PGA TOUR
MAYAKOBA GOLF CLASSIC
Site: Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
Course: El Camaleon GC. Yardage: 6,987. Par: 71.
Television: Thursday-Friday, 1-5 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 2-5 p.m. (Golf Channel).
Purse: $7.2 million. Winner’s share: $1,296,000.
Defending champion: Matt Kuchar.
FedEx Cup leader: Lanto Griffin.
Last tournament: Rory McIlroy won the HSBC Champions and Brendon Todd won the Bermuda Championship.
Notes: Matt Kuchar returns to Mayakoba with his regular caddie. His victory last year was remembered more for word getting out that Kuchar paid a local resort caddie only $5,000 of his $1,296,000 earnings, until outrage on social media led to Kuchar giving him an additional $50,000. … Chris Kirk returns to competition for the first time since the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head, taking time off to cope with alcohol abuse. … Jason Day, fresh off being named a captain’s pick for the Presidents Cup team, is playing for the first time since 2009. … Rickie Fowler has decided not to play while he recovers from a bacterial infection. … Brandon Wu, who led the field at the second stage of Korn Ferry Tour qualifying, is among those in the field. … Brian Stuard has finished runner-up twice at Mayakoba. … Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland is the only player born outside the U.S. to win at Mayakoba since the tournament began in 2007. … The last two winners in Mayakoba, Matt Kuchar and Patton Kizzire, won the Sony Open in Honolulu two months later. … Lanto Griffin remains atop the FedEx Cup since his Houston Open victory. Griffin has finished in the top 20 in all six of his PGA Tour starts this year.
Next week: RSM Classic.
Online: www.pgatour.com
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EUROPEAN TOUR
NEDBANK GOLF CHALLENGE
Site: Sun City, South Africa.
Course: Gary Player CC. Yardage: 7,827. Par: 72.
Television: Thursday, 2-9 a.m. (Golf Channel); Friday, 3-9 a.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday, 2:30-8:30 a.m. (Golf Channel); Sunday, 2-8 a.m. (Golf Channel).
Purse: $7.5 million. Winner’s share: $2.5 million.
Defending champion: Lee Westwood.
Race to Dubai leader: Bernd Wiesberger.
Last week: Tyrrell Hatton won the Turkish Airlines Open after a six-way playoff.
Notes: The second of three postseason events features five of the top 10 from the Race to Dubai. … Ernie Els, Branden Grace and Padraig Harrington are playing on sponsor invitations. … The addition of Els and Grace brings to nine the number of South Africans in the field. … Hatton moved to No. 6 in the Race to Dubai with his victory in the Turkish Airlines Open. … Lee Westwood is a three-time winner at Sun City. … Erik Van Rooyen is the leading South African player in the Race to Dubai at No. 8. … Jon Rahm (No. 2) and Rory McIlroy (No. 5) are playing only in the DP World Tour Championship next week. … The tournament has been part of the official European Tour schedule since 2014. It began as the Million Dollar Challenge the first weekend in January in 1982. Johnny Miller beat Seve Ballesteros in a nine-hole playoff. … Tiger Woods lost one of only five playoffs in his career at Sun City to Nick Price in 1998. … Kurt Kitayama is the leading American in the Race to Dubai at No. 11. … There are 14 players from England in the 60-man field.
Next week: DP World Tour Championship.
Online: www.europeantour.com
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LPGA TOUR
Last week: Ai Suzuki won the Toto Japan Classic.
Next week: CME Group Tour Championship.
Race to CME Globe leader: Jin Young Ko.
Online: www.lpga.com
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PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS
Last week: Jeff Maggert won the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.
Next week: End of season.
Charles Schwab Cup champion: Scott McCarron.
Online: www.pgatour.com/champions
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OTHER TOURS
Japan Golf Tour: Visa Taiheiyo Masters, Taiheiyo Club (Gotemba), Shizuoka, Japan. Defending champion: Tatsunori Nukaga. Online: www.jgto.org
Asian Tour: Panasonic Open India, Classic Golf and CC, Gurgaon, India. Defending champion: Khalin Joshi. Online: www.asiantour.com
PGA Tour Latinoamerica: Visa Argentina Open, Jockey Club, Buenos Aires. Defending champion: Isidro Benitz. Online: www.pgatour.com/la/en
Japan LPGA: Ito-En Ladies Golf Tournament, Great Island Club, Chiba, Japan. Defending champion: Ah-reum Hwang. Online: www.lpga.or.jp
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