No, Tiger Woods isn’t coming to Fort Worth, but Colonial field is still one of its best
The Charles Schwab Challenge has landed one of its best fields in its 74-year history with the top five-ranked players in the world coming to Fort Worth next week.
It’s the first time in tournament history that the top-five players will contend since the world rankings started in 1986. There are 148 players in the field, including 13 past champions.
But golf’s biggest star, Tiger Woods, will not be playing in the event. Woods, who is ranked No. 11 in the world, has played at Colonial only once — in 1997. He finished T4th with rounds of 67-65-64-72. But he’s skipped the event for two-plus decades and, if he wasn’t going to come this year as the PGA Tour restarts its season amid the coronavirus pandemic, it’s likely he’ll never return.
Despite Woods’ absence, it’s a loaded field that has a major-type feel to it. No. 1-ranked Rory McIlroy will be making his Colonial debut and looking to become the first player to win his debut since Sergio Garcia in 2001.
Along with McIlroy, the other top-five players in the mix include Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas and Dustin Johnson. The highest-ranked player who has won the tournament is Justin Rose (No. 14).
In all, Colonial has 16 of the top 20 players including three of the reigning major champions in Gary Woodland (U.S. Open), Shane Lowry (British Open) and Koepka (PGA Championship). The only top 20 players passing on the event along with Woods include Adam Scott (No. 6), Patrick Cantlay (No. 7) and Tommy Fleetwood (No. 10).
Tournament rounds start on Thursday. June 11. Rounds 1 and 2 will be broadcast on The Golf Channel Thursday and Friday with the final rounds on Saturday and Sunday on CBS.
Kevin Na is the defending champion, winning the 2019 tournament with a score of 13-under 267.
The full field list is available on the tournament’s website.
Giving back
The PGA Tour, Colonial and title sponsor Charles Schwab are coming together next week to support the local area and charities impacted by the pandemic.
Each caddie will be wearing the name of a local healthcare worker and fans will be encouraged to donate to tournament charities directly through the Birdies for Charity Program. Another fundraising effort set up by Charles Schwab is the #RiseToTheChallenge which has hundreds of prizes that will be given away during the tournament.
“This has been a difficult time for all of our communities and charities, but the sport of golf has shown it excels at supporting these efforts,” tournament chairman Rob Hood said. “I have never seen a more focused effort between groups to not only put on this unique golf tournament, but also to make sure the charity impact from the event is significant.”
This story was originally published June 5, 2020 at 5:42 PM.
