⛳️ Bets for The Sentry

Plus: Rory Talks LIV, Jersey Jerry, and Jason Day x Malbon.

Author

The Shanks Gator
January 03, 2024

Good afternoon! Welcome to Shanks. The 2024 PGA Tour season officially begins tomorrow in Maui AND there are only 71 days until The Players and 96 days until The Masters. Time flies when you’re having fun.

WM Open Giveaway: We are giving the guy until Saturday to respond. If we don’t hear from him by then, we are picking a new winner. Ya hate to see it.

Here's what we've got for ya today:

  • Doin Lines: The Sentry

  • Jersey Jerry Attempts Hole in One - Not Going Well.

  • Jason Day Leaves Nike For Malbon

  • Shots Heard Round The World

  • Rory Softens LIV Stance

  • Thing We’d Buy If We Weren’t Broke

Doin Lines: The Sentry

🚩 Location: The Plantation Course at Kapalua Resort, Maui, HI

💰 Purse: $20M -$3.6M to first.

👑 Previous Winner: Jon Rahm (Suspended)

👀 Watch On: Golf Channel, Peacock

The Sentry Field and How To Watch

For the first time in a decade, the PGA Tour has a calendar year schedule and all the big dogs (those who are still left on the tour, that is) are headed to Hawaii for The Sentry.

The Sentry is the first of 36 tournaments and 8 signature events in 2024.

It’s a limited field event (59 golfers) with an elevated purse and no cut.

The field features everybody who won on tour last year + the top 50 on the Fedex Cup points list.

That list includes; Scottie Scheffler, Viktor Hovland, Patrick Cantlay, Collin Morikawa, Ludvig Aberg, Max Homa and more.

How To Watch

  • Thursday: 6-10 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)

  • Friday: 6-10 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)

  • Saturday: 4-6 p.m. (NBC); 6-8 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)

  • Sunday: 4-6 p.m. (NBC); 6-8 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)

Previous Winners 

2019 – Justin Thomas

2020 – Harris English

2021 – Cam Smith

2022 - Jon Rahm

Shanks Picks

If you’ve watched this event in the past, then you know one thing for certain - the scores are gonna be VERY low. Expect the winner to be 20-under or better.

Winner: Max Homa +1400

This is more of a recent form play combined with the fact that Shanks always fades the field favorites (in this case Scheffler and Hovland) in hopes of a bigger number a little bit further down the board. He finished T3 in Maui last year and is coming off of a DP World Tour win in South Africa a few weeks ago.

Top Five: Tony Finau +500

Again, this is another example of trying to find a better number a little further down the board combined with recent form (there’s not a lot of options for recent form this time of year). Tony was T7 in this event last year & T4 at the Hero World Challenge in December.

Top Ten: Jason Day +300

Jason Day, who had a career resurgence last year, will be showing up this year with a whole new look, as he just announced that he signed with Malbon, which is known for making golf apparel that you don’t normally see on tour. Call this one a vibes pick.

Top Twenty: Corey Conners +138

Corey Conners is one of the best ball strikers in golf, but for the last two years he’s ranked near the bottom of the barrel with his wedges and putter. It’s hard to find a decent number for a top-twenty finish in a limited field event, so we are rocking with Corey here.

Longshot: Sahith Theegala +6000

If you’ve been a Shanks reader from the beginning, you know this is our boy. He ended up with eight top-ten finishes last year and won The Fortinet.

Don’t forget our friends at BetMGM offer up to $1500 back in bonus bets if you lose.

  1. Sign up for BetMGM here.

  2. Place your bet.

  3. Get up to $1500 paid back in bonus bets, if you don’t win.

Jersey Jerry Attempts To Hit A Hole In One - It’s Not Going Well

Okay, the headline doesn’t really do it justice. Jerry is on a live stream and he’s not allowed to stop until he hits a hole in one.

So far, he’s taken 1,476 strokes and has been going for almost 13 hours. He may collapse and die soon.

Jason Day Leaves Nike for Malbon

Jason Day’s 7 year, $100 million dollar contract with Nike is over.

Yesterday, it was announced that Day would be signing with Malbon Golf, a brand we’ve featured in our “Thing We’d Buy If We Weren’t Broke” section many times.

Maybe we shouldn’t read too far into this, but maybe it’s also a sign that the world of golf is changing, and even getting younger. THANK GOD.

Malbon doesn’t make clothes for stiffs. They make clothes that combine vintage golf looks with modern streetwear, and they do it well. Look how baggy those pants are on the right!

Day is the first PGA Tour player that Malbon has signed since their launch in 2017 and it marks a major inroads for indie brands breaking into golf. We’re here for it.

Shots Heard Round The World

Rory Softens LIV Stance

Rory recently sat down on the Stick To Football podcast and covered a wide range of topics. He admitted that he’s never had an offer from LIV, while also really softening his stance on the upstart league and the players who joined it.

Is this a sign that a merger will go through after all?

“I was maybe a little judgmental of the guys who went to LIV Golf at the start,” he said. “It was a bit of a mistake on my part because I now realize that not everyone is in my position or in Tiger Woods’s position.”

“I can’t judge people for making that decision, so if I regret anything, it was probably being too judgmental at the start. I wouldn’t say I’ve lost the fight against LIV, but I’ve just accepted the fact that this is part of our sport now. We’re professional golfers and we play to make a living and make money, so I understand it.”

Thing We'd Buy If We Weren't Broke

It wouldn’t feel right to not feature some new Malbon gear today after the big Jason Day news. Unfortunately, its freezing cold here at the Shanks HQ on the east coast, so we’ve gotta pick something that keeps our bones warm.

How about the Ritter Padded Vest? It’s even got pockets to keep your hands warm.

That’s all folks! See you Saturday Morning.