Bolton: Opening Drive offers first look at new fantasy game

I’m back! OK, so I never left, but the Fantasy Insider is back for 2025.

This weekly column is familiar to many for whom its evolution also is familiar. It’s undergone numerous necessary changes during my first 15 years in this virtual chair, and it’s time for another.

The majority of the focus in this space will be as an aid in playing PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by PGA TOUR Superstore. It’s the newest iteration hosted on the PGA TOUR’s website and app. My analysis and advice will be customized to the test of the week and extend all the way through the TOUR Championship in August. Additional space at the bottom is reserved for attention to detail that’s relevant and timely.

If you’ve played any of the previous versions of PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, there are two impactful changes to this one, so I must strongly encourage you to read my primer that was published a couple of weeks ago. It explains the introduction of the invaluable captain and how the new auto-swap function will work. The latter is in direct response to a popular demand to avoid pitfalls existing in fantasy golf games that allow mid-tournament roster changes like this one. There are other modifications and enhancements detailed in the primer, and others are in the pipeline. Suffice it to say that I’m excited about what’s in store.

Like the Fantasy Insider, Expert Picks also will be published on Tuesdays. Naturally, I’ll be a part of our little league. In fact, I’m the defending champion, so there are additional stakes for me to crack the code on going back-to-back for the first time. Not that I need that motivation to deliver my best work for you here, but I hate to lose more than I love to win, so there will be no shortage of angles covered no matter when you check-in.

Although I appreciate all invites to join many leagues, I’m in only one for the sake of simplicity. It’s “PGA TOUR Experts” with Taylor2 as the Commissioner. League names are unique, so it will be easy to locate them using the search tool on the Leagues page if you’d like to join. It’s public.

Before we dive into The Sentry, most of the questions that I have fielded on X during the holiday break concern draft leagues, but if you’re not yet aware, my annual full-membership fantasy ranking was released on Dec. 18. It includes the usual review of what’s new (which is not insignificant in 2025), definitions of status, 222 golfers ranked and the popular Cheat Sheet, which is formatted to print on one page. A few days later, details of all golfers on medical extensions were finalized, so I added a post that includes another seven golfers and terms for all. Please connect with me publicly or privately on X whenever necessary.

Without further ado – and there was a lot of it, but it’s customary when the flag drops on a new season – it’s time to build a competitive lineup on the Plantation Course at Kapalua Resort.

Captain

NOTE: All points scored by this player are doubled. Be aggressive.

As noted in my primer, your only limitation for how many times you can designate a golfer as your captain is determined by how many starts you have remaining for him. While it can seem obvious to go hard on the best of the best every time, you’re still limited to three starts per golfer per segment, so consider the captain as a bonus for a golfer that you plan on starting in every round. Despite the obvious, this fabulous wrinkle still deserves strategy.

With respect to the elite contributors that are likely to warrant more than three starts in a segment, generally speaking, your plan should be to consider this subset for your captain on courses where fantasy scoring will be highest relative to others. Granted, this list of golfers is short, but it’s why you must commit to burning the start and leaving him in for all four rounds. It’s an addition that actually might benefit new gamers who haven’t dealt with roster management across segments. This is going to be a difference-maker.

As it concerns The Sentry, Kapalua is one of if not the easiest course for scoring every season. It’s the only par 73 on the schedule, and it’s the only tournament in Segment 1 without a cut. Quite simply, do not overthink it. It’s exactly what you need for a hot start.

Xander Schauffele … The No. 1 in my Power Rankings is the easy choice. He has a win and a playoff loss on the course, but what I love the most is that he doesn’t have to beat the injured Scottie Scheffler (see Notable W/Ds) below. Schauffele all but lamented having the season of his career in 2024 and still not coming close to challenging the breadth of what Scheffler accomplished. This week grants Schauffele an open lane to post numbers in the win column and in the FedExCup standings.

Other considerations

• Collin Morikawa … No. 2 in the Power Rankings. He’s gone T7-T7-T5-second-T5 with a scoring average of 67.80 in 20 rounds at Kapalua.
• Sungjae Im … No. 4 in the Power Rankings. His scoring average in 16 rounds here is 67.44, and it includes a third-round 73 last year. A scorer’s scorer who enjoyed a dynamite extended stretch to conclude 2024.

REMINDER: To designate a captain, select “C” beside the starter you want as your captain.

