And so begins another year on the PGA Tour.
Thankfully, it is one whose lead-in has not been interrupted by the departure of even a single member to LIV Golf. It's telling that the reaction to news of Scottie Scheffler's Christmas mishap (the best golfer in the world and I have one thing in common at least: debilitating clumsiness) was not 'he's going to LIV!' and with Tony Finau and Viktor Hovland both in the field for The Sentry despite injuries of their own, things appear nicely calm.
Scheffler's absence, along with that of Rory McIlroy, means Xander Schauffele takes his place as a strong favourite and so he should after a fabulous 2024. It rather petered out in the end but that's acceptable and this former winner of the event once known as the Tournament of Champions is the man most likely to reach the required total, which might again be in the region of 30-under par.
Such low scoring around a unique par 73 suggests we ought to prepare for the unexpected even with a solid favourite and there's always been a sense that not much can be taken for granted here. How much Christmas rust players build up in golf's 50-weeks-a-year age I'm not really sure, but on a more tangible level we've equipment changes, wind, undulations and, without doubt, a tournament which often boils down to wedges and putting, the latter inherently volatile.
Theegala is one of several here who rather found themselves Schefflered last year, unable to win his second PGA Tour title as the world number one took so many opportunities off the table, ably supported by the likes of Schauffele and McIlroy.
But it was a solid campaign for Theegala, whose underlying numbers represented a step up on 2023, and whose game through the bag was above-average. If anything, his putter dipping a little might've been the one negative but he was still inside the top 50 and I suspect he'll prove something of a fixture in that top quarter of the rankings in the years to come.
Bhatia went from ranking 183rd in putting in his rookie season to 33rd last year, the single biggest climb among all PGA Tour members, and that helped him to a second win in Texas before he let slip a golden opportunity when missing out by a single shot in Detroit. Had he won that title it'd have been three in 12 months.
Perhaps that mishap was what cost him a Presidents Cup place in the end but the Ryder Cup will be firmly on the agenda of this 22-year-old star in the making, who won't mind conditions here having secured his first pro win in the Bahamas at the beginning of his sole Korn Ferry Tour campaign.
Closing out with the third-best round on Sunday of that event, Harman dropped yet another hint that his game is close and I feel he's been doing that for months now, despite a towards the end of the year.
Harman's season was by no means poor anyway – he could so easily have added The PLAYERS Championship to his Claret Jug – and this is a really good place for him to begin the new year, as it's a course where he can undoubtedly compete with the longer hitters.
However, Straka is a two-time PGA Tour winner who I felt was doing plenty right towards the end of last year, hence siding with him in the Hero Challenge at almost half the price we're able to take here.
He had two good putting days and two bad ones in the Bahamas but was firmly in the mix for places at least entering the weekend and it could be a nice springboard towards further improvement at Kapalua, where he was 21st on debut then 12th last year.
There's no doubt his form towards the end of 2024 was abysmal, but this is a player who has been to Kapalua once before and finished sixth, leading the field in strokes-gained approach and putting well.
When firing, that's Malnati's game in a nutshell and having won twice on bermuda greens, including last year to in effect qualify for this, he definitely has the conditions he requires to produce his best golf, with wide fairways and no great demand for power also a positive.
What he doesn't have is any kind of hint that he's ready to do put everything together, but I'm willing to chance him to small stakes following a run of largely narrow missed cuts in the hope that he can somehow start again in January.
Sixth place from one previous start at a course where first-timers generally struggle was a seriously good performance, in fact it was by some way the best golf he produced that year. Maybe, just maybe, he can do it again.
Posted at 1000 GMT on 31/12/24
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