PGA Tour to Houston, Champions Tour ends season in Phoenix

By The Associated Press

PGA TOUR

CADENCE BANK HOUSTON OPEN

Site: Houston.

Course: Memorial Park GC. Yardage: 7,412. Par: 70.

Prize money: $8.4 million. Winner’s share: $1,512,000.

Television: Thursday-Sunday, 1-4 p.m. (Golf Channel).

Previous winner: Jason Kokrak.

FedEx Cup leader: Seamus Power.

Last week: Russell Henley won the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba.

Notes: Scottie Scheffler is the only player from the top 10 in the world who is playing. He is No. 2 and can regain the No. 1 ranking if he were to win. … Jason Kokrak is the first player not to defend a PGA Tour title because of being suspended for signing with LIV Golf. That will apply to Talor Gooch next week. … Nineteen players now with LIV Golf played in the Houston Open last year. … The field features eight of the top 50 players in the world, including Hideki Matsuyama (19), Tony Finau (15) and Sam Burns (12). … Russell Henley won in 2017 when it was held a week before the Masters. That was his last PGA Tour win until Mayakoba last week. Henley is in the field. … Travis Vick, who helped Texas to the NCAA title, is playing on a sponsor exemption for the second straight week. He missed the cut in Mexico.

Next week: RSM Classic.

Online: https://www.pgatour.com/

___

LPGA TOUR

PELICAN WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP

Site: Belleair, Florida.

Course: Pelican GC. Yardage: 6,268. Par: 70.

Prize money: $2 million. Winner’s share: $300,000.

Television: Thursday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 7:30-10:30 p.m. (Golf Channel-Tape Delay).

Defending champion: Nelly Korda.

Race to CME Globe leader: Lydia Ko.

Last week: Gemma Dryburgh won the Toto Japan Classic.

Notes: This the final full-field event of the LPGA Tour season, with the leading 60 players in the Race to CME Globe advancing to the CME Group Tour Championship. … The field features seven of the top 10 in the world ranking. Top-ranked Atthaya Thitikul, Nasa Hataoka and Minjee are not playing. … Jin Young Ko returns after withdrawing from the BMW Ladies Championship in South Korea. She can regain the No. 1 ranking this week with Thitikul taking the week off. … The only wins for Nelly Korda and Lexi Thompson this year have been in the Saudi-funded Aramco Team Series. … Lydia Ko is leading the Vare Trophy for lowest scoring average. … Gemma Dryburgh became the 11th first-time winner this year, the most for a season on the LPGA since 1995. Tournaments this year have been won by 25 players. … Dryburgh and Linn Grant have moved into the top 60 in points from last week in Japan. Grant finished third. … Stacy Lewis is holding down the 60th spot in points.

Next week: CME Group Tour Championship.

Online: https://www.lpga.com/

___

PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS

CHARLES SCHWAB CUP CHAMPIONSHIP

Site: Phoenix.

Course: Phoenix CC. Yardage: 6,860. Par: 71.

Prize money: $2.5 million. Winner’s share: $440,000.

Television: Thursday-Sunday, 4-6:30 p.m. (Golf Channel).

Previous winner: Phil Mickelson.

Charles Schwab Cup leader: Steven Alker.

Last week: Bernhard Langer won the TimberTech Championship.

Notes: The Charles Schwab Cup comes down to two players in the season finale. Steven Alker has a 617,980-point lead over Padraig Harrington. Winning the Charles Schwab Cup Championship is worth 880,000 points. … Bernhard Langer now has 44 victories on the PGA Tour Champions. Hale Irwin holds the record with 45 wins. … Langer has won at least once in each of his 16 seasons on the PGA Tour Champions, and 11 of his wins have come after he turned 60. … The leading seven players on the money list have all won at least one tournament this year. Ernie Els is at No. 8. … With his tie for eighth in the TimberTech Championship, Miguel Angel Jimenez became the fifth player to go over $2 million in earnings this year. … Phil Mickelson will not be defending his title because of his PGA Tour suspension for playing with LIV Golf. … Langer’s six-shot win last week tied for the largest margin of victory this year.

Next week: End of season.

Online: https://www.pgatour.com/champions.html

____

EUROPEAN TOUR AND SUNSHINE TOUR

NEDBANK GOLF CHALLENGE

Site: Sun City, South Africa.

Course: Gary Player CC. Yardage: 7,834. Par: 72.

Prize money: $6 million. Winner’s share: $1 million.

Television: Thursday-Friday, 4-9 a.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday, 4-8:30 a.m. (Golf Channel); Sunday, 3:30-8 a.m. (Golf Channel).

Defending champion: Tommy Fleetwood (2019).

DP World Tour points leader: Rory McIlroy.

Last tournament: Jordan Smith won the Portugal Masters.

Notes: This is the final tournament before the season-ending DP World Tour Championship. … Tommy Fleetwood is back to defend his title from 2019. The past two years, the tournament was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. … Fleetwood (No. 25) and Ryan Fox (No. 26) are the two highest-ranked players in the field. … Seven LIV Golf players are in the field, including Lee Westwood. … Branden Grace, who won the second LIV event, is playing on a sponsor exemption. …. Two players at the Nedbank are coming off victories — George Coetzee on the Sunshine Tour and Jazz Janewattananond on the Asian Tour. … Shaun Norris, another LIV Golf player, is playing from winning the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit. … The Nedbank Golf Challenge has been part of the European tour schedule since 2014.

Next week: DP World Tour Championship.

Online: https://www.europeantour.com/dpworld-tour/ and https://sunshinetour.com/

___

OTHER TOURS

Japan Golf Tour: Mitsui Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters, Taiheiyo Club (Gotemba), Shizuoka, Japan. Defending champion: Hideto Tanihara. Online: https://www.jgto.org/en/

Ladies European Tour: Aramco Team Series-Jeddah, Royal Greens Golf & CC, King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia. Defending champion: Pia Babnik. Online: https://ladieseuropeantour.com/

Asian Tour: International Series-Egypt, Madinaty GC, Cairo. Defending champion: New tournament. Online: https://asiantour.com/

Japan LPGA: Itoen Ladies, Great Island Club, Chiba, Japan. Defending champion: Mone Inami. Online: https://www.lpga.or.jp/en/

Korea LPGA: SK Telecom Championship, La Vie est Belle GC, Chuncheon, South Korea. Defending champion: Hae Ran Ryu. Online: https://klpga.co.kr/

___

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports