Ryder Cup: Historical team results

The holiday season is now complete, and the 2021 portion of the PGA TOUR season is set to begin in its traditional tropical locale. The Sentry Tournament of Champions will kick off the new year once again, but with a unique field. Because of the reduced number of events in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all qualifiers for last year's TOUR Championship also are eligible to tee it up in Maui. Dustin Johnson, the reigning FedExCup champion, highlights the field in his first appearance since winning the Masters. FIELD NOTES: Johnson, a two-time winner of the Sentry Tournament of Champions, looks to keep his momentum going in the new year. Johnson ended 2020 by finishing no worse than T6 in his final seven events, including three wins and three runners-up. ... Sergio Garcia returns to the Sentry Tournament of Champions after his first TOUR victory since the 2017 Masters. Garcia, an 11-time TOUR winner, won the Sentry Tournament of Champions in 2002 but hasn't teed it up at Kapalua since 2006... Justin Thomas looks to defend his Tournament of Champions title after winning in a three-man playoff a year ago... Twenty-eight golfers qualified for the 2021 event via their TOUR victories last season. An additional 17 golfers earned a spot in Hawaii via their appearance at the TOUR Championship... One of those golfers who earned a spot via the TOUR Championship was Xander Schauffele, winner of the 2019 Sentry Tournament of Champions. Schauffele fell just short in his title defense last year, losing in that playoff that also included former Sentry winner Patrick Reed... There are five first-timers playing in the Sentry Tournament of Champions this year... Forty-two of the 45 eligible golfers are making the trip to the Tournament of Champions, with just Rory McIlroy, Tyrrell Hatton, and Jim Herman not teeing it up. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 points COURSE: Plantation Course at Kapalua Resort, 7,596 yards, par 73 (yardage subject to change). Opened in 1991, the Plantation Course at Kapalua has long been ranked as the top course in Hawaii. It was the first Ben Crenshaw/Bill Coore design to open. The duo has now, of course, gone on to become one of golf's most sought-after design teams, and the pair did an expansive renovation in 2019. The course features dramatic ocean views, wide fairways, and big-time elevation changes. STORYLINES: The last four winners of the Sentry Tournament of Champions went on to finish in the top five of the FedExCup standings at season's end, proving that a hot start at the beginning of the calendar year is paramount to season-end success. Justin Thomas finished second in the FedExCup standings in 2017. Dustin Johnson finished fourth in 2018 after winning in Kapalua. Xander Schauffele finished second in 2019, while Justin Thomas finished second again in 2020... No golfer since Geoff Ogilvy (2009-10) has won the Sentry Tournament of Champions in back-to-back years, although Schauffele came close in 2020... Thomas is looking to build off the momentum from his year-end victory alongside his father Mike at the PNC Championship in mid-December... Golfers who did not find the winner's circle in 2019-20 but are in the field include Rookie of the Year Scottie Scheffler, the highest finisher in last season's FedExCup (fifth) without a win... Eight of the top 10 golfers in the world will be in the field. 72-HOLE RECORD: 261, Ernie Els (2003) 18-HOLE RECORD: 62, K.J. Choi (3rd round, 2003), Graeme McDowell (4th round, 2011), Jason Day (4th round, 2015), Chris Kirk (4th round, 2015), Xander Schauffele (4th round, 2019). LAST TIME: On the hunt for his second straight Sentry victory, Xander Schauffele eventually fell just short in a playoff to Justin Thomas, who won for the second time at Kapalua. Thomas had a one-shot lead going into the 72nd hole but made a bogey on the par five to drop into a three-way tie. Patrick Reed, who zipped up the leaderboard in the final round thanks to a sizzling 7-under 66 (the round of the day) made it through two holes of the playoff with Thomas but eventually lost to the former FedExCup champion, who birdied the par-5 18th on the third extra hole to Reed's par. Patrick Cantlay, Rickie Fowler, and Joaquin Niemann rounded out the top five. HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Friday, 6 p.m.-10 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 6 p.m.-8 p.m. (Golf Channel). Sunday, 6 p.m.-10 p.m. (Golf Channel).

