Steve Stricker back in familiar territory for the Hyundai Tournament of Champions
Steve Stricker has set his sights on winning the Hyundai Tournament of Champions for the second time in a row, when he tees of this week at the Plantation Course at Kapalua.
The tournament was slated to start from Friday, January 4, 2013. However, the inclement weather forced the tournament officials to call off the first round. According to the new schedule, the first round will begin on Saturday.
The Hyundai Tournament of Champions is known for attracting a strong field each year because of its format of featuring only the former PGA Tour champions.
This year too, the event has reeled in 30 PGA Tour winners from the 2012 season, who will contend for a share of US$5.7 million prize fund.
Last year, Stricker outshined his opponents at the event by displaying consistent game throughout the week. He carded a 23-under par tournament score, to record a three-stroke victory over Martin Laird.
Talking to the PGA Tour’s official website, he expressed his pleasure in returning to the field of the champions. According to him, he made a great start to his campaign last season by winning the season-opener.
Thereafter, he remained winless on the PGA Tour. Yet, he was pleased with his overall run of 19 starts during the season. He recorded a total of 12 top-25 finishes, including seven top-10 finishes.
“You know, when you come back here that you've had a success here because you've won on TOUR. Fortunately I was able to do it right here at the first event last year,” he said.
He added, “Didn't win the rest of the year but I had a pretty good, solid year. But overall, it's just great to be back”.
Talking about the course conditions, he said that it will be really difficult to play under windy conditions, especially when heavy rains are also expected to visit the area during the tournament.
“It's played extremely long today, a lot of clubs that I've never hit into some of these par 4s there, hitting drivers off some of these holes that you typically don't hit drivers off of, also,” he said after the practice round on Thursday.
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