Is the 2024 Sentry Tournament an elevated event? PGA Tour event’s format explored

The PGA Tour will commence its 2024 season in Hawaii with the Sentry, which will be played at Kapalua Plantation Course from Thursday, Jan. 4, to Sunday, Jan. 7. The Sentry will also be the first of the eight signature events of the season.

This season, the PGA Tour has introduced some changes in the formats of its Signature events (formerly known as elevated designated events). Firstly, the event will comprise a short field, with just 59 players teeing off. The field will consist of the players who finished in the top 50 in last year's FedEx Cup standings and the winners of the 2022-23 season.

Unlike last year, there will not be any 36-hole cuts at the Sentry. This is the first time the PGA Tour has introduced no cut in its premium events. It means that all the players will compete throughout the week for a purse size of $20 million. This year's purse is $5 million more than the last year.

AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, RBC Heritage, Wells Fargo Championship and the Travelers Championship are the other four no-cut events this season.

Another major change that will come into effect with the Sentry is the OWGR point distribution. The winner will earn around 21% of the total points, 3-4 percent more than last time. The decision was taken to make the Signature events more rewarding for the top-ranked players.

The Sentry 2024 will feature 21 of the top 25 players in the OWGR. Rory McIlroy will miss the event, as he traditionally starts his season with the Dubai Desert Classic. However, the likes of World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, FedEx Cup champion Viktor Hovland and emerging stars like Ludvig Aberg will highlight this week's field.

Reigning champion Jon Rahm is not going to defend his title, as he has been suspended from the PGA Tour after his LIV Golf move. Last year, the Spaniard rallied from behind to beat Collin Morikawa by two strokes.

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The Sentry field explored

Here's the complete field of the Sentry 2024:

• Xander Schauffele
• Wyndham Clark
• Webb Simpson
• Vincent Norrman
• Viktor Hovland
• Tyrrell Hatton
• Tony Finau
• Tommy Fleetwood
• Tom Kim
• Tom Hoge
• Theegala Sahith
• Taylor Moore
• Sungjae Im
• Si Woo Kim
• Sepp Straka
• Seamus Power
• Scottie Scheffler
• Sam Burns
• Sahith Theegala
• Russell Henley
• Rickie Fowler
• Patrick Rodgers
• Patrick Cantlay
• Nico Echavarria
• Nick Taylor
• Nick Hardy
• Max Homa
• Matt Wallace
• Matt Fitzpatrick
• Mackenzie Hughes
• Ludvig Åberg
• Lucas Glover
• Lee Hodges
• Kurt Kitayama
• Keegan Bradley
• Justin Rose
• Jordan Spieth
• Jason Day
• J.T. Poston
• Hideki Matsuyama
• Harris English
• Erik van Rooyen
• Eric Cole
• Emiliano Grillo
• Denny McCarthy
• Davis Riley
• Corey Conners
• Collin Morikawa
• Chris Kirk
• Camilo Villegas
• Cameron Young
• Cam Davis
• Byeong Hun An
• Brian Harman
• Akshay Bhatia
• Adam Svensson
• Adam Schenk
• Adam Hadwin