Nestled in one of Hawaii’s largest nature preserves, the Kapalua Resort features a necklace of stunning white sandy beaches, two marine sanctuaries, and the world-class Plantation Golf Course. Once again, the beautiful island of Maui played host to the Sentry Open where some of the top PGA players jump started the race for the 2025 FedExCup Championship.
This year’s Sentry had an expanded field that included winners from the 2024 season along with qualifiers from the top 50 in the 2023-2024 season’s FedEx Cup standings. The Sentry was also the first of eight scheduled Signature Events that feature a no-cut format.
Fifty-nine players made the trip to Maui this year. They competed for a Signature Event purse of $20 million, with $3.6 million going to the winner. The runner-up pocketed $2.16 million, while third took home $1.36 million. Chris Kirk won the tournament in 2024, finishing 29-under.
Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore get credit for designing the Plantation Course. It offered a dramatic ocean view from virtually every hole. Its lengthy 7,411-yard par-73 layout was a challenge, but wide fairways and generous greens made it user friendly. The slope/course rating from most tees, along with smooth and fast fairways, added distance to most tee balls and approach shots, resulting in numerous birdie opportunities.
ROUND 1
Tom Hoge sat atop of the leaderboard after opening with a 9-under (64). One off the pace was Hideki Matsuyama and Will Zalatoris at 8-under (65) with Collin Morikawa finishing at 7-under (66) along with Cameron Young (66) and Corey Conners (66).
“I feel like it’s a golf course that sets up for me well,” Hodge said. “There’s some room off the tee, so you can drive it in a lot of fairways. And then you hit some good irons. You feel like you can make a lot of birdies out here. I feel like I should play well and hopefully I can keep that going.”
ROUND 2
The second round saw Hideki Matsuyama 16-under (65-65), along with Collin Morikawa 15-under (66-65) move up to the top two positions on the leaderboard. Four players were tied for 3rd place at 14-under. Aside from a strong breeze during the second round, the weather at the Plantation Course was smooth sailing.
From all indications, it looks like this tournament will again be a race to the finish as only 4 players did not break par today. Wyndham Clark (13-under 69-64), when asked about his low score after two rounds, “I don’t necessarily prefer this low but at the same time we make courses like this look easy.” He continued, “I never really shot 20 under par on the PGA Tour so maybe I can break it this week.”
ROUND 3
Saturday’s average score of 67.49 was the lowest at the Sentry since the tournament moved to Kapalua in 1999.
Hideki Matsuyama 27-under par (65-65-62) sits at the top of the leaderboard heading into the final round. Collin Morikawa 26-under par (66-65-62) managed to stay in hot pursuit as he continued to match Matsuyama hole for hole throughout the day. Holding onto 3rd place with 22-under Par (67-65-65) was Thomas Detry.
Hideki fired a personal best 3rd round (62) carding 11 birdies with out a bogey. He also set the Plantation course record for 54 holes (192). Holding to his modest approach about not bringing attention to himself, Matsuyama defected questions about his play by reminding everyone that “Collin played well, and I just followed him, so good day.”
Collin seemed to be chasing Matsuyama most of the day. He briefly took a lead with a 25’ eagle putt on the fifth hole but quickly lost it on the next hole but seemed happy with his round. “Yeah, today was really, really good. Couple shots out there a little squirrely, but for the most part the irons were center face, knew where they were going.” Morikawa said.
ROUND 4
After enjoying warm breezes and dominance over the Plantation course during the first three rounds, the Pacific Tradewinds decided to shake things up today, bringing windy conditions, keeping scores fluctuating, and creating some unexpected movement on the leaderboard.
As the final pairing headed to the back nine, Hideki Matsuyama 31-under and Collin Morikawa 27-under still held down the top two spots. But lingering just below them were Sungjae Im 25-under, Tom Hoge 23-under and Cam Davis 23-under.
The top 3 places held pretty solid during the final nine holes. Only Sungjae Im 28-under managed to move himself solidly into 3rd place while Collin Morikawa 31-under had little problems holding on to 2nd place.
The winner of the 2025 Sentry Tournament is Hideki Matsuyama who finished with a 35-under par (65-65-62-65). He earned himself a check for $3.6 million and his name on the Sentry Trophy. This is his 11th career victory, bringing his career earnings to $59,022,165 including today’s winnings. Hideki joined the PGA Tour in 2014. His 35-under-par was the lowest 72-hole score ever recorded on the PGA Tour in any tournament.
Runner-up Collin Morikawa 32-under (66-65-62-67) picked up $2.16 million, while Sungjae Im 29-under (69-67-62-65) rounded out the third podium finisher with a check for $1.36 million.
QUOTABLE
Hideki Matsuyama: “I knew Collin was going to play good today, so I was going to say, hey, I’m going to shoot 10-under today, and that’s the attitude I had today.”
“You are in the history books, PGA TOUR 35-under is the lowest number on the PGA TOUR for any tournament. I guess you’re just finding that out now. How impactful is that for you? That last putt, it felt like if I make it, then it’s going to be the record, so I’m so happy that it went in.”
Collin Morikawa: “Yeah, excuse my language, but 35-under par is, that is low. I mean, he was matching me yesterday shot for shot, and I felt like I was playing lights out, right? Like, yes, you could leave some shots out there, but you shoot 11-under on any golf course, you are going to be happy, right? Today he just never let up. Then you get to the third hole and the guy holes it. I just knew I had to be on top of everything, and just kind of let a few slip on that front nine. Played a good back nine, but to win on a course like this, conditions like this, you got to have it for 72, and I had it for 65.”
https://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/2025/the-sentry/R2025016/leaderboard
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