Sentry Tournament of Champions: Steve Palmer's final-round preview, best bets

When to watch

Sky Sports Golf, 11pm Sunday

Best bets

Xander Schauffele to win Sentry Tournament of Champions
2pts 6-4 general

Gary Woodland to beat Kevin Kisner in twoball
2pts 8-11 Betway, Hills, Sky Bet

Story so far

The old hunter has become the new hunted in the Sentry Tournament of Champions – Xander Schauffele is bidding to follow up his incredible come-from-behind effort of 12 months ago with a successful title defence from the front.

Schauffele, who fired a final-round 62 to win by a shot last year, takes a one-shot lead into the closing 18 holes at the Plantation Course this time. The 2017 Sentry champion, Justin Thomas, is alone in second place.

Schauffele, 8-1 and a market drifter at the start of the week, is 6-4 favourite going into the denouement. Thomas can be backed at 7-4, having been 5-1 ante-post. Pre-tournament favourite Jon Rahm is four shots behind and a 14-1 chance for success.

Leaderboard
-11 Xander Schauffele
-10 Justin Thomas
-8 Gary Woodland
-7 Kevin Kisner, Jon Rahm, Collin Morikawa, J.T. Poston, Matthew Wolff, Joaquin Niemann, Patrick Reed
-6 Matt Kuchar, Nate Lashley, Patrick Cantlay, Rickie Fowler
-5 Dustin Johnson, Lanto Griffin

Best prices
6-4 X Schauffele, 7-4 J Thomas, 14 G Woodland, J Rahm, 22 P Reed, 33 C Morikawa, 40 J Niemann, 45 R Fowler, 50 M Wolff, K Kisner, P Cantlay, J.T. Poston, 80 D Johnson, 100 bar

Final-round preview

Xander Schauffele loves the Plantation Course and has the scent of a successful title defence wafting around his nostrils. The leader, with another tough, breezy day forecast, is probably going to be difficult to shift from his lofty Kapalua perch.

Schauffele put a new driver, putter and ball into play this week, but the equipment changes have not stopped him doing what he does best – namely churning out greens in regulation and making hardly any long-game errors.

The jury is still out on the new putter – he has not holed his fair share this week – but the driver certainly seems set to stay in the bag. It has allowed him to hit his ball even lower than normal off the tee, boring through the Kapalua winds, and those stingers will help again on Sunday.

Schauffele has a one-shot advantage over Presidents Cup colleague Justin Thomas and can defend that lead from the tee boxes. Thomas has been laserlike with his irons, but loose with driver, and may deliver one or two destructive Sunday shots which allow the leader to repel him.

Of course, this is not a two-runner race, especially as both Schauffele and Thomas have been unconvincing on the greens and could tread water if their putters stay cold, but it would be a surprise should anyone else overcome such a high-class duo.

Gary Woodland will enjoy the comfort of chasing rather than defending, having been pipped by Schauffele last year, and the man in third can be fancied to see off Kevin Kisner in the penultimate twoball. The significant distance advantage of Woodland over Kisner should prove decisive on a breezy day when holes played into the wind are beastly.

Woodland could apply some heat to the front two, while Collin Morikawa, Jon Rahm and Matthew Wolff are dangerous from four shots behind, and Rickie Fowler, Patrick Cantlay and Dustin Johnson are close enough to 'do a Schauffele' and conjure a potentially title-winning round in the low-60s.

The most likely scenario, though, is that Schauffele and Thomas are duelling for glory over the final few holes, with the gritty Californian edging home just in front. The final pair are scheduled on the tee at 10.20pm UK and Ireland time.

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