The fact that Adam Scott – not record-breaking champion Cameron Smith – will be the lone Australian in the PGA Tour’s Tournament of Champions reflects golf’s upheaval in 2022.
Smith produced some incredible scoring to hold off world No.1 Jon Rahm by a shot and win in Hawaii 12 months ago, kickstarting his remarkable year that yielded five titles worldwide, including the British Open and Players Championship, and the No.2 ranking.
He shot eight under in the final round to win at 34-under 258 – a PGA Tour record low score by three shots – at the marquee event for the previous year’s PGA Tour winners on the Plantation course at Kapalua.
But Smith’s defection to the LIV Series means there will be no title defense to follow that feat, while fellow Queenslander Scott gets into the 39-player field thanks to a new entry criteria.
Scott, who was runner-up in 2007, will make his eighth appearance at the event on Maui thanks to a top-30 finish in last season’s FedEx Cup standings and joins an impressive field that contains 20 of the top 25 in the world rankings.
No.1 Rory McIlroy is also a notable absentee but it includes No.2 Scottie Scheffler, No.4 Patrick Cantlay, No.5 Rahm, No.6 Xander Schauffele, No.7 Will Zalatoris, No.8 Justin Thomas, No.9 Matt Fitzpatrick and No.11 Collin Morikawa.
The Tournament of Champions, with $US15 million ($A22.3m) in prizemoney, will be the first of 17 designated tournaments this year with elevated purses and commitments from top players during the season as the PGA Tour works to combat the threat from LIV Golf.
McIlroy chose to make this the one elevated tournament he will not enter in 2023.
All of the other Australian winners at the Tournament of Champions, won it multiple times – Geoff Ogilvy (twice), Stuart Appleby (three times) and Steve Elkington (twice) – but Smith seems set to remain a one-time champion barring a seismic breakthrough in relations between the tour and LIV Golf.
The Masters in April will mark a decade since Scott broke through to become the first – and still only – Australian to triumph at Augusta National.
And significantly he managed to bring celebrated Kiwi caddy Steve Williams out of retirement on a part-time basis as they attempt to repeat their 2013 Masters success.
Having resisted the temptation of a rich LIV Golf switch, 42-year-old Scott said late last year: “I want to fulfill my dreams and goals as a player and time is less on my side now.
“I have to do everything I can to make sure I give myself the best chance. I still haven’t achieved all the things I want to achieve in my own career.”
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