Hyundai Tournament of Champions 2015: Tee Times, Dates, TV Schedule, Prize Money
As large portions of the country plunge into frozen temperatures, the PGA Tour hits sunny Hawaii for a few days for the 2015 Hyundai Tournament of Champions.
Not a bad prize for 34 of the winners in the 2014 calendar season.
Only PGA Tour winners from last year’s season receive an invite to this tournament. Here is a look at the essential information for the entire tournament, courtesy of PGATour.com.
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2015 Hyundai Tournament of Champions
Dates: Jan. 9-12
Location: Kapalua Resort on the island of Maui in Hawaii
TV: Golf Channel 8 p.m. ET – 9:30 p.m. ET and 11:30 p.m. – 1 a.m. ET
Purse: $5.7 million
Winning Share: $1.14 million
FedEx Cup Points: 500
Friday Tee Times
| 1 | 10:10 a.m. | Kevin Stadler and Nick Taylor |
| 1 | 10:20 a.m. | Scott Stallings and Sang-Moon Bae |
| 1 | 10:30 a.m. | Robert Streb and Ben Martin |
| 1 | 10:40 a.m. | Ben Crane and Matt Jones |
| 1 | 10:50 a.m. | Tim Clark and Steven Bowditch |
| 1 | 11 a.m. | Angel Cabrera and Charley Hoffman |
| 1 | 11:10 a.m. | Camilo Villegas and Chesson Hadley |
| 1 | 11:20 a.m. | Kevin Streelman and Matt Every |
| 1 | 11:30 a.m. | Ryan Moore and J.B. Holmes |
| 1 | 11:40 a.m. | Seung-Yul Noh and Brian Harman |
| 1 | 11:50 a.m. | Hideki Matsuyama and Geoff Ogilvy |
| 1 | 12 p.m. | John Senden and Brendon Todd |
| 1 | 12:10 p.m. | Russell Henley and Patrick Reed |
| 1 | 12:20 p.m. | Matt Kuchar and Jason Day |
| 1 | 12:30 p.m. | Hunter Mahan and Jimmy Walker |
| 1 | 12:40 p.m. | Chris Kirk and Bubba Watson |
| 1 | 12:50 p.m. | Billy Horschel and Zach Johnson |
Preview/Players to Watch
The Hyundai Tournament of Champions is as notable for those who will not be there as those who will.
Both Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott will miss the tournament even though they qualified. McIlroy usually plays on the Desert Swing of the European Tour around this time, while Scott is taking some time off.
One player who will be there and will likely finish near the top of the leaderboard is Matt Kuchar.
Kuchar has finished in the top 10 in four of the last five years at Kapalua, and he finished tied for sixth place in last year's edition. He also has some momentum after finishing tied for second with Harris English at the Franklin Templeton Shootout and is arguably the most consistent golfer on the tour.
In fact, Kuchar has only missed the cut five times in his last 109 starts and has a tour-best 48 top-10 finishes since the 2010 Players Championship.
Kuchar often plays in a couple of tournaments in December to shake off any rust before heading to Hawaii, and he talked about getting off to a quick start, per Jeff Babineau of Golfweek.com: “I don’t so much look at it like the guys who played a bunch in the fall got a head start. I played twice. I know as the year continues on it’ll even and things will settle.”
While much of the attention will be on Kuchar, T.J. Auclair of PGA.com noted that Jimmy Walker is also a golfer to watch during this event:
"It'll be darn near impossible for Walker to top his 2013-14 season, one in which he won three times, and recorded seven other top 10s. This will be Walker's second straight start at Kapalua and I'm interested in seeing if he learned anything about the course from his T21 showing a year ago. He should be a nice, relaxing week for Walker, who heads over to Oahu next week as the defending champ of the Sony Open.
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While Kuchar’s consistency and Walker’s recent success bode well for this tournament, Zach Johnson should also have some confidence after winning the Hyundai Tournament of Champions title last year in a narrow battle with Jordan Spieth. Interestingly, Johnson only has one other top-15 finish in Maui, but the defending champion is certainly someone to watch.
Elsewhere, household name Bubba Watson will benefit from the extra length on the course and additional par-five hole, given his power with the driver. He finished tied for fourth at this event in 2013 and will challenge for the title with his distance off the tee.
Finally, there is Geoff Ogilvy.
Ogilvy has played some of the best golf of his career at Kapalua and won the event two consecutive years in 2009 and 2010. He has not been to the event since winning those titles, but his past success indicates he will once again challenge for a title.
Even without McIlroy or Scott, the field is loaded with potential contenders. That should come as no surprise since only 2014 winners were invited, but there is plenty of past success at this event in the field.
It should set up for a thrilling four days in Hawaii.
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