Next month’s Cologuard Classic will feature golf, Arizona Wildcats legends

Although Sutherland will undergo a gallbladder procedure in two weeks, he’s committed to playing in the 2022 Cologuard Classic. He’ll join 2021 Charles Schwab Cup winner Bernhard Langer, who won the Cologuard Classic in 2020 and is the only international player to win the event, as well as Ernie Els, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Darren Clarke and rookie David Duval, who won the Tucson Chrysler Classic at Tucson National in 1998.

Vijay Singh, Rocco Mediate, K.J. Choi and John Daly have also agreed to return. The tournament is still awaiting word from Phil Mickelson, among others. Golfers have until Feb. 18 to commit.

This year’s tournament is not likely to include Steve Stricker, the 2018 Cologuard Classic champion.

“I love the quality of the field that we get here, it really means a lot to me and I think that everybody who can come play will come play because we want to be surrounded by the best,” said PGA Champions Tour golfer Jerry Kelly. “When Kevin won last year, you can just call it the strongest field on our tour. It was 32 of the top 32. If we can keep doing that, it’s going to make guys want to come even more to compete against all the best at the same tournament. So that’s the thing that I’m most excited about.”

The Cologuard Classic will also feature two of arguably two of the greatest golfers in Arizona Wildcats history: PGA Champions Tour Rookie of the Year Jim Furyk and women’s golf legend Annika Sorenstam. Furyk, a member of the UA’s 1992 national championship club, will compete in the Cologuard Classic for the second straight year. Sorenstam, arguably the greatest women’s golfer of all time, will participate in the celebrity challenge along with country music star Jake Owen. Her nine-hole round will begin Feb. 26 at 2:45 p.m.