Younger Field of Golfers Qualify for 2016 Hyundai Tournament
By Maui Now Staff
The field of golfers in the upcoming Hyundai Tournament of Champions event in Kapalua on Maui is turning out to be younger than in years past.
At least a dozen golfers under the age of 30 are making the cut by winning tournaments and becoming eligible for the 2016 winners-only event, scheduled to take place Jan. 6-10, 2016 at The Plantation Course at the Kapalua Resort.
Rickie Fowler, 26, qualified by winning a three-way play off at THE PLAYERS earlier this month. With the win, he becomes eligible for the Hyundai Tournament of Champions for the second time.
Fowler is one of twelve players in their 20s to have won on the PGA TOUR already this season. “The growing number of young champions has shifted the landscape of golf, and the young players are proving they belong in the elite levels of the sport, and are ready to shine at the only PGA TOUR event to feature all winners from the previous calendar year,” said PGA TOUR representatives.
Aside from Fowler, world No. 1 Rory McIlroy, 25, picked up a win at the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Match Play, and added an impressive win two starts later at the Wells Fargo Championship where he shot a course-record 61 on Saturday. Joining him in the winner’s circle this year are highly ranked players Jordan Spieth,21, who won the Masters, and Jason Day,27, who picked up a win at the Farmers Insurance Open.
“There are so many good, young players right now. Rory has distanced himself a bit, and Jordan is catching up to him,” Fowler said in a PGA press release. “Those two guys have stood out, but there’s a whole group of us hanging right behind them and I’m trying to add my name to that mix.”
Patrick Reed, 24, earned his way back into the field at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions by winning the 2015 edition of the tournament in a playoff over Jimmy Walker.