PGA TOUR
GENESIS INVITATIONAL
Site: Los Angeles.
Course: Riviera CC. Yards: 7,322. Par: 71.
Purse: $9.3 million. Winner’s share: $1,674,000.
Television: Thursday-Friday, 2-6 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday, 1-2:45 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3-6 p.m. (CBS); Sunday, 1-2:45 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3-6:30 p.m. (CBS).
Defending champion: J.B. Holmes.
FedEx Cup leader: Justin Thomas.
Last week: Nick Taylor won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Notes: Led by nine of the top 10 players in the world, the Genesis Invitational has its strongest field since the inception of the world ranking in 1986 and would be nearly on par with a World Golf Championship. … Tiger Woods, the tournament host, makes his second start of the year. Riviera is the PGA Tour course Woods has played the most times (10) without ever winning. … Rory McIlroy plays his first event as No. 1 in the world since the BMW Championship in 2015 in Chicago. … This is the first time McIlroy and Brooks Koepka are in the same tournament since the Tour Championship last August. … Two of the last three years, the winner had to play 36 holes on Sunday because of rain. … To keep in line with tournaments that had Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus as the host, the Genesis Invitational offers a three-year PGA Tour exemption to the winner and the largest of all regular PGA Tour events. But it loses the open qualifier it had since 1926.
Next week: WGC-Mexico Championship and Puerto Rico Open.
Online: www.pgatour.com
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LPGA TOUR
ISPS HANDA WOMEN’S AUSTRALIAN OPEN
Site: Adelaide, Australia.
Course: Royal Adelaide GC. Yards: 6,648. Par: 72.
Purse: $1.3 million. Winner’s share: $195,000.
Television: Wednesday-Saturday, 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. (Golf Channel).
Defending champion: Nelly Korda.
Race to CME Globe leader: Nasa Hataoka.
Last week: Hee Young Park won the ISPS Handa Vic Open.
Notes: The LPGA Tour has canceled its next three events in Asia because of concerns of a new virus. The cancellations over the coronavirus mean the LPGA will have one month off after this week. … Korda joined her sister, Jessica, as Women’s Australian Open champions. Their father, Petr Korda, won the Australian Open in tennis. … Jin Young Ko, the No. 1 player and LPGA player of the year, has yet to play this year. Ko won the event in 2017 and was runner-up to Korda last year. … Among those getting sponsor exemptions are Stanford alumna Andrea Lee and Cheyenne Woods, the niece of Tiger Woods. … The tournament dates to 1974 when it was won by Chako Higuchi. It has been part of the LPGA Tour schedule since 2012. … Karrie Webb has won her national open five times on four courses, twice at Yarra Yarra. … Webb, Jane Crafter and Jan Stephenson are the only Australians in the tournament. Two of them, Webb and Stephenson, are in the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Next tournament: Founders Cup on March 19-22.
Online: www.lpga.com
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PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS
CHUBB CLASSIC
Site: Naples, Fla.
Course: The Classics CC at Lely Resort. Yards: 6,843. Par: 71.
Purse: $1.6 million. Winner’s share: $240,000.
Television: Friday, noon-2 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday, 3-5:30 p.m. (Golf Channel); Sunday, 3-5 p.m. (Golf Channel).
Defending champion: Miguel Angel Jimenez.
Charles Schwab Cup leader: Miguel Angel Jimenez.
Last tournament: Brett Quigley won the Morocco Champions.
Notes: Miguel Angel Jimenez and Brett Quigley, winners of the opening two Champions event, both are in the field. … This is the only Champions stop in Florida until it returns for the Schwab Cup playoffs in late October in Boca Raton. The tour next heads West for two events before returning to the South. … Peter Jacobsen and Larry Mize are playing on sponsor exemptions. … The tournament dates to 1988 when Gary Player beat Dave Hill by one shot. … Fred Couples, who has won the Chubb Classic twice, is in the field. … The PGA Tour Champions gets another newcomer this week: Tim Herron turned 50 at Pebble Beach and makes his debut.
Next tournament: Cologuard Classic on Feb. 28-March 1.
Online: www.pgatour.com/champions
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KORN FERRY TOUR
LECOM SUNCOAST CLASSIC
Site: Lakewood Ranch, Fla.
Course: Lakewood National GC. Yards: 7,161. Par: 72.
Purse: $600,000. Winner’s share: $108,000.
Television: None.
Defending champion: Mark Hubbard.
Points leader: Davis Riley.
Last week: Mito Pereira won the Country Club de Bogota Championship.
Next tournament: El Bosque Mexico Championship on Feb. 27-March 1.
Online: www.pgatour.com/kornferry
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EUROPEAN TOUR
Last week: Min Woo Lee won the ISPS Handa Vic Open.
Next week: WGC-Mexico Championship.
Race to Dubai leader: Lee Westwood.
Online: www.europeantour.com
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OTHER TOURS
Sunshine Tour and Challenge Tour: Dimension Data Pro-Am, Fancourt Golf Estate, George, South Africa. Defending champion: Phillip Eriksson. Online: www.sunshinetour.com and www.europeantour.com/challengetour
PGA Tour Australasia: Coca-Cola Queensland PGA Championship, City GC, Toowoomba, Australia. Defending champion: Daniel Nisbet. Online: www.pga.org.au
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