PGA TOUR
HERO WORLD CHALLENGE
Site: Nassau, Bahamas.
Course: Albany Golf Club. Yardage: 7,414. Par: 72.
Prize money: $3.5 million. Winner's share: $1 million.
Television: Thursday-Friday, 1:30-4:30 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday, noon to 2:30 p.m. (Golf Channel), 2:30-5 p.m. (NBC); Sunday, noon to 1 p.m. (Golf Channel), 1-5 p.m. (NBC).
Defending champion: Viktor Hovland.
FedEx Cup leader: Seamus Power.
Last tournament: Adam Svensson won the RSM Classic.
Notes: Tournament host Tiger Woods was set to return until withdrawing on Monday because of a foot injury. It would have been only his fourth time competing this year. Woods was replaced by Sepp Straka. ... Collin Morikawa had a five-shot lead going into the final round last year with a chance to go to No. 1 in the world. He shot 76 and tied for fifth. He now is No. 10 in the world. ... The field features 15 of the top 20 players in the world. ... To be eligible for world ranking points, the field must come from the top 50 except for the defending champion and tournament host. ... This is the seventh time the Hero World Challenge is played at Albany. The only past Albany winners in the field are Jon Rahm and Viktor Hovland. ... Newcomers to this holiday event include Cameron Young, Max Homa, Tom Kim and Sam Burns. ... Scottie Scheffler has four wins this year, his last one coming in April at the Masters.
Next week: QBE Shootout.
Online: https://www.pgatour.com/
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EUROPEAN TOUR AND PGA TOUR OF AUSTRALIA
ISPS HANDA AUSTRALIAN OPEN
Site: Melbourne, Australia.
Courses: Victoria GC (Yardage: 6,811. Par: 70.) and Kingston Heath GC (Yardage: 7,269. Par: 72.)
Prize money: $1.7 million AUD.
Television: Wednesday-Thursday, 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. (Golf Channel); Friday, 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday, 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. (Golf Channel).
Defending champion: Matt Jones (2019).
Race to Dubai leader: Dan Bradbury.
Last week: Cameron Smith won the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship.
Notes: This is the first national open where men and women are competing alongside each other in separate competitions with equal prize funds. ... The opening two rounds will be played at Kingston Heath and Victoria. After the cut is made in both tournaments, the final two rounds will be at Victoria. ... The Australian Open is the fifth-oldest national open in golf, dating to 1904. ... The Australian Open was not played the last two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic. ... The European tour is co-sanctioning the tournament for the first time. It also co-sanctioned the Australian PGA last week. ... The field includes the Australian brother-sister duo of Min Woo Lee and U.S. Women's Open champion Minjee Lee. ... The men's field includes British Open champion Cameron Smith and Adam Scott. Among the women playing are major champions Jennifer Kupcho, Ashleigh Buhai, So Yeon Ryu and Hall of Famers Karrie Webb and Laura Davies.
Next week: Alfred Dunhill Championship.
Online: https://www.europeantour.com/ and https://pga.org.au/
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EUROPEAN TOUR AND SUNSHINE TOUR
INVESTEC SOUTH AFRICAN OPEN
Site: Johannesburg, South Africa.
Course: Blair Atholl Golf & Equestrian Estate. Yardage: 8,233. Par: 72.
Prize money: $1.5 million. Winner's share: $250,000.
Television: Thursday-Friday, 5-10 a.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 4:30-9:30 a.m. (Golf Channel).
Defending champion: Daniel van Tonder.
Race to Dubai leader: Dan Bradbury.
Last week: Dan Bradbury won the Joburg Open.
Notes: The European tour is co-sanctioning tournaments in South Africa and Australia for the second straight week. ... The course is among the five longest in the world. ... The South African dates to 1903 and is the third-oldest national open in golf behind the British Open (1860) and the U.S. Open (1895). ... The field includes four South Africans who are part of LIV Golf, including LIV Golf winners Charl Schwartzel and Branden Grace. ... Dylan Frittelli, Erik van Rooyen and MJ Daffue are among PGA Tour members who are home to play their national open. ... Ernie Els is not playing the South African, choosing to play the Asian Tour International Series event this week in Indonesia. ... Gary Player won the South African Open 13 times, the last one in 1981. ... The European tour has co-sanctioned the tournament since 1997 except for last year because of travel restrictions that affected the field.
Next week: Alfred Dunhill Championship.
Online: https://www.europeantour.com/ and https://sunshinetour.com/
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OTHER TOURS
Asian Tour: BNI Indonesian Masters, Royale Jakarta GC, Jakarta, Indonesia. Defending champion: Jazz Janewattananond (2019). Online: https://asiantour.com/
Japan Golf Tour: Golf Nippon Series JT Cup, Tokyo Yomiuri CC, Tokyo. Defending champion: Hideto Tanihara. Online: https://www.jgto.org/en/
PGA Tour Latinoamerica: Visa Argentina Open, Nordelta GC, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Defending champion: Jorge Fernandez Valdes. Online: https://www.pgatour.com/la/en/
Legends Tour: MCB Tour Championship-Seychelles, Constance Lemuria Resort, Grand Anse, Seychelles. Defending champion: Peter Fowler (2019). Online: https://www.legendstour.com/
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