Injured players and other players choosing not to attend will rob The Sentry tournament of a full and fully-fit 2025 field contesting the $20m event starting later today (January 2nd) in Hawaii.
As we know, World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is recovering from surgery after a ‘preparing Christmas Dinner’ injury to his hand while we now have been advised Sweden’s Alex Noren has withdrawn due to a neck injury.
It’s a pity for the current World No. 54th ranked Noren who contested just 23 events in 2024 and his last being a strong T12th place finish at the Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland.
“It’s a real disappointment,” noted golf analyst Mark Johnson. “Alex been playing some fantastic golf lately and was definitely a contender. Hopefully, he can prioritize his health and return to full strength soon.”
Player injuries rob @TheSentry of fully fit field for #NewYear2025 opener
Two sidelined & five others carrying injuries
Read: https://t.co/i4q8k11rl2
✅ @TOURMISS @Record_Sport pic.twitter.com/GKRK47MDl8
— Fatiha (@TOURMISS) January 2, 2025
Indeed as Noren will be keen, not only to capture a long overdue first win since his 2018 Open de France success but also secure a place in Luke Donald’s European Ryder Cup team.
The Swede is currently ranked a lowly 90th on the Bethpage Park Black rankings while he’s played in just the one Ryder Cup and that was thanks to his win earlier in 2018 on the host Le National course that earned him a place a few months later in Thomas Bjorn’s winning European team in Versailles.
And there’s Viktor Hovland who will have been absent from competition for 122 days since securing a share of eighth in the PGA Tour’s season-ending Tour Championship on September 1st.
The World No. 8 ranked Norwegian is teeing-up this week in Hawaii but he’s carrying a broken toe after arriving into Hawaii late and then accidentially slamming the pinkie toe on his right foot into his hotel room bed frame, leading to an image he posted to Instagram of a clean break
It’s the longest break of his professional career, and the Norwegian star was excited to get going.
Also, there are questions mark overs the following players in the Hawaiian field:
Tony Finau (Knee concern)
Hideki Matsuyama (Back injury)
Will Zalatoris (Back injury)
Ludvig Åberg (Knee issue) and
Jake Knapp (Shoulder)
And then there’s those players who qualified for The Sentry but have declined to attend headed by World No. 3 Rory McIlroy, who will commence his 2025 season later this month in Dubai.
As well, there is also missing fellow Euopeans Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry along with Jordan Spieth and Tom Kim who was runner-up in last month’s Hero World Challenge.
This aside and American Chris Gotterup, and winner of last year’s Myrtle Beach Classic and No. 191 will be first out at 7.45am local Hawaii time.
