🏄‍♂️ Takeaways from Kapalua

Hey there! Hope you had a nice weekend and caught some of the golf at Kapalua.

The PGA Tour's season opener — The Sentry — usually brings stunning views, long drives, and low scores. And this year, it delivered again. 

While Sunday's champ Chris Kirk wasn't necessarily a big name winner, there was decent drama down the stretch. And ultimately, it was nice to see some of the game's best out there, competing for the first time in months. 

If you've been enjoying these newsletters, I'd love for you to take a minute and share the Quick Nine with a friend — maybe someone who you've been golfing with lately. It would mean a lot! 

For now, onto some thoughts from our first tournament of 2024…

9 takeaways from Kapalua 

1. Chris Kirk's bogey-free 65 (-8) in the final group on Sunday was super solid, highlighted by “one of the best shots of his career” — a tournament-clinching 209 yard second shot on the Par 4 17th that he hit to 2.5 feet. 

• Kirk's battles with alcoholism and depression have been well-documented, and it's awesome to see his strong play continue after a win last year at the Honda Classic. 

• I'm especially intrigued that the Georgia Bulldog spent a good chunk of his off-season playing golf left-handed. His best score from the opposite side, 82.

2. Sahith Theegala's 10-under final round needed to be 11-under, and he could have done it with an up-and-down at the Par 5 18th. Instead, he finished solo second — a nice way to kick off what could be a big year for Theegala. 

3. Jordan Spieth was one straight tee-shot away from making things very interesting. But a bogey at the 16th on Sunday — after having to chip out from a buried, fairway bunker lie — made it all but impossible to keep pace. 

• Love him or not, Spieth having a good 2024 would be very entertaining to follow. 

• Also, after many questionable wardrobe choices this week, I'm all-in on Spieth continuing to rock the rope-hat beyond Kapalua. I think it's a good look.

4. Akshay Bhatia lost his first tee shot of the day, leading to a double-bogey and a rough start for the 21-year-old who began his final round just one shot back. 

• Perhaps it wasn't meant to be for Bhatia, whose cousin (the person behind the camera for his growing YouTube channel) didn't make the trip to Maui this weekend. 

• Expect to see more of Bhatia on the internet and in contention this year. 

5. Having to switch from NBC to the Golf Channel mid-round on Sunday was annoying. But, that commercial-free final hour (sponsored by Callaway) was so nice. 

• Sadly, it doesn't look like we'll get limited commercials again until The Masters. 

6. Speaking of TV coverage, Kevin Kisner's debut in the NBC booth appeared to be a success. 

• To be honest, I mostly had my TV muted as I chased my two-year-old around the house. But, when the volume was up, I did appreciate hearing Kisner's insights, as someone who knows the players (and their games) first-hand. 

• Especially good was Kisner not holding back regarding Spieth's slow play over short putts and attempting to diagnose what's behind Scottie Scheffler's putting struggles. 

• Kisner's commentating, however, is still a side-gig, and he won't be back in the booth until the Waste Management next month. 

7. Scottie Scheffler's putting still wasn't good. 

• Continuing his trend from last year, Scheffler gained more strokes than any other player in the field tee-to-green this week (+2.25), while finishing towards the bottom in putting, according to DataGolf. He finished T5 overall. 

• Scheffler will likely never do this, but on Sunday, I started to wonder if he'd bring out the broomstick at some point this year. 

8. Viktor Hovland blading a bunker shot and making a triple-bogey on Saturday killed his chances of winning The Sentry. 

• The blunder came after a report earlier in the week that Hovland had recently parted ways with his short-game coach, Joe Mayo. 

• After a storybook end to 2023 (winning the Tour Championship and helping lead the Europeans to victory at the Ryder Cup), it'll be interesting to see how Hovland moves past a disappointing start (T22) to 2024. 

9. Jon Rahm vacationing in Maui with his family last week and apparently running into some of his former colleagues was just a bizarre way to kick off the 2024 PGA Tour season. 

• Rahm won The Sentry last year, and his presence on the island was just another reminder of the bummer that is the division in men’s professional golf.

• This tweet, though, was perfect. 

That's all for today! Next week is the Sony Open in Honolulu, so I'll see you back here before then.

In the meantime, what did you think of this Sunday recap? Was it helpful? What should I change for next week? I’d love to hear your thoughts — just reply here!

Talk soon, Nick B. ✌️