Weekly 18: Don’t expect Spieth slam talk to slow him down

Defending champion and two-time winner Dustin Johnson will lead the limited field of 34 winners in this week’s Sentry Tournament of Champions, the traditional re-start of the PGA TOUR season after the six-week holiday break. Johnson won by eight strokes last year in the first of three wins during the 2017-18 season. His first win at Kapalua was in 2013. The Golf Channel will carry primetime coverage starting at 6 p.m. ET for all four rounds. PGA TOUR Radio’s coverage is 4 p.m.-10 p.m. in the first two rounds; 3 p.m.-8 p.m. ET on Saturday; and 5 p.m.-10 p.m. ET for Sunday’s final round. Here’s a look at some of the Featured Groups for Thursday’s first round at the Plantation Course (current FedExCup ranking in parentheses): Patrick Reed (82) — Since 2014, Reed is a combined 68-under par at the Plantation Course at Kapalua. His 68 under during that stretch is tied for second with Dustin Johnson, trailing Jordan Spieth by eight strokes. Jon Rahm (129) — Rahm finished inside of the top 5 in 25 percent of the 20 starts he made last season and also comes off a win at the Hero World Challenge (an unofficial TOUR event). Round 1 tee time: 4:40 p.m. ET (11:40 a.m. local) Jason Day (36) — Day is one of two players who have qualified for the TOUR Championship in each of the last six seasons (Dustin Johnson is the other). Francesco Molinari (173) — Last season, Molinari was one of two players who ranked inside the top 10 in both Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green (Dustin Johnson was the other). Round 1 tee time: 4:50 p.m. ET (11:50 a.m. local) Xander Schauffele (2) — Schauffele has made 20 or more birdies in two of his last three events on TOUR. It took him 57 events to record his first three events making 20 or more birdies compared to his last three events where he has recorded 20 or more birdies twice. Rory McIlroy (186) — McIlroy is making his first start at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Since 1997, just three players have won the Sentry making their first appearance at the event (1997 Tiger Woods, 2002 Sergio Garcia, 2008 Daniel Chopra). Round 1 tee time: 5 p.m. ET (Noon local) Webb Simpson (24) – The reigning PLAYERS champion has played a total of 199 rounds since the start of the 2016-17 PGA TOUR season. In those 199 rounds, he has played 20 percent at a score of 66 or better. Simpson’s 40 rounds of 66 or better is the most on TOUR by five rounds. Bubba Watson (N/A) — A big part of Watson’s success in his three-win 2017-18 season was his performance on par 4s and on the greens. Last season, Watson played the par 4s at 46 strokes better than in the 2016-17 season and three-putted once every 38.4 holes compared to once every 28.4 holes the previous season. Round 1 tee time: 5:10 p.m. ET (12:10 p.m. local) Brooks Koepka (4) – Last season’s PGA TOUR Player of the Year led the TOUR in final round scoring average, playing 12 of his 15 final rounds at par or better including two rounds of 63. Keegan Bradley (47) – His win at the BMW Championship was his first on TOUR in 2,227 days. Bradley was one of 11 players to end a victory drought in 2018 of more than 1,600 days between victories on TOUR. Round 1 tee time: 5:20 p.m. ET (12:20 p.m. local) Billy Horschel (53) — Last season, Horschel hit 67.80 percent of his fairways and 71.75 percent of his greens in regulation marking his best Driving Accuracy and Greens in Regulation Percentage in a season on the PGA TOUR. Justin Thomas (63) — Thomas has played nine of his 12 rounds under par and 10 of 12 of his rounds par or better at the Plantation course at Kapalua. Thomas has a career scoring average of 69.92 at the Sentry. Round 1 tee time: 5:30 p.m. ET (12:30 p.m. local) Bryson DeChambeau (8) — In his last five starts, DeChambeau has played 17 rounds under par and has a stroke average of 67.2. Dustin Johnson (146) – In winning last year, Johnson made a field-tying best 23 birdies. Even more impressive is the distance of his average birdie putt made measured less than 5 feet. In the ShotLink era, he’s the only PGA TOUR winner to make more than 20 birdies and average less than five feet (4-10) per birdie putt made. Round 1 tee time: 5:40 p.m. ET (12:40 p.m. local)

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