Although the 2025 schedule hasn’t begun yet, the excitement is building because the first tournament is not typical. Instead, the Signature event of the PGA Tour will feature some of the best names who have qualified to begin their year’s first event. The event will feature all PGA Tour winners from last season and the top 50 golfers on the list of FedExCup points.

A few names are missing out on the tournament this season, including Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler, Tom Kim, Justin Rose, and others, because of personal and qualification criteria. Apart from the ones missing out this year, there is an impressive list of golfers who have secured their return to the event.

The four-day event at The Plantation Course, Maui, Hawaii has a huge purse of $20 million at stake for the players. Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore designed the scenic course, considering the slopes and ocean view with every hole. No doubt, why it is amongst the most scenic courses in the world. With the course extended to 7,411 yards featuring a par 73 stretch, which makes it unique from other courses that usually have 72. It would be a delight for the players teeing off this year too.

Since 1999, the Plantation Course at the Kapalua Resort has hosted the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Being the first tournament of the schedule, it marks the beginning by bringing together the best of golf for fans after the holidays. While being the first signature event, this offers a great opportunity for players to get ahead in the ranking and increase the purse value from the beginning.

History and record score at the Sentry

Since 1999, the Sentry has been taking place in the first week of January. However, the history of the tournament goes back to 1953, the year it was founded. Earlier, only the players who won a tournament in the past calendar year could participate, while now it has been changed to players who qualified for the preceding Tour Championship.

Before the Plantation course, the Sentry was held at multiple venues. From 1953 to 1966 the Desert Inn Country Club in Las Vegas. Later, for two years, Stardust Country Club in Las Vegas was the choice. Before the final relocation to Maui in 1999, the desired course for thirty years was the La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, California.

The long history of the tournament has got its record score recently in 2022 under the name of Cameron Smith. He broke the record of Ernie Els’s 2003 performance, who recorded a total of 261 with under-31. On the other hand, in 2022, Smith recorded 258, under-34 at the Plantation course. Till now it is the best score recorded, but the last two years were close to the record. However, the record remained unbroken. Apart from this, Jack Nicklaus is the only player to win the tournament a total of 5 times.

The great names including Scottie Scheffler, and Xander Schauffele along with the defending champion Chris Kirk will be teeing off this first event of the 2025 season. Can the 2025 Sentry be a record-breaking season? Who is your pick for breaking the record of Cameron Smith? Share your picks with us in the comments section below.