Massive names primed to high leaderboards this PGA Tour, LIV and LPGA week

The Masters — the primary main championship of the lads’s skilled golf season — is simply 35 days away, and it will possibly’t get right here quickly sufficient.

The beginning of the 2024 PGA Tour season has been tormented by inclement climate and plagued by not-so-familiar names on the high of leaderboards. Positive, the winners had been a few of the sport’s rising stars and performed higher than everybody else, however Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Viktor Hovland are the golfers who convey eyeballs to TV units on Sundays.

Will a celebrity lastly carry a trophy on Sunday on the Arnold Palmer Invitational — the fourth signature occasion of the season with an enormous purse and restricted area?

The LIV Golf League heads to Hong Kong for the primary time, and Joaquin Niemann will attempt to win in a unique time zone. He has already gained in Australia, Mexico and Saudi Arabia since December. He is arguably the preferred golfer on the planet and might need his sights set on successful a inexperienced jacket in Augusta, Georgia, in April.

This is what to look at in skilled golf this week, together with the LPGA Tour returning to China for the primary time in six years.

What’s subsequent on the PGA Tour

Arnold Palmer Invitational

When: Thursday-Sunday

The place: Bay Hill Membership & Lodge, Orlando, Florida

Defending champion: Kurt Kitayama

Purse: $20 million ($4 million to winner)

Puerto Rico Open

When: Thursday-Sunday

The place: Grand Reserve Nation Membership, Rio Grande, Puerto Rico

Defending champion: Nico Echavarria

Purse: $4 million

One other first-timer?

There have already been 4 first-time winners in 9 PGA Tour occasions this season: Nick Dunlap (American Specific), Matthieu Pavon (Farmers Insurance coverage Open), Jake Knapp (Mexico Open at Vidanta) and Austin Eckroat (Cognizant Traditional).

Dunlap, Pavon and Knapp are rookies and their three victories match the full for the variety of rookie winners throughout the whole 2022-23 season. There have not been 4 or extra rookie winners on tour since there have been 5 in 2018-19.

The typical Official World Golf Rating of the eight winners in addition to Dunlap, who was an beginner when he completed first at LaQuinta Nation Membership in California on Jan. 21, was 73rd. Solely reigning U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark was ranked within the high 50 — he was tenth when he captured the AT&T Pebble Seaside Professional-Am on Feb. 3.

“We have had fairly a number of first-time winners on tour this 12 months,” Will Zalatoris mentioned. “You’ve got acquired some tenured guys which are contending week in, week out. The official World Golf Rating is what it’s proper now. I additionally assume that the competitors that we have now is fairly stiff.

“It is actually good to see guys like Nick [Dunlap] particularly come up, and it simply exhibits you the golf local weather that we’re in, with youngsters in school arising and taking part in that nice. I believe that once you have a look at over the previous couple of years and seeing the first-time winners and taking part in in addition to they’ve, I believe that is one thing that I am extra enthusiastic about, as a result of on any given week you may see somebody simply pop off a win.”

Kurt Kitayama picked up his first PGA Tour victory eventually season’s Arnold Palmer Invitational. Will one of many tour’s superstars lastly carry a trophy on Sunday?

Schauffele getting shut

Xander Schauffele is taking part in a few of the greatest golf of his profession. He’s ranked fifth on the earth and already has 4 top-10 finishes in 5 begins on tour this season, together with a tie for third on the American Specific, ninth on the Farmers Insurance coverage Open and fourth on the Genesis Invitational.

Victory has eluded Schauffele for greater than 19 months — his final win got here on the Genesis Scottish Open on July 10, 2022.

“Just a bit little bit of a consolation issue,” Schauffele mentioned. “I do know I’ll be uncomfortable, it is fairly arduous to really feel tremendous snug. I believe the occasions you see guys win by six to eight pictures coming down the stretch, they’re fairly snug. I have not had that second but.”

Schauffele, 30, began working with swing coach Chris Como in December. Como has coached Tiger Woods, Jason Day, Bryson DeChambeau and others. It was a dramatic change for Schauffele, who had labored together with his father, Stefan, for many of his profession.

“I believe he is simply type of been attempting to get a few of my swing patterns again to type of 2017-2018, after which including in a number of issues that he likes to see,” Schauffele mentioned of Como. “Whether or not it is type of, I do not know, one thing so simple as steepening my shoulder aircraft or issues of that nature. Powerful for me to do, however after I can appear to know it, it appears to assist.”

The early outcomes have been promising: Schauffele ranks fifth in pictures gained complete (1.630), tenth off the tee (.672) and twelfth in strategy (.707).

The alternative-field occasion

Practically twice as many golfers (132) will likely be competing in an opposite-field occasion this weekend on the Puerto Rico Open for a $4 million purse.

Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre — a member of the successful European Ryder Cup group at Marco Simone in September — is the highest-ranked participant within the area at 68th on the earth. Aaron Clever, who hasn’t competed on tour because the U.S. Open in June, can also be again. Echavarria, the defending champion, Daniel Berger, Camilo Villegas, Brandt Snedeker and Kevin Kisner are additionally competing in Puerto Rico.

The winner earns a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour and an invite to subsequent week’s Gamers Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Seaside, Florida.

What’s subsequent within the LIV Golf League

LIV Golf Hong Kong

When: Friday-Sunday

The place: Hong Kong Golf Membership, Sheung Shui, Hong Kong

Purse: $20 million particular person ($4 million to winner); $5 million group ($3 million to successful group)

Niemann’s scorching streak

Niemann, the Torque GC captain, has picked up three worldwide victories since early December, together with the Australian Open and LIV Golf League occasions in Mexico and Saudi Arabia. He was the chief after 5 of the 9 rounds in LIV Golf tournaments this season.

