Sentry TOC 2023: Without Cameron Smith, Jon Rahm is the No. 1 candidate for the championship  08:30, 04/01/2023

The PGA Tour kicks off its new season this week with the Sentry Tournament of Champions held at Plantation Stadium (Kapalua Resort), Maui, Hawaii. The only path for golfers to receive an invitation to compete at the tournament is to win at least one victory last season, or qualify for the Tour Championship in August.

According to Westgate Superbook odds and Golf Digest commentary, Jon Rahm is the strongest candidate for the season's first advanced event championship at 8-1 odds.

Last year's runner-up Jon Rahm became the most anticipated golfer at the tournament, followed by Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele. Defending champion Cameron Smith will not participate in this year's arena. Previously, the Australian golfer was crowned Sentry Tournament 2022 after setting the record for the lowest 4-round score in PGA Tour history with -34 strokes, breaking Ernie Els' record of -31 on the Tour in 2003.

With the PGA Tour's new "rules", each player will be allowed to skip one enhanced event per season and Rory McIlroy will withdraw early when not teeing off at Kapalua. This means that he will not accumulate points on the OWRG chart and is in danger of losing the world No.1.