PGA Tour goes to Memorial, LPGA Tour has new event at Liberty National
PGA TOUR
MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT
Site: Dublin, Ohio.
Course: Muirfield Village GC. Yardage: 7,533. Par: 72.
Prize money: $20 million. Winner's share: $3.6 million.
Television: Thursday-Friday, 2-6 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 12:30-2:30 p.m. (Golf Channel), 2:30-6 p.m. (CBS).
Defending champion: Billy Horschel.
FedEx Cup leader: Jon Rahm.
Last week: Emiliano Grillo won the Charles Schwab Challenge.
Notes: The Memorial begins a stretch of three big tournaments in four weeks, with the U.S. Open in two weeks followed by the Travelers Championship, now an elevated event. ... The field features seven of the top 10 players in the world. Max Homa (No. 6) is missing to attend his sister's wedding. Cameron Smith (No. 9) is with LIV Golf and Will Zalatoris (No. 10) is out for the year after back surgery. ... U.S. Open qualifying is the Monday after the Memorial, with most PGA Tour players staying in the Columbus area. ... Jon Rahm tied for 10th last year, had a six-shot lead after 54 holes in 2021 before withdrawing with a positive COVID-19 test and won in 2020. ... Three-time major champion Larry Nelson is the Memorial honoree this year. ... Scottie Scheffler has not finished out of the top 12 in his 12 starts this year. ... Billy Horschel won the Memorial last year. He has not finished better than a tie for seventh since then and has only four top 10s — two on the PGA Tour, two on the European tour.
Next week: RBC Canadian Open.
Online: https://www.pgatour.com/
___
LPGA TOUR
MIZUHO AMERICAS OPEN
Site: Jersey City, New Jersey.
Course: Liberty National. Yardage: 6,656. Par: 71.
Prize money: $2.75 million. Winner's share: $412,500.
Television: Thursday-Friday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday, 5-8 p.m. (Golf Channel); Sunday, 5-7:30 p.m. (Golf Channel).
Defending champion: New tournament.
Race to CME Globe leader: Lilia Vu.
Last week: Pajaree Anannarukarn won the Bank of Hope LPGA Match Play.
Notes: Two-time NCAA champion Rose Zhang makes her professional debut. She was No. 1 in the women's amateur ranking for a record 140 weeks. ... Michelle Wie West is the tournament host of a new event that brings together LPGA Tour players and junior girls. ... Liberty National previously hosted the PGA Tour's postseason opener, along with the 2017 Presidents Cup. ... Nelly Korda, No. 2 in the women's world ranking, has decided not to play in order to rest an injury. Her older sister, Jessica, is taking time off because of a back injury. ... Pajaree Anannarukarn was the first player from Thailand to win an individual tournament this year. Her victory in the Bank of Hope LPGA Match Play was two weeks after Thailand won the International Crown. Anannarukarn was not part of that four-player Thai team. ... This is the start of three LPGA Tour events in New Jersey in the next four weeks. The stretch ends with the KPMG Women's PGA Championship at Baltusrol.
Next week: ShopRite LPGA Classic.
Online: https://www.lpga.com/
___
EUROPEAN TOUR
PORSCHE EUROPEAN OPEN
Site: Hamburg, Germany.
Course: Green Eagle GC. Yardage: 7,457. Par: 73.
Prize money: $2 million. Winner's share: $333,333.
Television: Thursday-Friday, 7-11 a.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 7-11:30 a.m. (Golf Channel).
Defending champion: Kalle Samooja.
Race to Dubai leader: Rory McIlroy.
Last week: Pablo Larrazabal won the KLM Open.
