PGA TOUR HAS A TEAM EVENT IN NEW ORLEANS. LIV GOLF RETURNS DOWN UNDER
PGA TOUR
ZURICH CLASSIC OF NEW ORLEANS
Site: Avondale, Louisiana.
Course: TPC Louisiana. Yardage: 7,425. Par: 72.
Prize money: $8.9 million. Winner’s share: $1.286 million for each player.
Television: Thursday-Friday, 3:30-6:30 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 1-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3-6 p.m. (CBS).
Defending champions: Davis Riley and Nick Hardy.
FedEx Cup leader: Scottie Scheffler.
Last week: Scottie Scheffler won the RBC Heritage.
Notes: This is the PGA Tour’s only team event, with two rounds of fourballs and two rounds of foursomes. … The winners do not get world ranking points or a Masters invitation. … Rory McIlroy is playing for the first time, partnering with Shane Lowry. Friends since their youth, they have played only one Ryder Cup match together. … The field includes three sets of brothers, two of them twins — Parker and Pierceson Coody, and Rasmus and Nicolai Hojgaard. The other set is Matt and Alex Fitzpatrick. … Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele are the only team where both players are ranked in the top 10. They won the Zurich Classic two years ago. … Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald is playing with Francesco Molinari, one of his assistant captains in Rome. … Steve Stricker is making a rare appearance on the PGA Tour. Stricker won the Charles Schwab Cup last year on the PGA Tour Champions. He is playing with Matt Kuchar.
Next week: AT&T Byron Nelson.
Online: https://www.pgatour.com/
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LPGA TOUR
JM EAGLE LA CHAMPIONSHIP
Site: Los Angeles.
Course: Wilshire GC. Yardage: 6,258. Par: 71.
Prize money: $3.75 million. Winner’s share: $562,500.
Television: Thursday-Friday, 6:30-9:30 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 6-9 p.m. (Golf Channel).
Defending champion: Hannah Green.
Race to CME Globe leader: Nelly Korda.
Last week: Nelly Korda won The Chevron Championship.
Notes: Nelly Korda withdrew from the tournament coming off winning her second major and fifth win in a row. … The prize money was raised to $3.75 million and the sponsors are paying for players’ hotels. It still attracted only six of the top 10 in the world. … Among those not playing are Lydia Ko and Lilia Vu, who withdrew last week with injury. … Patty Tavatanakit and Alison Lee are among those who played college golf nearby at UCLA. … Paula Creamer is in the field based on being in the top 20 on the LPGA career money list. … This is the second LPGA event in the Los Angeles area in the last five weeks. Korda won the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship down the coast at Palos Verdes Estates. … Rose Zhang is coming off a missed cut in the first LPGA major of the year. … Lexi Thompson, who has not won in five years and is coming off a missed cut in the Chevron Championship, is not in the field.
Next tournament: Cognizant Founders Cup on May 9-12.
Online: https://www.lpga.com/
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LIV GOLF LEAGUE
LIV GOLF ADELAIDE
Site: Adelaide, Australia.
Course: The Grange GC. Yardage: 6,946. Par: 72.
Prize money: $20 million. Winner’s share: $4 million.
Television: Thursday-Saturday, 9:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. (CW app). Saturday-Sunday, 1-6 p.m. (CW Network-tape delay).
Defending champion: Talor Gooch.
Points leader: Joaquin Niemann.
Last tournament: Dean Burmester won LIV Golf Miami.
Notes: LIV Golf’s tournament in Adelaide last year featured one of the largest galleries of the year. … LIV Golf Adelaide is where Talor Gooch won the first of his three titles last season. He is not in the field for any of the majors this year. … LIV Golf had three players finish among the top 10 in the Masters. Cameron Smith and Bryson DeChambeau tied for sixth, and Tyrrell Hatton tied for ninth. … Jon Rahm has yet to win since joining LIV in December. Rahm’s last victory was the Masters a year ago. … Dustin Johnson, who won LIV Golf Las Vegas in early February, has missed the cut in his last two majors. Joaquin Niemann remains the points leader this year based on his two LIV titles. He made the cut in the Masters and already has received an exemption to play in the PGA Championship. … Peter Uihlein began his three-week swing by playing the Saudi Open last week. He shot 66-63 on the weekend to finish third.
Next week: LIV Golf Singapore.
Online: https://www.livgolf.com/
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EUROPEAN TOUR AND JAPAN GOLF TOUR
ISPS HANDA CHAMPIONSHIP
Site: Gotemba, Japan.
Course: Taiheiyo Club. Yardage: 7,262. Par: 70.
