Golfbet recap: Chris Kirk rides short game to longshot victory in season opener at The Sentry

The weather reports for Sunday in Kapalua were spot-on. We expected nearly dead-calm conditions for the final round of action at The Sentry, and that is exactly what we got. With little to no wind in the air, the players went incredibly low on the final day of the season's first tournament. For the second time in four days, every one of the 59 players in the field shot an under-par round – but nobody went lower over the four days than the Georgia Bulldog, Chris Kirk.

Kirk picked up his second victory on TOUR in less than a year, holding off Jordan Spieth and Sahith Theegala down the stretch, winning The Sentry with a score of 29-under par. Kirk was quite the long shot pre-tournament, going off at anywhere from +15000 to +20000 to win this Signature Event outright.

Theegala, who opened as the First Round Leader with a 9-under round of 64, shot 10 under on Sunday and had a birdie putt on the 18th hole lip out for what would have been a round of 62. In hindsight, that would have been good enough to force a playoff with Kirk. But just after Theegala's putt on 18 lipped out, Kirk struck a 5-iron from 209 yards out on the 17th hole to 3 feet from the pin. That would prove to be the game-winning shot, as it allowed Kirk to tap in for birdie and comfortably coast home with an easy par on the par-5 finishing hole for the sixth TOUR victory of his career.

Chris Kirk odds to win The Sentry (via BetMGM Sportsbook)

Pre-tournament: +12500
After Round 1 (Trailed by 3): +10000
After Round 2 (Trailed by 2): +3500
After Round 3 (Led by 1): +400

Kirk, who was one of the best players on TOUR last season with a wedge in his hand, got it done again this week with the short game. He was No. 1 in this field for the week in Scrambling, Total Putts, and Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green, and was 11th in SG: Putting. Having grown up in Georgia and playing for the University of Georgia, Kirk was very comfortable with this week's Bermudagrass putting surfaces. And has a liking for golf in Hawaii too as he has finished in the top five at the Sony Open in Hawaii four times in his career, including two runner-up finishes. Kirk is scheduled to play in next week's Sony Open in Hawaii at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu and will likely be tied to a short price to win it.

Jordan Spieth led the field in SG: Putting, gaining nearly six strokes on the field for the week, but it was the driver that once again gave the former Sentry winner trouble. He ranked 35th in the field for SG: Off-the-Tee for the week and only hit 50 percent of these massively wide fairways. Theegala was solid all the way around and was second only to Kirk in SG: Total. Theegala put together bookend rounds of 9- and 10-under par. But It was Friday and Saturday that hurt him, as his rounds of 69 and 68 were only at or below field average.

Pre-tournament outright picks from Golfbet experts

Ben Everill: Xander Schauffele +1400 (T10)
Will Gray: Tom Kim +2500 (T45)
Chris Breece: Patrick Cantlay +1400 (T12)
Matt DelVecchio: Patrick Cantlay +1400 (T12)
Rob Bolton: Collin Morikawa +1200 (T5)
Mike Glasscott:

It is now on to island of Oahu and the Sony Open in Hawaii at Waialae as the fortnight in Hawaii continues on TOUR. This is a Full-Field Event, with a 36-hole cut, and many of the players from The Sentry will be taking a puddle jumper over to Oahu to partake. This will be a stronger field than what we've seen in recent years. Ludvig Åberg, Tyrrell Hatton, and Matt Fitzpatrick will be playing in this event for the first time. Also returning to action for just the second time since last spring, Will Zalatoris is in the field at Waialae.

We go from behemoth fairways at Kapalua to a golf course that features a premium on accuracy. A polar opposite test in many ways. My early handicapping tip for the Sony Open in Hawaii, pay attention to players who have also fared well at Colonial Country Club as we have seen a great deal of crossover success between these two golf courses. Case in point: Chris Kirk.

Rob Bolton Sleeper Picks and Golfbet Insider results

Mackenzie Hughes Top 20 +210 (T25)
Jason Day Top 10 +300 (T10)
Corey Conners Top Canadian +220 (T33)
Lucas Glover Top 20 +210 (T29)
Kurt Kitayama Top 20 +240 (T29)
Luke List Top 20 +188 (T22)
Denny McCarthy Top 10 +350 (T43)
Andrew Putnam Top 20 +210 (T40)
Sepp Straka Top Continental European +550 (T12)
Byeong-Hun An Top 20 +170 (4th)
J.T. Poston to win +10000 (T5)
Russell Henley Top 5 +700 (T52)
Akshay Bhatia Top 10 +600 (T14)
Erik van Rooyen Top 20 +240 (T22)
Tom Hoge Top 20 +210 (T38)

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