DeChambeau, Morkiawa, Rahm, Thomas to Play Expanded Sentry

While everything else is shrinking due to COVID 19, the field at next week’s Sentry Tournament of Champions is getting bigger.

Commitments are already rolling in from big names, including Bryson DeChambeau, Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas and Jon Rahm.

In addition to inviting the winners of PGA Tour events to the 2021 Sentry Tournament of Champions, all players who qualified for the Tour Championship in 2020 have been invited to what is usually a winner’s only field. That means, if Rory McIlroy wants to play, he can. So could Xander Schauffele. However, neither has said he will be there yet. In theory we will know by 5 o’clock eastern on Friday which is the cut-off time for PGA Tour players to enter the following week’s tournament. But it’s a holiday, so we will need to wait and see.

Headlining the list of who will participate is defending champ, Justin Thomas who already has two victories at the tournament. Also topping the list of entrants are PGA Champ, Collin Morikawa, U.S. Open Champ Bryson DeChambeau and world No. 2, Jon Rahm.

“It’s always a very, very strong field with a lot of players that are ready to have a good week,” Thomas told the Maui News.

Because the field is smaller than a regular PGA Tour event, there are fewer golfers to beat, but they are typically the best of the best. This year, a few will be non-winners, but the majority have won in the last 12 months.

It’s theoretically easier to win an event with a smaller field because there are fewer players to beat, but the quality of the players is high. To win, a player has to be on his game. Thomas, for one, said he takes the tournament seriously, and that’s no doubt why he has won twice.

“I think it’s a course that’s good for me,” he added. “It’s not overly long, there’s a lot of par-5s, so I feel like I’m able to take advantage of them with short clubs, which is a strength of my game.”

In addition, he and his father just won the PNC Father / Son so his form is good.

More from Golf Tours

Former British Open champ Stewart Cink, now 47-years-old, is returning to the Tournament of Champions for the first time in 11 years. Cink, most fans will recall, defeated Tom Watson in a playoff at the British Open in 2009. When he won at Safeway, he thought of the Sentry.

“As soon as I tapped in on the last hole and I knew that the win was secure, it was immediately the first thought to my mind, that I’m going to go back to Maui and get to compete,” Cink told the Maui News.

He is bringing his wife and two sons. Reagan Cink, now 23, will be his caddie for the week.

“We think the same way, and it’s just really nice to have a player-caddie relationship that also is just superseded by a father-son relationship that’s so really close,” Cink said.

He is interested to see how the course fits his game compared to the last time he saw it. The course has had changes, and Cink said he is actually about 15 Yards longer due to equipment improvements and swing adjustments.

Those who have committed in addition to Thomas, Cink, DeChambeau, Morikawa and Rahm are Adam Scott, Tony Finau, Abraham Ancer, Scottie Scheffler, Lanto Griffin, Brian Gay, Martin Laird and Michael Thompson.

Those who are eligible for the tournament include:

Cameron Smith, Andrew Landry, Marc Leishman, Webb Simpson, Nick Taylor, Adam Scott, Viktor Hovland, Patrick Reed, Sungjae Im, Tyrell Hatton, Daniel Berger, Dustin Johnson, Michael Thompson, Richy Werenski, Jim Herman, Hudson Swafford, Sergio Garcia, Martin Laird, Jason Kokrak, Patrick Cantlay, Brian Gay, Carlos Ortiz, Robert Streb, Xander Schauffele, Sebastian Munoz, Rory McIlroy, Harris English, Mackenzie Hughes, Hideki Matsuyama, Brendon Todd, Kevin Kisner, Ryan Palmer, Cameron Champ, Joaquin Neimann, Kevin Na, Billy Horschel, Tony Finau, Abraham Ancer, Scottie Scheffler, Lanto Griffin, Rahm, DeChambeau, Morikawa, Cink and Thomas.

“All the players who are eligible that were in the Tour Championship and everybody who has won on the PGA Tour, it doesn’t get any better,” Cink noted about the competition.

Home/Golf Tours