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ORLANDO - The tournament itself will not begin until Saturday, but there was no shortage of anticipation as the main act - a duet - took the stage for pro-am day at the chilly, breezy PNC Championship at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club Grande Lakes on Thursday. And there were two immediate reactions. The first impulse, only human, was to smile as 11-year-old Charlie Woods warmed up alongside his dad on the range. Although he'd won some junior tournaments, he had largely eluded the cameras. Now, though, his fundamentals, tempo, mannerisms - heck, even the Nike Golf shoes - were a sight to behold. Here, before the world, was a sort of Mini Me version of Tiger Woods. "They're very similar," said Justin Thomas, a friend of the Woods family in South Florida. "I mean, who wouldn't want to be like your dad if your dad was Tiger Woods? He definitely has all the mannerisms. I think people at home, and you all, will get pretty good entertainment out of watching him twirl the club and walk putts in and fist pump." RELATED: How to watch | Expert Picks | LaCava and son to caddie for Team Woods The second impulse, also human, was to tap the brakes. Tiger is arguably the greatest golfer of all-time, and any comparisons seem patently unfair. This week is meant to be fun, nothing more. Heck, it's not even clear yet whether Charlie likes golf more than his first love, soccer. "It's so much fun for me to see him enjoying this, enjoying the game," Woods said. But is he old enough to be doing this? "He's been playing junior golf tournaments," Woods said, "and he's been out in front and having people video him. This is a different world we live in now; everyone has a phone." The important thing, he added, again, was that Charlie is enjoying himself. Clearly Woods is trying to do what Mike Thomas, a longtime PGA teaching professional in Goshen, Kentucky, did for his son Justin. Above all, both have stressed, kids need to have fun. "He obviously has all the tools already," said Mike, who helps Charlie with his game in South Florida and who also will play the PNC, with Justin. "The two things that are most incredible to me are how much speed he has - I mean he's a small person, and he gets that club moving fast - and his golf knowledge is unbelievable. I get that his dad is Tiger, but he's 11! "He hits fades, draws, low shots and high shots," he continued. "He sees kicking balls into a bank and stuff. Most 11-year-olds just want to hit one shot; he's got a lot of shots in his arsenal. It's going to be interesting to see what happens with him because he's got a ton of talent. What's cool is he looks like he's enjoying the game. He doesn't get all worked up over a bad shot." The PNC will feature major winners (Bernhard Langer and son defend) and family members (mostly sons, but also fathers and a father-in-law), and utilize a scramble format for all 36 holes. Team Woods and Team Thomas will play together, which makes sense. Charlie had expressed an interest at the same time that Mike confessed to Justin, "I'm not getting any younger." Mike, who with wife Jani recently moved into a winter home in South Florida, is Charlie's only teacher other than Tiger. "He's helped from the word go, he's been a part of it," Woods said. At the same time, Justin, 27, has taken on a sort of big brother role. Indeed, if Charlie is to become a golfer, if he makes a career of it, Thomas told a story that will likely endure. "I was over at Tiger's house, and us three were having a putting contest and we played nine holes, us three, straight-up, (Charlie) didn't get any sort of advantage," Thomas said. "I think he was 8 years old, 9 years old at the time. And it was one of the three combined total weeks I've held No. 1 in the world, around that time. And Charlie was leading going into the last hole. "He was 2 under, I was 1 under, and I think Tiger was even or 1 under or something like that," Thomas continued. "Charlie was mouthing off, you know, he's like, ‘Here I am, I'm 9 years old beating the No. 1 player in the world and supposedly the best golfer of all time.' And he three-putted and I made it, so I beat him. And that shut him up pretty quick." Thomas laughed, as did his audience, and there we were again, with those two competing impulses. Awe at the thought of a 9-year-old beating his father and Thomas, and caution for an 11-year-old entering the hype machine. "I'm hoping Charlie will be comfortable," Thomas said. "I'd love to see him play well. I'd love to see him, you know, hold his own, if you will. But at the same time, he's just 11 years old. He doesn't need to be compared to Tiger; he doesn't need to be compared to anybody. He needs to enjoy the game. Hopefully we'll be able to help him enjoy it Saturday a little bit more." The PNC won't start until Saturday, but the word of the week, the E word, is already clear.

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MGM Resorts The Challenge: Japan Skins will see Tiger Woods go head-to-head with reigning FedExCup champion and PGA TOUR Player of the Year Rory McIlroy and multiple-time PGA TOUR winners Jason Day and Hideki Matsuyama in a globally-televised skins game. Updates from Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club will appear below when play begins at 12 a.m. ET. Related: Leaderboard | Everything you need to know about MGM Resorts The Challenge | PGA TOUR Visual Stories: MGM Resorts The Challenge PREVIEW

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