The countdown to the start of competitive golf in 2024 has begun. Thanks to the PGA Tour, in just five days, the season will open with the The Sentry. Since it became a designated event a year ago, the former champions’ tournament has expanded its quota with the entry of the top 50 from the FedEx Cup. There was a lot of interest in examining the field of the tournament after Jon Rahm‘s departure to LIV Golf. Well, the man from Barrika will not be there, a significant absence, but no matter how you look at it, the week is still bursting at the seams. A top-notch tournament in every sense.
A total of 59 players are participating, of which 54 are in the top 100 in the world, 38 in the top 50, 21 in the top 25, 17 in the top 20 and 8 in the top 10. There are absences, yes, but very few. The best of the best are there with few exceptions. Of the top ten in the world, Rory McIlroy is missing, who has not played the tournament since 2019, and the aforementioned Jon Rahm. Of the top 20, only Brooks Koepka is added to the list of absentees. It is, therefore, a real test to see how the best players in the world are doing.
The million-dollar question is who can beat Scottie Scheffler. He is the main enemy to beat. The Texan, world number one, ended 2023 with a victory in the Tiger Woods tournament in the Bahamas and seems very willing to pick up where he left off. Among those who intend to prevent him are Viktor Hovland, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Max Homa, Matt Fitzpatrick, Brian Harman or Wyndham Clark, the golfers who complete the top 10 in the world at the moment.
Speaking of Harman and Clark, one of the curiosities of this The Sentry is that on the list of participants are four of the five players he asked for his team in LIV Golf, namely, Tony Finau, Tyrrell Hatton, Harman and Clark. The presence of these players in this tournament does not mean that they will no longer go to Jon’s team, far from it. Until the day they formalise their ‘signing’ for LIV, they can play without problems on the American circuit. They may be pushing their chances before announcing their departure. They would not be the first. Cameron Smith played the FedEx Cup Playoffs in 2022 having already signed with LIV Golf.
In the field of The Sentry we have ten European players: Hovland, Fitzpatrick, Hatton, Fleetwood, Aberg, Rose and Straka (these seven were in the Ryder Cup in Rome), in addition to Vincent Norrman, Matt Wallace and Seamus Power. This is an absolute record. There have never been more players from the old continent in this tournament since it was first held in 1953. It is clear that the main explanation is the increase in the list of participating players, which has gone from 39 last year to 59 this time. Even so, percentage-wise it is still the best year ever, as the figure of five Europeans in this tournament has never been exceeded. Similarly, it is the first time since 2017 that there are no Spaniards.
