Round 1 Tee Times, History, Course Preview

It’s the 72nd consecutive year that the Sentry will be the first stop on the new calendar, dating back to Al Besselink’s win in 1953.

This year, the Sentry at Kapalua’s Plantation Course on Maui boasts a 60-player field (sans Scottie Scheffler) with a $20 million purse. Without a cut, everyone’s getting a payday.

From the field, course and history, here’s what you need to know for 2025’s season opener.

2025 Sentry: The Field

The first of eight signature events this season, the Sentry’s champion will walk away with $3.6 million and 700 FedExCup points.

Who might that be?

The 60-player field now includes the top 50 in the 2024 FedExCup standings, along with tournament winners from last year (which was its sole qualification criteria before 2024).

Thirty-one Tour winners are teeing it up this week, with 15 making their Sentry debuts (Rafael Campos, Nick Dunlap, Austin Eckroat, Chris Gotterup, Harry Hall, Stephan Jaeger, Jake Knapp, Robert MacIntyre, Maverick McNealy, Matt McCarty, Matthieu Pavon, Taylor Pendrith, Davis Thompson, Aaron Rai, Kevin Yu).

The four players who qualified via the top 50 are Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Thomas Detry, Max Greyserman and Alex Noren.

Thirty-seven players in the field are ranked inside the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking, led by No. 2 Xander Schauffele. World No. 1 Scheffler withdrew after suffering a right hand injury on Christmas.

Three players in the field have won the Sentry before: Justin Thomas (2017, 2020), Schauffele (2019) and defending champion Chris Kirk.

Kirk won at 29 under, one stroke ahead of runner-up Sahith Theegala. It was Kirk's second victory in a year after an eight-year drought that included time away to treat alcoholism. Kirk was making his first appearance at The Sentry in eight years—and it sent the Georgia native to the Masters for the first time since 2016.

The last player to go back-to-back at Kapalua was Geoff Ogilvy (2009, 2010).

The Course: Kapalua

There aren’t many courses like the Plantation Course at Kapalua—and not just because of its scenic views.

It’s the only par-73 on Tour, stretching 7,596 yards with just three par 3s and seven holes that play longer than 500 yards. The par-5 18th is the Tour’s longest hole at 667 yards.

But the distance is nothing to fear; the course yields some bombs off the tee.

In 2003, Jonathan Byrd hit the Tour’s first 400-yard drive on the closing hole. And last season, the downhill par-4 seventh claimed the Tour’s sixth longest drives, with Max Homa leading the pack at 477 yards in Round 3.

Therefore, scores are always low.

Last season, it was the easiest course on Tour, producing a scoring average of 66.67, the lowest since the Tour began keeping records in 1983.

In 2022, Cam Smith won by shooting 34 under and set the Tour's record for the lowest score in relation to par, previously held by Ernie Els’s 31 under from 2003 at Kapalua. Jon Rahm and Matt Jones also broke Els’s mark in ‘22, finishing at 33 and 32 under—yet, didn’t win.

“I love this golf course,” Collin Morikawa said ahead of the 2024 Sentry. “It’s obviously a good thing that you’re starting here this year and you obviously want to start off with a win. You know there’s going to be a lot of birdies, a lot of eagles. Low scores are going to be out there. I know from past experience that you can never let your foot off the pedal and you just got to keep grinding out here and make those birdies.”

The Sentry: Great Moment In History

A quarter of a century ago, golf’s most extraordinary individual season kicked off at Kapalua.

Tied on the 72nd hole of the 2000 Sentry, Tiger Woods and Els matched eagles on the 600-yard par-5 18th and headed to a dramatic playoff. They both birdied the first bonus hole and then Woods won with a 40-footer for birdie, with Els missing one of roughly the same distance.

Tiger vs. Ernie.
In a playoff.
At Kapalua.

Over 20 years later, it's the gift that keeps on giving. pic.twitter.com/TRQBK0oIu3
— The Sentry (@TheSentry) December 25, 2020

Afterward, Els made a bold prediction.

“I think he’s a legend in the making, if he’s not already,” Els said. “... He’s 24. He’s probably going to be bigger than Elvis when he gets into his 40s.”

Elvis might be a stretch—but 2000 was integral to turning Woods into a worldwide phenomenon.

In 20 starts, he won nine times, with four runners-up and 17 top-5s. Starting on Day 2 of April's GTE Byron Nelson Classic, Woods shot under par in every round the rest of the season, with his record streak of 52 ending in January 2001. In turn, he posted the lowest season-long scoring average in PGA Tour history (68.17), topping Byron Nelson’s 68.33 in 1945.

Oh, and not to mention he won the year’s last three majors en route to pulling off the “Tiger Slam.”

At the ‘24 PNC Championship, the 15-time major champion was asked what the best year was—and he did not hesitate with his answer.

“I think 2000 I was good,” Woods said. “I just think that year in general. I had everything going at the same time. I drove it great, I hit my irons well, I made everything for a year, and so, but I was able to capitalize on good play at the same time.”

And it all started with a 40-footer at Kapalua.

How to Watch 2025 Sentry

The first two rounds will be on Golf Channel from 6-10 p.m. EST. The last two rounds will start on NBC and Peacock from 4-6 p.m. before moving back to Golf Channel from 6-8, with the final round, barring a Woods-Els-esque playoff, ending just as Vikings-Lions begins on Sunday Night Football.

Also, PGA Tour Live on ESPN+ will start coverage at 12:30 and 12:45 p.m. EST and end at 10 p..m. during the first two days, with the final two rounds airing from 1-8 p.m.