Steve Palmer's Tournament of Champions first-round preview, golf betting tips

When to watch

Sky Sports Main Event and Golf, 11pm Thursday

Best bets

Collin Morikawa to win twoball
3pts Evens Coral, Ladbrokes

Patrick Reed to beat Xander Schauffele
3pts Evens BoyleSports

Cameron Champ to beat Abraham Ancer
3pts 10-11 BoyleSports

Justin Thomas to beat Dustin Johnson
2pts 11-10 BoyleSports

Winning score -20 or worse
2pts 5-6 Betfair, Power

Preview

Sunny Hawaii will seem a far cry from snowy lockdown Britain this week as it hosts the Sentry Tournament of Champions, featuring Masters victor Dustin Johnson and world number two Jon Rahm.

Johnson joins defending champion Justin Thomas in the final first-round twoball at 10.30pm UK and Ireland time, while Rahm starts out alongside Xander Schauffele ten minutes earlier.

Thomas has twice been Sentry champion, including on the revised layout last year, and must be respected this week, so odds-against quotes about him outscoring Johnson over 72 holes are eye-catching. Thomas, 12th in the Mayakoba Classic and first in the PNC Father-Son Challenge, kept himself busy in December while Johnson was giving the practice ground a wide berth.

Martin Laird and Hudson Swafford start proceedings at 7.10pm, while a chalk-and-cheese twoball of Bryson DeChambeau and Brendon Todd tees off at 9pm. The twoball for punters to concentrate on, though, may be that of Collin Morikawa and Scottie Scheffler (10.10pm). Even-money Morikawa is an attractive betting proposition.

Morikawa has lots of family in Hawaii and has been a regular visitor all his life, first playing the Plantation Course when he was nine, so his comfort levels are high. He finished seventh on his Sentry debut last year - the first edition since the course was renovated in 2019 - and can hit the ground running.

Morikawa was tenth in the DP World Tour Championship just before Christmas, while Sentry debutant Scheffler has not competed since the Masters in the middle of November and will probably be rusty.

Another tournament match-bet option which appeals is Cameron Champ to defeat Abraham Ancer. Champ has finished 11th and 14th in two previous Kapalua starts, while Ancer is making his debut. The great strength of Ancer - driving accuracy - counts for little along the runway-like fairways of the Plantation Course.

Outright fancy Patrick Reed appears a gift at evens against Xander Schauffele, who went down with Covid-19 over Christmas and admitted this week that even just walking the Plantation Course has been difficult. Reed, a former Kapalua champion who was third in the DP World Tour Championship just before Christmas, should be clear favourite against an opponent slowly working his way back to full fitness.

Course changes, as well as three breezy days, saw the winning score drop from minus 23 (2019) to minus 14 last year. With Thursday and Sunday expected to be windy this time, 5-6 about 20 under or worse winning is a fair price.

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