Tiger Woods Qualifies for 2020 Sentry Tournament of Champions on Maui

Sentry Tournament of Champions. Photo credit: Kapalua Golf.

The rule to qualify for the 2020 Sentry Tournament of Champions is simple: win and you’re in. With their recent PGA TOUR victories, Corey Conners and Tiger Woods did just that and became the latest players to qualify for the champions-only event.

Conners and Woods have qualified to join the other 15 PGA TOUR winners this season in paradise when the Sentry Tournament of Champions returns to The Plantation Course at Kapalua in January.

Masters Tournament

Two-time Sentry Tournament of Champions winner Tiger Woods (1997, 2000) earned his 15th career major championship title and 81st career PGA TOUR victory at the Masters Tournament this past weekend. In the final group for the first time since 2007, the 43-year-old began the final round T2 and two strokes off 54-hole leader Francesco Molinari. Woods, who had never won a major without at least a share of the 54-hole lead, birdied the par-5 13th hole, par-5 15th hole and the par-3 16th hole with a near hole-in-one. Holding a two-stroke lead over Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka, Woods made par on No. 17 and clinched the title with a bogey on the final hole. Woods moved from No. 81 to No. 13 in the FedExCup standings and qualified for his ninth trip to The Plantation Course at Kapalua in January. Of note, Woods is now just one TOUR victory shy of tying Sam Snead’s record of 82 victories. For additional content about Woods’ quest to tie Snead’s all-time record, please visit PGATOUR.com/Chasing82.

Valero Texas Open

Corey Conners captured his first career PGA TOUR victory at the Valero Texas Open when he closed with a six-under 66 to beat Charley Hoffman by two strokes. With the victory, the 27-year-old became the first Monday qualifier to win since 2010 and just the fifth since 1980 after getting through a 6-for-1 playoff on Monday. The Canadian notched six birdies on the back nine on his way to win and secured the opportunity to make his first trip to Maui and the Sentry Tournament of Champions.

Currently, 17 players have qualified for the Sentry Tournament of Champions courtesy of their PGA TOUR victories this calendar year, including four first-timers (Adam Long, Martin Trainer, Keith Mitchell and Conners). Six of the top-10 in the FedExCup standings – Matt Kuchar, Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy, Paul Casey, Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler – are all qualified after recording victories on the PGA TOUR this calendar year.

The winners-only Sentry Tournament of Champions returns for its 22nd year on Maui and offers a variety of opportunities to get involved and up close with some of the game’s biggest stars that have qualified for the event, such as defending champion Xander Schauffele and reigning FedExCup champion Justin Rose. Volunteer information will be released in the summer.

Kapalua Plantation Course Update

The Sentry Tournament of Champions returns to Kapalua’s Plantation Course in January 2020. The Plantation Course is currently in the midst of an extensive refinement project being led by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw (the original Plantation Course design team); Troon’s Design, Development and Agronomy team; as well as long-time Maui resident and NBC and GOLF Channel personality Mark Rolfing. The project is scheduled to be completed by November. As of early April, nine greens have been shaped, cored out, drainage installed, and greens mix has been placed in those greens. Bunkers on holes 1-10, 12, 13 and 18 have been rough shaped, while other bunkers on holes 1, 2, 3, 9, and 18 have been final shaped. Approximately 17 acres of Celebration Bermudagrass has already been planted on holes 1, 9 and 18. The project continues to move on schedule with grow-in slated for this summer and early fall. For more information, visit golfatkapalua.com.

The first PGA TOUR event of the calendar year, the Sentry Tournament of Champions is the only event on the schedule that features all winners from the previous calendar year. A variety of ticket packages will go on sale in the coming months at sentrytournamentofchampions.com. Fans are reminded that each year, youth 18 and younger are admitted free of charge to the tournament when accompanied by a ticketed adult.