The Hyundai Tournament of Champions held at Kapalua’s Plantation Course in Maui is the first tournament of the 2012 season. With the lush setting, it would seem likely that many of golf’s top players would make their way to the island for the tournament. But, that is not the case.
The tournament is open to all golfers who won a tournament on tour in the previous season. Despite the loose qualifications, several big names are choosing to skip the event to be better prepared for the rest of the season.
Of the 11 players who aren't at Kapalua, most have a valid reason. Major champions from last year Rory McIlroy, Darren Clarke and Charl Schwartzel are all absent from the field. Big names Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods will not be playing, either. Mickelson hasn't made his way to the tournament since 2001, while Woods has been a no-show since 2005.
Additionally, top eligible golfers Luke Donald, Adam Scott, Martin Kaymer, Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose, Brandt Snedeker and Fredrik Jacobson will not be in Hawaii
Some of the top golfers who do plan on participating include Steve Stricker, the No. 6 player in the world, and Webb Simpson, ranked No. 10. Other potential favorites will be 2011 FedExCup winner Bill Haas, 2011 PGA Championship winner Keegan Bradley, No. 12-ranked Nick Watney and the tournament's 2011 winner, Jonathan Byrd.
For now, there are 28 players who chose to begin their season on Maui which will kick off January 5 to 9. It's not a bad place to start. The winner of the tournament receives $1.12 million and 500 FedEx Cup points.
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Moving the tourney back 3 weeks is not going to fix anything because players will still skip the event. There are only 2 ways to get the top players to play the first event. You can either require them to play (which will never happen) or you can do what the european tour does and start paying appearence fees to players (which most likely won't happen). The pga tour is different from any other league in the U.S. because it has to compete with the european tour who pays players to play in events.
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