John Daly among five major champs committed to upcoming PGA Tour Champions event

Five past major champions, including John Daly, are among the latest collection of golfers to join the field for this year’s Chubb Classic, set for Feb. 16-18 at Tiburón Golf Club in Naples.

Daly, the 1991 PGA Championship and 1995 Open Championship winner will make his first appearance at the Chubb since 2020. The perennial fan favorite recorded a hole-in-one at the 2018 tournament en route to an eighth-place finish, his best showing at the Chubb.

Also announced Wednesday as tournament commits: Ernie Els, David Toms, Mike Weir, Steven Alker, and Stephen Ames.

Els, a two-time U.S Open (1994, 1997) and Open Championship (2002, 2012) winner and a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, has more than 75 professional victories worldwide during his illustrious career. He finished tied for 10th place at the 2023 Chubb Classic.

Toms, the 2001 PGA champion and 2018 U.S. Senior Open champion, finished tied for sixth place at the last year’s Chubb. Including the U.S. Senior Open, Toms has four PGA Tour Champions victories, including two in 2023.

Weir, the 2003 Masters champion, will be the first Canadian to captain the International Team at the 2024 Presidents Cup, which will take place at Royal Montreal Golf Club in Montreal, Quebec.

Alker, the 2022 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship winner, 2022 Charles Schwab Cup winner, and 2023 Charles Schwab Cup runner-up, also has two consecutive Champions victories: last year’s Schwab Cup Championship and this year’s season-opening event, the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai.

Ames, the 2006 Players Championship winner, is a six-time Champions winner, including four victories in 2023.

They join a group that features World Golf Hall-of-Famers Davis Love III, Colin Montgomerie and 2024 inductee Padraig Harrington as well as former World No. 1 ranked players and major champions David Duval and Tom Lehman.

Reigning champ Bernhard Langer will not have a chance to defend his title as he recently tore his Achilles.

Past Chubb champions Steve Stricker (2021), Miguel Angel Jimenez (2019), Joe Durant (2018), Lee Janzen (2015) and Kirk Triplett (2014) have also committed to play in the event. One former winner who won’t be competing is two-time defending champion Bernard Langer. The winningest golfer in Champions history tore his Achilles tendon in a training exercise last week and will be unable to pursue his sixth Chubb Classic title.

The final members of the tournament field will be announced at 5 p.m. Friday. A total of 78 players will compete in the 54-hole championship for a share of the $1.8 million purse. All three rounds will be shown live on the Golf Channel.

Tickets are now on sale for the 2024 Chubb Classic, including exclusive hospitality and general admission. All 2024 tournament tickets will be completely digital and will be emailed after purchase. E-tickets can be viewed on either a mobile device or printed out to be scanned at the main gate.

Now in its 37th year, the Chubb Classic is the longest-running Champions Tour event in the same metropolitan area, getting its start in Southwest Florida at The Club Pelican Bay in 1988 and has been at Tiburón since 2021.