Jan. 5, 2011

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - Three former UNLV men's golfers - Charley Hoffman, Bill Lunde and Adam Scott - are among the field at the PGA Tour's season-opening Hyundai Tournament of Champions, which begins Thursday at The Plantation Course at the Kapalua Resort in Maui, Hawaii.

One of the longer-standing events on the tour, it dates back to 1953 when it was first contested at the Desert Inn Country Club in Las Vegas. It is perhaps the most exclusive event on tour since golfers can only gain admittance by recording a win the prior year, and there are just 46 official chances throughout the season to do that.

Hoffman was the 2010 Deutsche Bank Championship winner, Lunde won at the 2010 Turning Stone Resort Championship and Scott was the winner at the 2010 Valero Texas Open. The field is comprised of just 34 players.

"It is great to have three players from UNLV in such as exclusive field of winners from last year on tour," UNLV head coach Dwaine Knight said. "We are very proud of all of them. I sent each of them a text this week and they all said how excited they are and really looking forward to this year. It should be a great one for the Rebels on tour and hopefully we can match that with a great year for the Rebels at UNLV."

The Tournament of Champions has only been the first event of the year on tour since 1986. Prior to that, it had always been played in the spring. The tournament's purse is $5.6 million with $1.12 million going to the winner.

Hoffman played at UNLV from 1995-99, Lunde from 1993-98 and Scott from 1998-99. Hoffman and Lunde were both members of the 1998 national championship team.

The tournament's full field with first round tee times may be found by clicking here.