Notes: Pablo Larrazabal has won twice in the last month and moved to No. 53 in the world ranking. He needs to stay in the top 60 the next two weeks to be exempt for the U.S. Open. .. This is the final event in a special series in which the leading two players not already exempt get into the U.S. Open. ... Two Germans have won on the European tour this year, Marcel Siem in the Hero Indian Open and Nick Bachem in the Jonsson Workwear Open. ... Yannik Paul on No. 107 is the highest-ranked German in the world ranking. ... Alex Fitzpatrick, the younger brother of U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick, is playing on a sponsor exemption. ... Larrazabal is the highest-ranked player in the field, which features only four of the top 100. ... The tournament began in 1978 at Walton Heath and went to Turnberry the following year. It has been played in Germany every year since 2015. ... Martin Kaymer at the 2008 BMW International Open is the last German to win on home soil.
Next week: Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed.
Online: https://www.europeantour.com/dpworld-tour/
___
PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS
PRINCIPAL CHARITY CLASSIC
Site: Des Moines, Iowa.
Course: Wakonda Club. Yardage: 6,851. Par: 72.
Prize money: $2 million. Winner's share: $300,000.
Television: Friday, 7-9 p.m. (Golf Channel-Tape Delay); Saturday-Sunday, 2:30-5 p.m. (Golf Channel).
Defending champion: Jerry Kelly.
Charles Schwab Cup leader: Steve Stricker.
Last week: Steve Stricker won the Senior PGA Championship.
Notes: Steve Stricker is now 2 for 2 in the senior majors this year. The last player to win the opening two majors on the PGA Tour Champions was Alex Cejka in 2018. ... Stricker is the first three-time winner on the PGA Tour Champions this year. He also has three runner-up finishes and has not been worse than a tie for eighth in his nine starts this year. ... Jerry Kelly won the Principal Charity Classic a year ago in a playoff over Kirk Triplett. ... Former British Open champion Stewart Cink made his PGA Tour Champions debut last week at the Senior PGA. He finished birdie-eagle and missed the playoff by two shots. ... Stricker now needs only the Senior British Open to complete the senior slam. ... Bernhard Langer is in the field. The 65-year-old German has only two top 10s since his record-tying 45th victory on the Champions Tour in February. ... Sponsor exemptions this week were given to Mario Tiziani and Fran Quinn.
Next week: American Family Insurance Championship.
Online: https://www.pgatour.com/pgatour-champions
___
KORN FERRY TOUR
UNC HEALTH CHAMPIONSHIP
Site: Raleigh, North Carolina.
Course: Raleigh CC. Yardage: 7,394. Par: 70.
Prize money: $1 million. Winner's share: $180,000.
Television: None.
Previous winner: Davis Thompson.
Points leader: Ben Kohles.
Last week: Rico Hoey won the Visit Knoxville Open.
Next week: BMW Charity Pro-Am.
Online: https://www.pgatour.com/korn-ferry-tour
___
LIV GOLF
Last week: Harold Varner III won LIV Golf-DC.
Next tournament: LIV Golf Valderrama on June 30-July 2.
Points leader: Talor Gooch.
Team leader: 4Aces.
Online: https://www.livgolf.com/
___
OTHER TOURS
Epson Tour: Champions Fore Change Invitational, Taberna CC, New Bern, N.C. Defending champion: New tournament. Online: https://www.epsontour.com/tournaments
Japan Golf Tour: BMW Japan Golf Tour Championship Mori Building Cup, Shishido Hill CC (West), Ibaraki, Japan. Defending champion: Kazuki Higa. Online: https://www.jgto.org/en/
Challenge Tour: D+D Real Czech Challenge, Panorama Golf Resort, Kacov, Czech Republic. Defending champion: Nicolai Kristensen. Online: https://www.europeantour.com/challenge-tour/
Ladies European Tour: Helsingborg Open, Allerum GC, Helsingborg, Sweden. Defending champion: New tournament. Online: https://ladieseuropeantour.com/
PGA Tour Latinoamerica: El Rincon Championship, Club El Rincon de Cajica, Bogota, Colombia. Defending champion: Cristobal Del Solar. Online: https://www.pgatour.com/latinoamerica/
Japan LPGA: Richard Mille Yonex Ladies, Asagiri Jamboree GC, Shizuoka, Japan. Defending champion: Mone Inami. Online: https://www.lpga.or.jp/en/
___
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