Rounding out the roster

Barring mid-tournament withdrawals and disqualifications, all 60 golfers will contribute scores in all four rounds, so use the bench wisely.

The traditional method is to rotate one or both on your bench with your three starters who aren’t your captain at some point, but that only should matter if either are contending for serious FedExCup bonus points after three rounds. (Unless wind or other weather encourages stacking, the difference in straight fantasy scoring in the first three rounds is negligible in the long term.) The Sentry is a Signature Event, so the winner will receive 700 FedExCup points of which 70 will be added to his fantasy total if rostered as a starter in the final round. Most PGA TOUR events yield 500 points to the winner, thus awarding 50 bonus points.

Short of any rotation, the angle in building your bench is to hedge with stars so that your opposition doesn’t have a chance to jump out to a big lead with the same guys.

At times this season, I’ll reference strategic terms like stymie and push. A stymie is a defensive measure activated by front-runners. A push is accepting a tie no matter your position on the fantasy leaderboard. In the first week and the format of The Sentry, a push is just fine. There will be many opportunities later to separate.

Starters

• Sungjae Im
• Collin Morikawa
• Justin Thomas

Bench

• Akshay Bhatia
• Sahith Theegala

REMINDERS: If you don’t save your lineup, what you’ve selected will time out and go blank. If you don’t choose a captain when you select “Save,” you will be reminded with a pop-up message. If you edit your roster after saving, you must select “Update” to activate changes.

Careful

For almost every tournament, a usually impressive subset of the field warrants respect not to be considered for your roster, and it very well might be represented in my Power Rankings which are not written in the context of any fantasy golf format. In this section, I will single out who demands pause and why.

Ludvig Åberg … Although he’s No. 8 in my Power Rankings, this is just his second appearance (T47, 2024) and Kapalua will test his surgically repaired left knee more than Sea Island and Albany did at sea level in his two starts at the end of the year.

Maverick McNealy … He’s No. 9 in the Power Rankings, but it’s almost unfair to present him here because he’s healthy and fresh off his breakthrough victory on the PGA TOUR at The RSM Classic. He’s included because he’s one of 19 tournament debutants. After David Duval prevailed in the first edition at Kapalua in 1999, only two others won in their debuts. Daniel Chopra is the most recent in 2008.

Byeong Hun An … No. 10 in the Power Rankings and, like McNealy, also won in his last start (Genesis Championship), but An is one of eight PGA TOUR non-winners in the field. Only winners were eligible to play through 2022, so this is just the third edition of The Sentry for which non-winners have been able to qualify. Neither of the last two were first-timers.

Viktor Hovland … Excluded from the Power Rankings. A lot has happened and not happened in four months. For one, he hasn’t competed since finishing T12 at the TOUR Championship. A few weeks later, it was reported that he suffered an undisclosed injury that kept him sidelined indefinitely. And then he had a mishap with a bed frame a few days ago, so it’s still possible that his unintended rest will be extended. He’s also moved on again from coach Joe Mayo. The bottom line, because The Sentry opens the 2025 season, there’s no cut in the tournament and all gamers currently are T1, use the week for observation only. If this sequence of events was presented, say, during the FedExCup Playoffs and you’re chasing, then the advice would be different. Until then, there’s zero reason to be risky.

Tony Finau … Also not in the Power Rankings, he’s poised to make his first start since having surgery on his left knee to repair a torn meniscus and remove cartilage. He bowed out of both the Hero World Challenge and Grant Thornton Invitational in December to focus on his recovery. He has two top 10s in five trips to Kapalua, but even if he won all five, the demanding walk alone is enough reason to abstain.

Notable W/Ds

Scottie Scheffler … After all he went through outside the ropes in 2024 – and still won the FedExCup and threepeated as PGA TOUR Player of the Year – all that seemed to be missing from the litany of challenges was the proverbial kitchen sink. He suffered an injury to his right hand while preparing dinner and on Christmas Day of all times.

Rory McIlroy … The only cut at Kapalua is self-inflicted, as in electing not to play. He’s teed it up only once in the 14 times he’s qualified.

Shane Lowry … Teamed with McIlroy to win the Zurich Classic of New Orleans to secure yet another return trip to Kapalua, but the Irishman’s debut remains on ice for another year.

Tommy Fleetwood … Resting in advance of his title defense at next week’s Dubai Invitational where McIlroy also plans to launch into 2025. Of the nine PGA TOUR non-winners who qualified for The Sentry, Fleetwood is the only one sitting it out.

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