Not surprisingly, Niemann leads the person factors standings and has gained practically twice as a lot cash ($8.2 million) as practically every other participant.

“He is extra repeatable and he is not making errors,” Bryson DeChambeau instructed reporters in Hong Kong. “He isn’t making dumb errors. So simple as it may be. He is in an incredible place, and I am very pleased for him and all of the accolades that include which have been nice. I hope that extra continues to return as a result of he deserves each little bit of it, and he is among the finest gamers on the earth.”

Niemann certified for The Open in Scotland in July by successful the Australian Open. He has obtained particular invites to play within the Masters in April and the PGA Championship in Might. He mentioned he intends to try to qualify for the U.S. Open in June as effectively.

It is a quick course

Hong Kong Golf Membership’s Fanling composite course is a par-70 course at solely 6,710 yards. It is the shortest course that the LIV Golf League has utilized previously three seasons. The Trump Nationwide Golf Membership in Bedminster, New Jersey, was the one different course shorter than 6,800 yards with its setup in 2022.

“It is a course which units up, I believe, for us as some oldies that do not hit it 350 yards,” Majesticks GC co-captain Ian Poulter mentioned. “It is fairly refreshing to return to a course the place for essentially the most half we cannot actually be utilizing driver. There’s solely a few holes most likely on the course that lends itself to hitting driver. Accuracy is one thing hopefully Workforce Majesticks can lean on this week.”

Legion XIII captain Jon Rahm mentioned he’d most likely “by no means” performed a 6,700-yard course in competitors.

“The factor is it performs longer than this simply because on plenty of tee pictures you are merely not allowed to be hitting drivers, so that you’re taking part in it to a spot,” Rahm mentioned. “It performs a bit of bit longer. You’ve got the choice of hitting driver if you would like, however you are going to should be extraordinarily correct.”

No LIV Golf gamers at Presidents Cup

It wasn’t a lot of a shock, however Worldwide Workforce captain Mike Weir confirmed throughout a video convention Tuesday that LIV golfers will not be allowed to compete within the Presidents Cup at Royal Montreal Golf Membership on Sept. 27-29. Because the PGA Tour organizes the biennial match, there gave the impression to be little hope that LIV golfers could be a part of the match.

“I have been instructed they are not eligible,” Weir mentioned. “They are not gonna be eligible however hopefully going ahead, perhaps in Chicago in 2026, they’re. It’s a disgrace. I imply, we’d need the most effective gamers, however I like our group. Our group seems to be nice proper now, however yeah, I believe as a captain, we would like the most effective worldwide gamers from world wide to be taking part in towards the most effective U.S. guys.”

That takes Niemann, Cameron Smith, Abraham Ancer, Louis Oosthuizen and Sebastián Muñoz out of the combination for the Worldwide Workforce.

The U.S. group gained 17 ½- 12 ½ at Quail Hole Membership in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2022, its ninth straight victory within the worldwide competitors.

What’s subsequent on the LPGA Tour

Blue Bay LPGA

When: Thursday-Sunday

The place: Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Course, Hainan Island, China

Defending champion: Gaby Lopez

Purse: $2.2 million

Again in China

The ultimate leg of the Asian swing will happen on Hainan Island in China, the place an LPGA occasion will likely be performed for the primary time since 2018. The match debuted in October 2014 and was performed for 5 straight seasons. It was canceled in three of the previous 4 years due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Mexico’s Gaby Lopez was the newest winner in 2018. 5 of the highest 10 gamers in Rolex Ladies’s World Golf Rankings are within the area, together with world No. 1 Lilia Vu, Celine Boutier (No. 3), Ruoning Yin (No. 4), Minjee Lee (No. 5) and Lydia Ko (No. 7).

The 108-player area additionally consists of greater than two dozen golfers from the China Golf Affiliation. There will likely be a 36-hole minimize with the highest 65 scores plus ties taking part in the final two rounds.

Ko on cusp of LPGA Corridor of Fame?

Together with her victory on the season-opening Hilton Grand Holidays Event of Champions in Orlando on Jan. 21, Ko moved to inside one level of the required 27 for LPGA Corridor of Fame induction.

The 26-year-old can earn one other level together with her twenty first LPGA victory, successful an Olympic gold medal, being named Rolex Participant of the 12 months or claiming the Vare Trophy, which fits to the golfer with the most effective scoring common.

Ko practically picked up victories in consecutive begins to start the season, dropping to Nelly Korda in a playoff on the LPGA Drive On Championship in Bradenton, Florida, on Jan. 28. She tied for thirty fourth eventually week’s HSBC Ladies’s World Championship in Singapore.

Solheim Cup stars in Florida

Most of the greatest performers from final 12 months’s Solheim Cup in Spain will meet once more this week within the first spherical of the Aramco Workforce Sequence Offered by PIF, which begins Friday on the Feather Sound Nation Membership in Clearwater, Florida. It is a part of the Women European Tour schedule.

The professionals will compete in a 54-hole particular person match, in addition to a 36-hole group competitors. The 2 greatest scores will rely. Every captain will decide one teammate and is given one other one through a random draw. The 28 four-player groups may even embody an beginner.

The sector consists of Megan Khang and Lexi Thompson from Workforce USA, and Charley Hull and Carlota Ciganda from Workforce Europe.