McIlroy in search of career ‘WGC Slam’; Reed vying for third tournament title
BRADENTON, Florida – Tournament officials announced today that several of the world’s top-ranked players have committed to the 2021 World Golf Championships-Workday Championship at The Concession. World No. 1 and 2020 FedExCup champion Dustin Johnson, World No. 2 Jon Rahm, World No. 4 Xander Schauffele, two-time FedExCup champion Rory McIlroy, 2020 U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, 2020 PGA Championship winner Collin Morikawa, and defending champion Patrick Reed headline the latest commitments to what will be an elite field for the season’s first World Golf Championships event, Feb. 25-28.
An eight-time World Golf Championships winner, Johnson has won this event three times on two different venues (2015/Trump National Doral, 2017, 2019/Club de Golf Chapultepec). The defending FedExCup champion has won four of his last eight starts worldwide including the 2020 Masters Tournament.
In search of his first career World Golf Championships title, Rahm will arrive at The Concession Golf Club with four-top 5 finishes in 13 career starts in the WGCs. A five-time PGA TOUR winner, Rahm last hoisted a trophy at the BMW Championship in the second leg of the FedExCup Playoffs. Through seven starts of the 2020-21 season, Rahm has collected four top-10 finishes.
While Schauffele has already collected a WGC crown at the 2018 HSBC Champions, the San Diego native is looking to return to the winner’s circle on TOUR for the first time in more than two years since he captured the winners-only event at the 2019 Sentry Tournament of Champions. While the trophies have evaded the 27-year-old as of late, Schauffele has rounded back into form with top-5 finishes in his three most recent starts.
Winner of three of the four World Golf Championships events, McIlroy will look to join Johnson as the only players to achieve the career ‘WGC Slam’ by capturing all four WGC titles. In 11 career starts in this tournament, McIlroy has recorded eight top-10 finishes without a victory, including the last two at Club de Golf Chapultepec in Mexico City. Through six starts during the 2020-21 PGA TOUR Season, McIlroy has collected two top-10 finishes at the U.S. Open (T8) and Masters Tournament (T5).
Six years removed from collecting individual medalist honors at the 2015 NCAA Division I Men’s Championship and giving the world a preview of that success that would come in the professional ranks, DeChambeau will return to The Concession in search of his first World Golf Championships title.
Also looking to add a WGC to his resume is Morikawa, the 24-year-old California native who is already off to a solid start to the 2021 portion of the season with T7 results in his first two events. Now a three-time winner on the PGA TOUR, Morikawa edged Justin Thomas in a playoff at the 2020 Workday Charity Open to secure his second PGA TOUR victory before earning the signature win of his young career at the 2020 PGA Championship at Harding Park.
After leaving Club de Golf Chapultepec with the trophy in 2020, Reed is returning to form following his win at the Farmers Insurance Open for his first taste of victory since last February in Mexico City. With a win at The Concession, Reed will have won this tournament for the third time on three different courses (2014/Trump National Doral, 2020/Club de Golf Chapultepec).
Players have until Friday, Feb. 19 at 5 p.m. ET to commit to the field. Those players not currently qualified can still join the field at The Concession by either moving inside the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking or being among the top 10 in the FedExCup standings as of Monday, Feb. 22.
For additional information about the WGC-Workday Championship at The Concession, please visit worldgolfchampionships.com.
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