Field Level Media’s Golf Glance provides weekly news and storylines from each of the major North American golf tours.
PGA TOUR
LAST TOURNAMENT: Sanderson Farms Championship (Luke List)
THIS WEEK: Shriners Children’s Open, Las Vegas, Oct. 12-15
Course: TPC Summerlin (Par 71, 7,255 yards)
Purse: $8.4M (Winner: $1.512M)
Defending Champion: Tom Kim
FedEx Cup Champion: Viktor Hovland
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Sunday, 5-8 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)
Streaming (ESPN+): Thursday-Friday, 9:30 a.m.-8 p.m.
X: @ShrinersOpen
NOTES: Lexi Thompson is in the field on a sponsor exemption and will become the seventh woman to compete in a PGA Tour event. … Kim is a two-time winner on the PGA Tour, but will make his first title defense after missing this year’s Wyndham Championship due to injury. He seeks to join Jim Furyk (1998-99) as the only players to win the event in consecutive years. … This is the third of seven events of the FedEx Cup Fall that finalizes eligibility for the 2024 season. Nos. 1-50 after the Tour Championship locked in their positions. Nos. 51-60 after the Fall series will qualify for two signature events next year: the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational. The top 125 will be exempt into full-field events and The Players Championship, while Nos. 126-150 will earn Korn Ferry Tour status and conditional status on the PGA Tour next year.
BEST BETS: Kim (+1100) is the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 16. He went bogey-free in winning last year. … Ludvig Aberg (+1100) is still seeking his first tour win after losing in a five-man playoff last week. … Cam Davis (+2200) is coming off a solo third at the Fortinet, his fourth top-10 in his past five starts. … Si Woo Kim (+2200) is a four-time winner on tour who also reached the Tour Championship (T17). … Adam Schenk (+3000) finished sixth in two of the three playoff events. … Nicolai Hojgaard (3300) competed with Aberg on Team Europe’s winning Ryder Cup team in Rome two weeks ago. He has three top-six finishes among his past seven worldwide starts.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Zozo Championship, Chiba, Japan, Oct. 19-22
LPGA Tour
LAST TOURNAMENT: The Ascendant LPGA benefiting Volunteers of America (Hyo Joo Kim)
THIS WEEK: Buick LPGA Shanghai, Oct. 12-15
Course: Qizhong Garden Golf Club (Par 71, 6,672 yards)
Purse: $2.1M
Defending Champion: Danielle Kang (2019)
Race to the CME Globe leader: Celine Boutier
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Wednesday-Saturday, 11 p.m.-4 a.m. ET (Golf Channel)
Streaming: Wednesday-Saturday, 11 p.m.-4 a.m. ET (Peacock)
X: @buickshanghai2023
NOTES: This is the first of four events on the LPGA Tours Asian swing. … The 81-player field includes 62 LPGA Tour players, 15 CGA players and four sponsors invites competing in a no-cut event. … World No. 1 Lilia Vu and No. 2 Ruoning Yin of China highlight four top-10 players in the field. Vu leads the Player of the Year rankings while Yin is second in the Race to the CME Globe rankings. … Kang won both previous editions of the event – at 13-under 275 in 2018 and 16-under 272 in 2019. The event was not held the past three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. … The average age of winners on tour this season is 25.111.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: BMW Ladies Championship, Republic of Korea, Oct. 19-22
PGA Tour Champions
LAST TOURNAMENT: Constellation Furyk & Friends (Brett Quigley)
THIS WEEK: SAS Championship, Cary, N.C., Oct. 13-15
Course: Prestonwood Country Club (Par 72, 7,237 yards)
Purse: $2.1M (Winner: $315,000)
Defending Champion: Fred Couples
Charles Schwab Cup leader: Steve Stricker
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Friday-Sunday, 2-5 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)
X: @SASChampionship
NOTES: This is the final regular-season event, with the top 72 players in the standings after this week advancing to the first round of the playoffs. … The 54-hole event features a 78-player field and is being held at Prestonwood for the 23rd consecutive year. … Bernhard Langer holds the tournament scoring record of 22-under 194 set in 2018. … Stricker leads the standings with more than twice as much in earnings this year than No. 2 Langer.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Dominion Energy Charity Classic, Richmond, Va., Oct. 20-22
LIV Golf League
LAST TOURNAMENT: LIV Golf Chicago (Individual: Bryson DeChambeau; Team: Crushers GC)
THIS WEEK: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Oct. 13-15
Course: Royal Greens Golf & Country Club (Par 70, 7,048 yards)
Purse: $20M Individual (Winner: $4M); $5M Team (Winner: $3M)
Defending Champions: Brooks Koepka (Individual), Smash GC (Team)
Series Leader: Cam Smith (Individual), 4Aces GC (Team)
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Saturday-Sunday, 6-11 a.m. ET (CW – Tape Delayed)
Streaming: Friday-Sunday, 5-10 a.m. ET (CW App, YouTube)
X: @LIVgolf_league
NOTES: 12 teams of four players will compete in a 54-hole event with a daily shotgun start. … This is the final regular-season event, with Smith, Talor Gooch and DeChambeau competing for the individual title. … The top 24 players after this event will be in the Lock Zone. Nos. 25-44 will be in the Open Zone, with those 45 and below in the Drop Zone and needing to qualify for next season through the Promotions Tournament. Team captains are exempt from relegation in 2023. … Each of the top three players in the individual standings will earn bonuses, with five additional players still in contention: Koepka, Patrick Reed, Branden Grace, Mito Pereira and Dustin Johnson.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Team Championship, Miami, Oct. 20-22
–Field Level Media