The Sentry Tournament of Champions, the first event in 2022, kicks off the PGA Tour’s season on Thursday in Hawaii with a star-studded lineup.
Bryson DeChambeau, Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth, and Collin Morikawa will all be in attendance, as will world No. 1 Jon Rahm.
The event is only open to those who won the year before, and 39 golfers qualified by winning a Tour event. Because of his gold medal win in Japan, Xander Schauffele is in the field. The only Tour winner not in the field is Rory McIlroy.
Phil Mickelson, who is competing for the first time since the Mercedes Championships in 2001, is perhaps the biggest name to enter. He qualified for the Sentry due of his victory at the PGA Championship last summer.
Tournament of Champions, but make it ✨90s✨
Catch @PhilMickelson's return: https://t.co/UIhUJD25Aj pic.twitter.com/QXLey7xBVf
— Sentry Tournament of Champions (@Sentry_TOC) December 24, 2021
Mickelson won the event twice, the first in 1994 and the second in 1998, when he beat Tiger Woods and Mark O’Meara by a stroke. It was only the ninth occasion Woods and Mickelson finished second and third in a PGA Tour event.
In 1998, the tournament was held in Carlsbad, California. It relocated to Maui in 1999 and has been there since then. Since 1998, Mickelson had been eligible 13 times. He’ll be playing the game for the eighth time in total.
In a statement, executive director Alex Urban said, “We’re tremendously happy to welcome Phil Mickelson back to Kapalua, as his return adds further star power to an incredibly deep and skilled field.”
Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama, Tony Finau, Harris English, and Patrick Reed have also committed to the tournament. For the year 2022, ten first-time champions have qualified.
