The PGA Tour's season-opening Tournament of Champions in Hawaii will once again be missing a number of big names this year.

Only one of last year's four major winners will be in attendance - USPGA champion Keegan Bradley - as Masters champ Charl Schwartzel, US Open winner Rory McIlroy and Open champion Darren Clarke have all decided not to participate.

The WGC champions from last year aren't much better represented. Luke Donald won't be there and neither will Martin Kaymer or Adam Scott.

The likes of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson stopped coming to Kapalua years ago as well, all of which leaves only a 28-man field to kick off the 2012 season - the smallest ever group for the year's first event.

In fact, only 19 of the world's top 100 will be in attendance, and though the PGA Tour has flirted with expanding the event (currently it is only open to PGA Tour winners from the previous year), the reality is that golf is becoming an increasingly international game, and the world's best players are no longer able to commit themselves virtually exclusively to PGA Tour events.

The season is also getting longer every year, and with so many big names playing till well into December of last year, many are not quite ready to start afresh.
Valid reasons

Most of the players who could play this week, but are choosing not to, have valid reasons. Brandt Snedeker, Fredrik Jacobson and Dustin Johnson are recovering from injuries, while Kaymer and Clarke aren't even PGA Tour members and have to consider that they have only a limited number of starts.

Justin Rose and Donald each have very recent additions to their families, while Schwartzel has events in his native South Africa.

Still, for the 28 players left (a field that includes Keegan Bradley, Nick Watney and Bill Haas), the season-opener in Maui, starting on Friday, should be a picturesque and enjoyable affair.

http://www1.skysports.com/golf/news/...GA-Tour-opener