5 big-name golfers missing from the 2024 Sentry Tournament of Champions ft. Rory McIlroy 

The 2024 season of the PGA Tour is all set to start in the first week of January with the Sentry Tournament of Champions. The tournament is scheduled to get underway on January 4 and will have its finale on Sunday, January 7, at the Kapalua Plantation Course in Hawaii.

It is the first designated tournament of the year and thus has a purse of $15 million. However, unlike the previous edition of the tournament, which only allowed the PGA Tour event winners from the last season, in 2024, players who qualified for the 2023 Tour Championship, will also be invited to compete.

The field will be graced by last year's Major winners Brian Harman and Wyndham Clark, along with current World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and Tour Championship winner Viktor Hovland. However, some big names will be missing from the field next week, including defending champion Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy.

Here are the top five golfers who will miss the 2024 Sentry Tournament of Champions.

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5 big-name golfers missing from the 2024 Sentry Tournament of Champions

#1 Rory McIlroy

Rory McIlroy (Image via Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

Rory McIlroy won the Genesis Scottish Open in 2023 and participated in the Tour Championship, finishing in fourth place. As a result, he has qualified to play in the Sentry Tournament of Champions in 2024.

However, he will not feature in the tournament the following week. Due to his commitment to playing in DP World Tour events, the Northern Irish golfer skipped the Champions Tournament in 2023 and will again do so in 2024. The World No. 2 golfer will begin his new year by competing at the Dubai Invitational, which is scheduled to take place from January 11 to 14.

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#2 Jon Rahm

Jon Rahm (Image via Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

Jon Rahm started 2023 with his remarkable victory at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, but the Spanish golfer will not return to defend his title in 2024 as he is committed to competing on the Saudi-backed LIV Golf.

The reigning Masters winner joined LIV Golf earlier this month and as Saudi circuit players are banned from playing in the PGA Tour events, he will miss the Sentry Tournaments of Champions. Rahm will start his new year in February with the LIV Golf Mayakoba tournament.

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#3 Justin Thomas

Justin Thomas (Image via Mike Mulholland/Getty Images)

Thomas had a troublesome year in 2023. He even missed competing at the Tour Championship because he finished outside the top 70 in the FedEx Cup standings.

He did not win any tournaments in 2023 and is thus not eligible for the 2024 Sentry Tournament of Champions. However, he played at the tournament in 2023 and settled for the T25 position with a score of under 15.

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#4 Will Zalatoris

Will Zalatoris (Image via Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images,)

Will Zalatoris will also miss the 2024 Sentry Tournament of Champions. He was part of the tournament in 2023 and finished in the T11 position, but is not eligible for the competition in 2024.

The American golfer has been struggling with his back injury and only competed in a handful of tournaments in 2023. He was last seen at the Hero World Challenge, where he finished in last place in the 20-player field.

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#5 Aaron Wise

Aaron Wise (Image via Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

Aaron Wise also played at the Sentry Tournament of Champions in 2023 but will miss the competition in 2024. He finished in T18 place last year with Viktor Hovland and Corey Conners. However, he did not compete at the Tour Championship and thus will not play at the Champions Tournament next week.