After a successful spree of tournaments in 2023, the PGA Tour has now shifted its focus to the first event of 2024, the Sentry Tournament of Champions. The first “signature event” of the year will kick off on Thursday, January 4. The tournament will have the same 72-hole format and will end on Sunday, January 7. It will be played at Kapalua Resort’s plantation course in Hawaii with a limited field of 40 players.
The Sentry Tournament of Champions was first played in 1953. It initially had a field of golfers who won a tournament on the PGA Tour in the previous season. However, later on, the qualification criteria changed slightly with winners of the previous season getting a direct entry and the remaining slots being filled by the top 50 players in the FedEx Cup rankings.
Since 1999, the Sentry Tournament of Champions has been held in Hawaii at the Kapalua Resort’s Plantation Course. Interestingly, it has a par 73 course and a length of 7,596 yards.
The 2024 Sentry Tournaments of Champions will have a prize purse of $15,000,000. The winner of the first of eight PGA Tour signature events will receive a paycheck of $2,700,000 and the prestigious trophy.
Who is Confirmed to Play at the 2024 Sentry Tournaments of Champions?
The 2024’s first PGA Tour event, the Sentry Tournament of Champions will have a field of 40 players. The defending champion Jon Rahm is already ineligible to be part of the tournament as he made a move to LIV Golf earlier in December 2023. Rory McIlroy’s participation in the first signature event of the year is still not clear.
However, the current World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and reigning FedEx Cup Champion Viktor Hovland, have confirmed their participation.
PGA Tour pros Collin Morikawa, Tony Finau, Xander Schauffele, Rickie Fowler, Jordan Spieth, Tom Kim, Sahith Theegala, and Ludvig Aberg are among other winners who will also be teeing up at the Sentry Tournament of Champions.
Rory McIlroy, Nick Taylor, Sepp Straka, Luke List, Akshay Bhatia, Vincent Norrman, Camillo Villegas, Lucas Glover, and a few more golfers may also be present in the field of the Sentry Tournament of Champions.
The last edition of the Sentry Tournament of Champions in 2023 saw Jon Rahm shooting an unbelievable round of 63 on Sunday to win the event. This left the runner-up, Collin Morikawa in a nutshell, who was leading the table after the first 54 holes.
With Jon Rahm not being eligible to be part of the Sentry Tournament of Championship in 2024, a new champion being crowned is confirmed. Viktor Hovland and Scottie Scheffler will be hot favorites to win the first signature event of the year. Now it remains to be seen who will lift the first PGA Tour title of the year and that will only happen on January 7, 2024.
