While Southeast Texas shivers in near-record cold for the first week in January, with the thought of playing golf a teeth-chattering hallucination, Chris Stroud doesn’t even have to bother with a sweater as he prepares for the PGA Tour’s Tournament of Champions in Hawaii.

Stroud earned his trip to the island of Maui by scoring his first-ever PGA victory last summer at the Barracuda Championship in Reno. That secured his spot in a select, 34-player field teeing it up Thursday through Sunday on the spectacular Plantation Course designed by Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore.

Though the PGA Tour in recent years has gone to a wraparound season that launches in October, the Tournament of Champions is viewed by many as the official kickoff for a new year. One of the tour’s more historic events, it
was first played in Las Vegas in 1953, moved to the LaCosta Resort near San
Diego in 1966 and relocated to Maui in 1999.

The TOC is actually what the name says, an event that requires you to be a champion. More specifically a tournament champion from the previous season.
Stroud will be one of 14 first-timers in a field that features seven of the top eight in the Official World Golf Rankings.

Winners in the TOC are often among the game’s legendary figures. Jack Nicklaus’ name can be found on the TOC trophy five times. Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, Gene Littler and Stuart Appleby won three times, with Appleby’s victories being consecutive from 2004 through 2006.

Tiger Woods, who took to skipping the tournament later in his career, won the first time he played it in 1997 and again in 2000 on a 40-foot putt in a sudden death playoff against Ernie Els. Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Patrick Reed, Zach Johnson and Dustin Johnson are the most recent winners.

Stroud, in order to help prepare his game for what is a terrific opportunity to collect a big check, and pile up FedEx points, spent most of last week in Jacksonville, Florida. He and his family flew to Maui on Friday and have been
getting acclimated ever since.

The least of Stroud’s worries will be the weather. Highs in Maui are forecast to be in the upper 70s daily, with the lows in the mid 60s. He won’t just be getting one week of balmy conditions either, since the tour moves to Honolulu next weekend for the Sony Open.

For those who want to follow the TOC on TV, all coverage is on the Golf Channel, with much of it after Southeast Texas has plunged into darkness. The tourney airs from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Sunday. On Saturday, the telecast is on from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.

In addition to going up against the top players on the PGA Tour, Stroud will have to contend with a 7,400 yard, par 73 golf course vastly different from anything else he plays during the season. The breathtakingly beautiful Planation Course features severe elevation changes, greens that are difficult to read and distances that are deceptive.

There are numerous uphill, sidehill and downhill lies. And the wind tends to howl.

Oh, yes, and each hole is a distracting photo op, with captivating views of
the deep blue Pacific Ocean everywhere one turns. Having been fortunate enough
to squeeze in 18 holes there while covering Lamar’s basketball team at the
Maui Classic in the early 1990s, I can vivdly recall being mesmerized by the
scenery.

That, and never reading a putt correctly or seldom figuring out whether I
was putting uphill or downhill, thanks to the West Maui mountains.

Stroud, meanwhile, is intent at cashing in on a seeming low-pressure opportunity that could get him on track for a strong 2017-18 season. With only 34 players in the field, there is no cut to sweat and big money to be made.

The winner gets about $1.6 million, with the player finishing 34th collecting
roughly $60,000.

All that and temperatures near 80 throughout the week. Count the latter a hidden bonus from Chris’ first tournament victory.

•
Golf news should be mailed to rdwest@usa.net