The PGA Tour will visit Kapalua, Hawaii, for the Sentry Tournament of Champions in 2021. This year's tournament will be held at the Kapalua Golf Club. Don't miss a single bit of the excitement, which begins on Thursday, January 7, 2021. All events will be shown live on the Golf Channel.
The winner gets $1 million cash plus other prizes. It's a test to see who is the best shotmaker from around the world. The field this year will include some big names such as England's Ian Poulter and Justin Rose (both of whom won last year), Japan's Naomichi Ozuma, and South Korea's Seung-Hyun Kim. The US team is also guaranteed a spot in the next year's Olympics golf competition by winning this event. However, there is no country or region that has not been represented by at least one player in the past five years.
This event used to be called the Chrysler Classic of New Orleans. It was first played in 1990 at the now-defunct Lakeland Country Club in New Orleans. The prize money then was $1.5 million. In 1991, it moved to its current location at the Kapalua Golf Course. In 1992, it became a PGA Tour event. Since its founding, it has never had a foreign player win. That could change in 2021 since all countries are allowed two entries into the tournament.
The 2021 Sentry Tournament of Champions will feature the biggest field in tournament history, with 42 PGA TOUR players officially committed. The Sentry Tournament of Champions is historically a winners-only event on the PGA TOUR, with players qualifying based on their victories in the preceding calendar year. In 2001, the field was limited to the top 35 players in the world rankings provided by the Official World Golf Ranking.
Players qualified through various methods in previous years. In 2019, three players made the cut after 36 holes: American Kevin Chappell, Australian Marc Leishman and South African Charles Howell III. This was the first time in nearly 20 years that more than one player from outside the United States made the cut.
In 2018, American Justin Thomas won the tournament by eight strokes over China's Haotong Li. Thomas became the first player to win both the Masters and the Sentry Tournament of Champions in the same year. He also earned $1 million while doing so. At the end of 2018, Thomas had five wins this season, which at the time was tied for the most in a single season by a player not named Woods or Palmer. It was also his fifth victory on the PGA TOUR, tying Tiger Woods for most victories among active players. Thomas was just the third player in history to have five wins before the start of the season following Jack Nicklaus (10) and Sam Snead (6).
The PGA Championship is predominantly played in the eastern side of the United States; it has only traveled west eleven times. It was last seen in the Pacific time zone in 1998, in Sahalee, east of Seattle. The tournament has never been played in Canada or Mexico.
The PGA Championship is currently held every other year, with the exception of 1968 and 1972 when it was held annually. It will next be played in 2020 at the Olympic Club in San Francisco.
The first PGA Championship was held at the Country Club of New York City in 1889. This event was not intended to establish a new major championship but rather as a way for PGA members to show their skill. The winner received $10,000 ($250,000 in today's dollars).
In 1894, the prize money was raised to $15,000 ($450,000 in today's dollars). From then on, the prize money increased by $10,000 each year. In 1968, the amount paid out was reduced to $150,000 because of rising operating costs. In 1970, the field size was limited to 150 players to reduce congestion on the course. In 1973, the cut-off point was lowered to 80th place to allow more people to qualify. In 1976, the maximum number of participants was set at 250 to keep the size of the field manageable.
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