According to CBS Sports, the field for the 2021 PGA Tournament of Champions in Kapalua will be different this year. Normally you have to win the previous year on the PGA Tour to get an invite. However, this year due to coronavirus, the field also includes everyone who qualified for the Tour Championship in Atlanta in September.
One of the players who benefitted from the change in qualifying was Mackenzie Hughes of Hamilton, Ontario. Hughes did not win on the PGA Tour in 2020, but did qualify for the Tour Championship, where he finished 14th.
Hughes is one of two Canadians who qualified for the 2021 PGA Tournament of Champions which starts on Thursday. The other is Nick Taylor of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Taylor qualified by winning the 2020 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am at Pebble Beach, California, near San Francisco last February. Taylor shot a four-round score of -19 to beat American Kevin Streelman by four strokes.
In the Official World Golf Rankings, Hughes is currently the highest-ranked Canadian at 49th. Taylor is the fifth highest-ranked Canadian at 136th. There is no doubt however that a strong showing in Hawaii this weekend, which still has a limited field of 42 players, will help him in moving up the rankings.
