PGA TOUR
ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP AT SHERWOOD
Site: Thousand Oaks, California.
Course: Sherwood CC. Yardage: 7,006. Par: 72.
Purse: $8 million. Winner’s share: $1.44 million.
Television: Thursday-Sunday, 5-8 p.m. (Golf Channel).
Defending champion: Tiger Woods.
FedEx Cup leader: Bryson DeChambeau.
Last week: Jason Kokrak won the CJ Cup.
Notes: Tiger Woods won his record-tying 82nd PGA Tour title last year when the Zozo Championship was in Japan. It was moved to Sherwood this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. … Dustin Johnson, a member at Sherwood, withdrew for the second straight week because of the coronavirus. He tested positive last week in Las Vegas. … The field is so stacked that Woods, who finished 63rd in the FedEx Cup last season, needed a sponsor exemption to play as the defending champion. Matt Kuchar, No. 62 in the FedEx Cup, only got in when Johnson withdrew. … Woods is a five-time winner at Sherwood when it hosted his World Challenge. … Sherwood previously hosted the Shark Shootout before it moved to Florida and a Charles Schwab Cup postseason event on the PGA Tour Champions. … Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth, Tommy Fleetwood, Rickie Fowler and Justin Rose also needed sponsor exemptions after failing to finish in the top 70 in the FedEx Cup last year. … In the last World Challenge held at Sherwood, Zach Johnson holed out for par from the fairway on the 18th hole and beat Woods in a playoff in 2013.
Next week: Bermuda Championship.
Online: https://www.pgatour.com/
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LPGA TOUR
LPGA DRIVE ON CHAMPIONSHIP-LAKE REYNOLDS OCONEE
Site: Greensboro, Georgia.
Course: Great Waters Course. Yardage: 6,852. Par: 72.
Purse: $1.3 million. Winner’s share: $195,000.
Television: Thursday-Sunday, 1-4 p.m. (Golf Channel).
Defending champion: New tournament.
Race to CME Globe leader: Danielle Kang.
Last tournament: Sei Young Kim won the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
Notes: This is the second tournament added to the LPGA Tour schedule this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic that shut down women’s golf for five months. The other “Drive On” tournament was in Ohio and marked the return. … Without this tournament, the LPGA Tour would have been off for more than a month. … Danielle Kang, who leads the Race to CME Globe on the strength of her back-to-back wins in Ohio, is now No. 5 in the world ranking. She is the highest-ranked player in the field. … Minjee Lee (No. 9) and Lexi Thompson (No. 10) give the tournament three of the top 10 in the world. … Hall of Famer Juli Inkster is making a rare appearance. This is her third tournament of the year. She made the cut in her last start at the Cambia Portland Classic. … The LPGA gets a three-week break before resuming at another new tournament in Florida. … Only four tournaments remain before the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship.
Next tournament: Pelican Women’s Championship on Nov. 16-19.
Online: https://www.lpga.com/
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EUROPEAN TOUR
ITALIAN OPEN
Site: Brescia, Italy.
Course: Chervo GC. Yardage: 7, 434. Par: 72.
Purse: 1 million euros. Winner’s share: 166,667 euros.
Television: Thursday-Friday, 6:30-11:30 a.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday, 7-11:30 a.m. (Golf Channel); Sunday, 6:30-11 a.m. (Golf Channel).
Defending champion: Bernd Wiesberger.
Race to Dubai leader: Patrick Reed.
Last week: Adrian Otaegui won the Scottish Championship.
Notes: Adrian Otaegui has three European Tour victories in three formats. The Scottish Championship was stroke play. He won in match play at the Paul Lawrie Match Play. And the Belgian Knockout was medal match play. … Players from 11 countries have won on the European Tour schedule this season. Americans lead the way with six (two World Golf Championships, two majors), followed by England with five. … Bernd Wiesberger, Lee Westwood and Matt Wallace give the Italian three players from the top 50 in the world ranking. … The field includes 19 players from Italy. … The Italian Open was first held in 1925. Francesco Molinari won in 2006 and 2016. Before him, the last Italian to win his national open was Massimo Mannelli in 1980. … Ian Poulter and David Feherty each won their first European Tour title at the Italian Open. … The only American winner was Billy Casper in 1975. … The European Tour has four tournaments remaining, including the Masters, before the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
Next week: Cyprus Open.
Online: https://www.europeantour.com/european-tour/
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PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS
Last week: Phil Mickelson won the Dominion Energy Charity Classic.
Next week: TimberTech Championship.
Charles Schwab Cup leader: Ernie Els.
Online: https://www.pgatour.com/champions.html
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OTHER TOURS
Korean LPGA: Huencare Ladies Open, South Links Yeongam, Yeongam, South Korea. Defending champion: New tournament. Online: https://www.klpga.co.kr/
PGA Tour of Australasia: NT PGA Championship, Palmerston GC, Palmerston, Australia. Defending champion: Brett Rankin. Online: https://pga.org.au/
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