The Sentry Tournament of Champions: Who’s hot?
By Bill Felber
They can’t be ruled out
- Jason Kokrak, 0.39
- Billy Horschel, 0.30
- Adam Scott, 0.30
- Carlos Ortiz, 0.28
- Scottie Scheffler, 0.15
- Abraham Ancer, -0.10
- Daniel Berger, -0.20
- Hideki Matsuyama, -0.31
- Sungjae Im, -0.32
Im is the hot figure among this group. His fall has been marked by the usual frenetic level of activity, starting eight of the 11 events since the U.S. Open. He also comes to Kapalua with the most holes played this season.
The problem is that with the exception of his runner-up finish at the Masters, those performances have been middling, not hot. There’s only one top 20 in the group, a tie for 13th at the Shriners, and his most showing was a listless 72-69 missed cut at the RSM.
His missed cut at the Shriners undid Matsuyama’s otherwise upbeat recent performance sheet, which includes a tie for 17th at the Open, a tie for second in Houston and a tie for 13th at the Masters.
Berger has not contended this fall, but he has played uniformly, which raises his hopes. His four starts this season include nothing worse than a tie for 34th, his t17 at the Zozo being the best.
Hunch players may want to look at Kokrak, one of the tour’s most enigmatic performers this season. He followed a t17 at the U.S. Open by missing the cut at the Shriners. One week later he won the CJ Cup; following that with a tie for 17th at the Zozo.
His last two starts have gone the other way: missed cuts at the Masters and RSM. Still, Kokrak has rung up more than $2 million in earnings already this season, a total that ranks third on Tour. That alone makes him hot by any meaningful definition.