Mickelson, Rahm, Watson, Reed, Daly highlight player field at 2018 CareerBuilder Challenge

La Quinta, CA – The final field is set for the 2018 CareerBuilder Challenge, and some big names highlight the group set to tackle the Stadium and Nicklaus Tournament Courses at PGA WEST and La Quinta Country Club during the Coachella Valley’s annual PGA TOUR event from Jan. 18-21.

World Golf Hall of Famer and tournament ambassador Phil Mickelson will be joined by World No. 3 Jon Rahm; two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson; 2014 CareerBuilder Challenge champion and U.S. Ryder Cup/Presidents Cup star Patrick Reed; and two-time CareerBuilder Challenge winner and 2011 PGA TOUR FedExCup champion Bill Haas.

Sponsor exemptions into the field include two-time major championship winner John Daly, Palm Desert High School senior Charlie Reiter and Tom Whitney, a 2006 La Quinta High School graduate and a four-year veteran of the United States Air Force.

The complete field of 156 players is listed below. The group includes 13 former CareerBuilder Challenge winners, 15 major championship winners and 17 of the top 30 players in the 2017-18 PGA TOUR FedExCup standings.

As the PGA TOUR schedule nears a return to Southern California to open its West Coast swing, the player field for this month’s CareerBuilder Challenge is bolstered by the latest additions of 2012 and 2014 Masters champion Watson, World No. 25 and 2014 CareerBuilder Challenge winner Reed, and Idyllwild native and UC Riverside golf product Brendan Steele.

This trio joins CareerBuilder Challenge ambassador and World Golf Hall of Famer Mickelson – the tournament’s 2002 and 2004 winner and a three-time Masters champion, among his 42 PGA TOUR wins – and a blend of major champions, past event winners and rising stars competing for a $5.9 million purse and 500 FedExCup points.

“We’re excited to welcome this tremendous field of players to La Quinta,” said Jeff Sanders, CareerBuilder Challenge Executive Director. “With a deep field of competitors including superstars like Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson, Patrick Reed, and Jon Rahm, fan favorites like the colorful John Daly and potential future stars with local roots in Charlie Reiter and Tom Whitney, there will be plenty of great golf for our fans to enjoy.”

The long-hitting Watson brings his powerful, patented, pink driver back to the CareerBuilder Challenge for the first time since 2011. A nine-time PGA TOUR winner, Watson previously played the CareerBuilder Challenge from 2007-11, and he was runner-up in 2010 after carding a five-round score of 29-under-par 331.

Another pair of golfers who earlier committed to play in the 2018 CareerBuilder Challenge are the colorful Daly and World No. 3 Rahm. Daly, the 1991 PGA Champion and 1995 Open Champion, will make his first event appearance since 2015. Rahm, from Spain and in his second full year on the PGA TOUR, is set to make his second start in the tournament as the highest-ranking golfer in the field.

Reed is the third-highest ranked golfer in the 2018 CareerBuilder Challenge field. In 2014, the perennial U.S. Ryder Cup/Presidents Cup ace blitzed the CareerBuilder Challenge field with three consecutive rounds of 9-under-par 63 and a seven-shot lead after three rounds on the way to a winning score of 28-under 260.

Other notable golfers who have stated their intent to play in the 2018 CareerBuilder Challenge include eight-time PGA TOUR winner and 2012 TOUR Championship winner Brandt Snedeker, 2010 and 2015 CareerBuilder Challenge winner and 2011 PGA TOUR FedExCup champion Haas, 2016 CareerBuilder Challenge winner Jason Dufner and defending champion Hudson Swafford.

2003 CareerBuilder Challenge and Masters champion Mike Weir and 2017 CareerBuilder Challenge runner-up Adam Hadwin, who carded a course record 59 at La Quinta Country Club, lead the Canadian contingency at this month’s CareerBuilder Challenge. Hadwin became the ninth player to shoot a sub-60 round in PGA TOUR competition and is coming off of a career year on TOUR in which he won his first PGA TOUR event at the Valspar Championship in March en route to qualifying for the International Team at the 2017 Presidents Cup.

Steele already has a win under his belt in the 2017-18 PGA TOUR season as he repeated in Napa, Calif. as champion of the Safeway Open. At No. 46 in the Official World Golf Ranking, Steele is only two spots off of his career-best mark as he prepares for his homecoming at the CareerBuilder Challenge.

World No. 20 and 2017 U.S. Open runner-up Brian Harman (T3 in the 2017 CareerBuilder Challenge), World No. 27 and 2017 U.S. Presidents Cup golfer Kevin Kisner and World No. 32 Kevin Chappell round out one of the deeper fields in recent memory at the CareerBuilder Challenge, annually the PGA TOUR’s first stop on its West Coast swing.

Daily tickets to the CareerBuilder Challenge are only $30 and include admission to the golf tournament, Concert Series presented by H. N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation, and three on course greenside hospitality venues including the all-new 8,000 square foot Vons Fan Pavilion located on the 18 th green.

The CareerBuilder Challenge Concert Series presented by the H. N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation features two nights of rock and roll music with the popular Huey Lewis and the News on Friday , Jan. 19, followed by Goo Goo Dolls on Saturday , Jan. 20. The concerts will be held on the driving range at PGA WEST’s Stadium Course and are expected to start at 4:30 p.m. each day, following the conclusion of play.

For more information on the CareerBuilder Challenge and CareerBuilder Challenge Concert Series presented by H. N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation and to purchase tickets, please visit www.CBChallenge.com .