Viktor Hovland commits to the PGA Tour’s The Sentry with Hideki Matsuyama and Rickie Fowler amid LIV Golf rumors
Viktor Hovland, Hideki Matsuyama, Rickie Fowler, and Scottie Scheffler have committed to play in The Sentry 2024. The golfers’ decision to join the field for the first Signature event of the new season was announced by the PGA Tour on Wednesday (December 13). Interestingly, Hovland’s commitment to the circuit event comes amid LIV Golf rumors.
The Sentry, formerly the Sentry Tournament of Champions, will commence on January 4 at the Plantation Course at Kapalua in Maui, Hawaii. Unlike its previous editions which featured only the year’s PGA Tour winners, the 2024 field will have the top 50 players from the 2022–23 FedEx Cup points list.
It is pertinent to note that Hovland won three PGA Tour titles in the calendar year. The 2023 Tour Championship winner currently sits fourth in the world rankings. Hovland will hit the greens alongside the WM Phoenix Open winner Scheffler and Rocket Mortgage Classic champion Fowler.
While Matsuyama failed to win a title in 2023, he managed to stay in the FedEx Cup top 50 and qualify for the event. Names like Ludvig Aberg, Tom Kim, Vincent Norrman, and Sahith Theegala will also be in Maui to tee off the 2024 PGA Tour season.
Tony Finau will join Viktor Hovland at The Sentry
Apart from Hovland, Tony Finau is one golfer who recently quashed LIV rumors by committing to the PGA Tour. After Jon Rahm's shocking defection, Finau became the next in line to move to the Saudi-backed series, as per reports. However, the 34-year-old golfer came out to slam the speculations and state that he’s ‘looking forward to playing his 10th season on the PGA Tour.’
Taking to his personal Instagram account, Finau wrote:
"The 2023 season is in the books! It was a special and incredible season highlighted with a win at the Mexico Open. It was my 6th Win on the @pgatour. Another highlight was reaching the tour championship for the 7th year in a row!
As this year comes to an end I’m grateful to play the game that I love and to have the opportunity to compete at the highest level. I’m excited for 2024 and looking forward to playing my 10th season on the PGA Tour! And stoked to be defending in both Mexico and Houston!"
He ended the special message for fans by thanking them. The golfer signed off by saying he’ll see them in Maui and with “#imnotleaving.” It is pertinent to note that Finau’s post was received well by PGA Tour fans who seemed shaken by reports of his potential defection to LIV.
For the unversed, Spanish media group Ten Golf was the first outlet to claim Finau’s move to the Greg Norman-led series. According to the agency, Tyrrell Hatton was supposed to join him on the move. However, the golfer’s post committing to The Sentry quashed this claim.