Tournament Field Announced For Mitsubishi Electric Championship

Four Seasons’ Hualalai Resort golf course on Hawai‘i Island. Image courtesy of Golfscape.com

Hualalai Golf Course will host the tournament for the 25th time, and this year’s field represents 18 major champions, 323 PGA TOUR wins and 268 victories on PGA TOUR Champions. The second half of the PGA TOUR Champions 2020-2021 season begins Jan. 19–23, 2021, as 42 of the game’s most legendary players will compete at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai.

“The combination of World Golf Hall of Fame members, past tournament champions and first-time players makes this year’s field a fitting celebration for the Mitsubishi Electric Championship’s 25th anniversary at Hualalai,” said Tournament Manager Kelly Fliear. “With a legendary field competing on the beautiful Island of Hawaii, we’re looking forward to sharing the aloha spirit with the world during our broadcast on Golf Channel.”

A year after he defeated Fred Couples and Ernie Els in a playoff, Miguel Ángel Jiménez will return in hopes of joining Bernhard Langer as the tournament’s only three-time champions. Jiménez and Langer are joined by Tom Lehman (2019), Jerry Kelly (2018), Tom Watson (2010), Fred Funk (2008) and Hale Irwin (2007, 1997) as past champions in the field. Irwin’s 45 victories are most in PGA TOUR Champions history, and he is poised to set another record next week when he makes his 25th start at Hualalai, the most of any player at one venue in Tour history.

Six players will add their names to the tournament’s roster of legends, as Shane Bertsch, K.J. Choi, Darren Clarke, Jim Furyk, Brett Quigley and Mike Weir will make their debuts at Hualalai. Four of these first-timers won tournaments in 2020 – Furyk became the second player in Tour history to win his first two starts when he won The Ally Challenge and PURE Insurance Championship, while Bertsch, Clarke and Quigley also hoisted trophies.

With PGA TOUR Champions forming a singular 2020-21 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai is uniquely in the middle of the season, even though it’s the first event of the 2021 calendar year. As such, the tournament inherits a Charles Schwab Cup leaderboard that features 63-year-old Langer at the top, with 2020 rookies Els (No. 2) and Furyk (No. 7) in close pursuit. In addition, defending champion Jiménez is No. 4 and 2018 tournament champion Jerry Kelly is No. 6.

Though spectators will not be permitted to attend this year’s tournament, all three rounds of the 2021 Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai will be televised live on Golf Channel, Jan. 21–23. For more information, visit PGATOUR.com.