This gilded event is the traditional calendar-year opener on the PGA Tour. Think of it as golf’s equivalent of football’s Community Shield. And like football’s annual curtain raiser, the Tournament of Champions features only the crème de la crème of the golfing circuit – entry is limited to those that won on the PGA Tour the previous year.
Unsurprisingly, this year’s field reads like a who’s who of the modern game, with nine of the current top 10 featuring. Last year’s champion, current world number three Justin Thomas, will defend his trophy, although world number one Dustin Johnson, number two Jordan Spieth (a winner here in 2016), plus Justin Rose, Jon Rahm, Hideki Matsuyama and Rickie Fowler will all have something to say about who gets to pick up the winner’s cheque of $1.2m.
And if getting into golf topped your list of New Year’s resolutions, we’ve got you covered. Here’s a handy guide to the sport literary legend Mark Twain apocryphally declared was a good walk spoiled. Right, to the first tee…