Monahan: Next Gen golfers embracing Tournament of Champions

Kapalua, Maui >> As has become a tradition the past few years, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan held a press conference Saturday with members of the media covering the Sentry Tournament of Champions to discuss a wide range of topics, including why this winners-only event has become so popular recently with the players.

Held at the Plantation Course in West Maui the past 21 years, this tournament has had its fair share of ups and downs, as well as different sponsors. It has seen the likes of Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas holding trophies aloft in the waning light of this picturesque location, and certain players who are not quite as household names.

The event was known as the Mercedes Championship and the Hyundai Tournament of Champions in the recent past, but those sponsors packed up their cars and moved elsewhere when the fields here lost their luster. Last year, Sentry stepped in about the time many of the younger players believed Maui was the kind of destination they were interested in during the holiday season. So Monahan wasn’t in a position to take credit for its recent resurgence, rather just tried to explain it.

“The younger players and the way that they embrace, love being here, I think that’s been played out for the world to see,” Monahan said. “That’s really powerful. I just spent a couple of hours in players’ dining and there’s a happy group of winners. I also think that winning on the PGA Tour is so hard to do. They think it and they know it.

“This tour is becoming more young players, more international players, and it’s getting harder and harder to win out here. So when you win and you haven’t won in three or four thousand days, and then you come back here and you’re with your peers and you’re being recognized as a winner on the greatest tour in the world. That’s what this event really is all about.

“I think in terms of where it is, I think that’s a really important position to have. … It just doesn’t happen that often. This is the one place where we step back and say ‘OK, we did it.’ And now you get a chance to compete with your peers and the ones who won last year. I think that’s where it is. And it’s in a great spot.”

Monahan also loves the fact that the Plantation Course will undergo some major renovations that will close it from February into November. He believes the face lift puts this tournament in a better spot moving forward, which prompted the question as to whether this year’s President’s Cup being played in mid-December and in Australia will have a negative effect on the field playing here next year.

In one word, no.

Different emotions for Woodland

Third-round leader Gary Woodland had a wry smile on his face after sinking his lengthy eagle putt on 15, and it had nothing to do with retaking the lead outright after the golf ball found the bottom of the cup. When asked why he looked so shocked after it fell in, Woodland told a pretty funny story.

“I wasn’t shocked, I just saw somebody’s face in the background, they weren’t too happy that the ball went in,” Woodland said. “So, it made me laugh. I enjoyed that. It was somebody in the crowd. It was nice to see that go in just to make them not happy.”

Woodland was on the other end of the emotional spectrum as well after learning late Friday night that his grandmother had died. He will be playing with some swirling feelings today.

“She’s been downhill for a little while now,” Woodland said. “It’s been tough. And you try to prepare for that, but you never really can. So that, definitely have a little extra emotion with me, but we’ll get through it.”

Inside the numbers

The wind was sweeping across the Plantation Course as much as it had the previous two rounds. Look for that to change today, according to the weather forecast. With that said, the numbers were still solid, with a third-round scoring average of 71.242. There were 10 rounds in the 60s and 23 below par, with 68 being the lowest score and 80 the highest, by Michael Kim.

The hardest hole on the course was the par-4 13th, with a scoring average of 4.152. There were five birdies, 20 pars, six bogeys and two double bogeys. The easiest hole was the par-5 fifth, with a scoring average of 4.424. There were two eagles, 19 birdies, eight pars and four bogeys.