Prize money: $2.25 million. Winner’s share: $375,000.
Television: Wednesday-Thursday, 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 11 p.m. to 3:30 a.m. (Golf Channel).
Previous winner: Lucas Herbert.
Race to Dubai leader: Rory McIlroy.
Last tournament: Scottie Scheffler won the Masters.
Notes: This is the second year of a European tour co-sanctioned event with the Japan Golf Tour in Japan. … The tournament is the third of four events in the Asian Swing. The winner of this series gets a $200,000 bonus, and the top three get spots in the PGA Championship at Valhalla next month. … The field includes Matthieu Pavon of France and Christiaan Bezuidenhout of South Africa. Both played in the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head last week. … Keita Nakajima makes his first start since winning the Hero Indian Open for his first European tour victory. … Kazuma Kobori received a sponsor exemption. The 22-year-old was born in Japan and plays under the New Zealand flag. He has three wins this year on the PGA Tour of Australasia. … The field includes most of the rising Japanese stars, such as Nakajima, Takumi Kanaya and Taiga Semikawa. … Lucas Herbert is not defending his title because he is with LIV Golf in Australia.
Next week: Volvo China Open.
Online: https://www.europeantour.com/dpworld-tour/ and https://www.jgto.org/en/
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PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS
MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CLASSIC
Site: Duluth, Georgia.
Course: TPC Sugarloaf. Yardage: 7,179. Par: 72.
Prize money: $2 million. Winner’s share: $300,000.
Television: Friday, noon to 3 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 3-6 p.m. (Golf Channel).
Defending champion: Stephen Ames.
Charles Schwab Cup leader: Steven Alker.
Last week: Paul Broadhurst won the Invited Celebrity Classic.
Notes: Paul Broadhurst became the seventh winner in the seven tournaments on the PGA Tour Champions this year. … Steven Alker returns to action after taking last week off. … Ricardo Gonzalez is the only first-time winner on the PGA Tour Champions this year. … Broadhurst (58) became the third player 58 or older to win this year. He joins Stephen Ames (Chubb Classic) and Joe Durant (Cologuard Classic), both of whom are 59. … The seven winners on the PGA Tour Champions come from seven countries — New Zealand, Canada, England, United States, Argentina, South Africa and Ireland. … Thomas Bjorn has been a runner-up and tied for third in his two starts on the PGA Tour Champions this year. … One week after Vijay Singh made his 20th cut at the Masters, the 61-year-old tied for sixth in the Invited Celebrity Classic. … The TPC Sugarloaf hosted a PGA Tour event until 2007.
Next week: Insperity Invitational.
Online: https://www.pgatour.com/pgatour-champions
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KORN FERRY TOUR
VERITEX BANK CHAMPIONSHIP
Site: Arlington, Texas.
Course: Texas Rangers GC. Yardage: 7,010. Par: 71.
Prize money: $1 million. Winner’s share: $180,000.
Television: None.
Defending champion: Spencer Levin.
Points leader: Steven Fisk.
Last week: Tim Widing won the Lecom Suncoast Classic.
Next tournament: AdventHealth Championship on May 16-19.
Online: https://www.pgatour.com/korn-ferry-tour
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OTHER TOURS
PGA of America: PGA Professional Championship, Fields Ranch at PGA (East and West), Frisco, Texas. Defending champion: Braden Shattuck. Television: Tuesday, 5-8 p.m. (Golf Channel); Wednesday, 4-7 p.m. (Golf Channel). Online: https://www.pga.com/
Epson Tour: IOA Championship, Morongo GC at Tukwet Canyon, Beaumont, California. Defending champion: Miranda Wang. Online: https://www.epsontour.com/
Challenge Tour: UAE Challenge, Saadiyat Beach GC, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Previous winner: Maximilian Rottluff. Online: https://www.europeantour.com/challenge-tour/
Ladies European Tour: Investec South African Women’s Open, Erinvale Country and Golf Estate, Somerset West, South Africa. Previous winner: Ashleigh Buhai. Online: https://ladieseuropeantour.com/
PGA Tour Americas: Diners Club Peru Open, Los Inkas GC, Lima, Peru. Previous winner: Marcos Montenegro. Online: https://www.pgatour.com/americas
Japan LPGA: Panasonic Open, Hamano GC, Chiba, Japan. Defending champion: Lala Anai. Online: https://www.lpga.or.jp/en/
Korea LPGA: KLPGA Championship, Lakewood CC, Yangju, South Korea. Defending champion: Dayeon Lee. Online: https://klpga.co.kr/