Field Level Media’s Golf Glance provides weekly news and storylines from each of the major North American golf tours.
PGA TOUR
LAST TOURNAMENT: The 151st Open Championship (Brian Harman)
THIS WEEK: 3M Open, Blaine, Minn., July 27-30
Course: TPC Twin Cities (Par 71, 7,431 yards)
Purse: $7.8M (Winner: $1.404M)
Defending Champion: Tony Finau
FedEx Cup leader: Jon Rahm
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday, 4-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 1-3 p.m. (GC), 3-6 p.m. (CBS)
Streaming (ESPN+): Thursday-Friday, 7:45 a.m.-7 p.m. ET; Saturday-Sunday, 8 a.m.-6 p.m.
Twitter: @3MOpen
NOTES: Two tournaments remain before the start of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, with the top 70 players in the standings qualifying for the first leg. … Justin Thomas is in this week’s field as he currently sits 75th in the standings and is trying to avoid missing the playoffs for the first time in his ninth year on tour. No. 90 Gary Woodland and No. 118 Billy Horschel are among the other notable names in the field. … Finau is making his second start as a defending champion this week. He missed the cut in his defense at the Rocket Mortgage Classic last month. Finau is trying to become the fourth player to successfully defend a title this season, and would join Max Homa, Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler. … Patrick Rodgers is coming off a playoff loss to Akshay Bhatia at the Barracuda Championship. Rodgers has made 219 starts since joining the PGA Tour for the 2015-16 season, the most of any player during that span without a win. … Paul Haley II is playing on tour for the eighth consecutive week, the longest active streak in the field. He’s 132nd in the standings.
BEST BETS: Cameron Young (+1400 at BetMGM) is the highest ranked player in the field at No. 15 and is coming off a T8 at The Open, his second consecutive top-10. Young is the highest-ranked player in the world yet to win on the PGA Tour. … Finau (+1400) is the second highest ranked player in the field, but he has also missed three of his past five cuts and doesn’t have a top-20 in seven starts since winning in Mexico. … Sungjae Im (+1600) quietly posted a T20 at Royal Liverpool and finished T2 behind Finau last year. … Emiliano Grillo (+2500) also tied for second at last year’s 3M. He also won the Charles Schwab Challenge earlier this year and held a share of the first-round lead last week before tying for sixth. … Thomas (+2500) can’t be discounted despite missing four of his past six cuts. Thomas did finish T9 at the Travelers and showed some strides with an even-par 71 in the second round of The Open. … Sepp Straka (+2500) is a career-high No. 25 in the world after winning the John Deere Classic and tying for second at The Open in his past two starts.
NEXT WEEK: Wyndham Championship, Greensboro, N.C., Aug. 3-6
LPGA Tour
LAST TOURNAMENT: Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational (Cheyenne Knight, Elizabeth Szokol)
THIS WEEK: Evian Championship, Evian-les-Bains, France, July 27-30
Course: Evian Resort Golf Club (Par 71, 6,527 yards)
Purse: $6.5M (Winner: $1M)
Defending Champion: Brooke Henderson
Race to the CME Globe leader: Ruoning Yin
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV/Streaming: Thursday-Friday, 5-7 a.m. ET (Golf Channel), 7-8 a.m. (NBC Digital, Peacock), 9:20-11:30 (GC), 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. (NBC Digital, Peacock); Saturday-Sunday, 5:30-11 a.m. (GC, NBC Digital, Peacock)
Twitter: @EvianChamp
NOTES: This is the fifth and final major of the year. The field includes each of the top 10 players in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings and all 15 winners this season. … The 132-player field will be cut to the top 65 players and ties after 36 holes. … In Gee Chun holds the tournament scoring record of 263 set in her 2016 victory. … The is the 10th playing of the event as a major, with all previous champions in this week’s field except for the retired Suzann Pettersen, who won in 2013. … World No. 5 Yin is among 28 players who will make their tournament debuts this week. That list also includes tour rookie Grace Kim, who counts a win at the Lotte Championship among four consecutive top-20s. … Three players have secured spots on the Team USA Solheim Cup roster: Nelly Korda, Lilia Vu and Allisen Corpuz.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Women’s Scottish Open, Ayrshire, Scotland, Aug. 3-6
Champions Tour
LAST TOURNAMENT: Kaulig Companies Championship (Steve Stricker)
THIS WEEK: The Senior Open, Bridgend, Wales, July 27-30
Course: Royal Porthcawl Golf Club (Par 71, 6,901 yards)
Purse: $2.75M
Defending Champion: Darren Clarke
Charles Schwab Cup leader: Steve Stricker
HOT TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday, 7-9 a.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday, 9 a.m.-12 p.m. (CNBC), 12-2 p.m. (NBC); Sunday, 8:30 a.m.-12 p.m. (CNBC), 12-2 p.m. (NBC)
Twitter: @SeniorOpen
NOTES: This is the fifth time the Senior Open has been held at Royal Porthcrawl. Bernhard Langer has won each of the past two held at the club, including a 13-stroke victory in 2014, the largest margin of victory in Champions tour history. … Clark last year became only the fourth player to win both The Open and the Senior Open, joining Bob Charles, Gary Player and Tom Watson. … Nine events remain before the start of the playoffs. Stricker leads the Charles Schwab Cup Standings with $3.59 million in earnings this season, more than twice that of Langer ($1.5 million) in second place.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Boeing Classic, Snoqualmie, Wash., Aug. 11-13
LIV Golf League
LAST TOURNAMENT: London, Hertfordshire (Individual: Cam Smith; Team: 4Aces)
THIS WEEK: OFF.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Greenbrier, White Sulphur Springs, W.V., Aug. 4-6
–Field Level Media