Field Level Media’s Golf Glance provides weekly news and storylines from each of the major North American golf tours.
PGA TOUR
LAST TOURNAMENT: Zozo Championship (Collin Morikawa)
THIS WEEK: World Wide Technology Championship, Los Cabos, Mexico, Nov. 2-5
Course: El Cardonal at Diamante (Par 72, 7,452 yards)
Purse: $8.2M (Winner: $1.476M)
Defending Champion: Russell Henley
FedEx Cup Champion: Viktor Hovland
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Saturday, 4:30-7:30 p.m. ET; Sunday, 3-6 p.m. (Golf Channel)
X: @WWTChampionship
NOTES: This is the first PGA Tour event to be held on a course designed by Tiger Woods. The tournament had been held in Riviera Maya for the past 16 years. … This is the fifth 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. … Maverick McNealy makes his first start since the RBC Canadian Open in June. McNealy, who is the only tour player gaining more than a shot on the greens this season, has been rehabbing a shoulder injury and fell from No. 26 to No. 121 in the standings during his absence. … Michael Block, the teaching pro who finished 15th at the PGA Championship, is in the field on a sponsor exemption along with Chris Gotterup, amateur Preston Summerhays and open qualifier Billy Davis. … Winners during the Fall series receive world rankings points, a two-year PGA Tour exemption and invitations to next year’s Tournament of Champions, The Players Championship, the Masters and the PGA Championship.
BEST BETS: Ludvig Aberg (+900) is seeking his first PGA Tour win, with the rookie Ryder Cup member posting a T2 and T13 in his first two fall events. … Cameron Young (+1200) is the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 17 as he also seeks his maiden win on tour. This is Young’s first start since a T15 at the BMW Championship in August. … Sahith Theegala (+1600) claimed his first tour title at the Fortinet Championship and backed it up with a T19 at the Zozo Championship. … Lucas Glover (+2500) is also making his first start since the Tour Championship, where he finished T18 after winning the Wyndham and the first leg of the playoffs at the FedEx St. Jude. … Emiliano Grillo (+2800), who won the Charles Schwab Challenge earlier this year, rebounded from a pair of missed cuts to finish T10 at the Zozo. … Chris Kirk (+3300) hasn’t teed it up since the BMW. He has missed five of his past nine cuts, but Kirk won the Honda last spring and has the veteran experience to be a dark horse against a somewhat modest field.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Butterfield Bermuda Championship, Southampton, Bermuda, Nov. 9-12
LPGA Tour
LAST TOURNAMENT: Maybank Championship (Celine Boutier)
THIS WEEK: Toto Japan Classic, Omitama, Ibaraki, Japan, Nov. 2-5
Course: Taiheiyo Club, Minori Course (Par 72, 6,598 yards)
Purse: $2M (Winner: $300,000)
Defending Champion: Gemma Dryburgh
Race to the CME Globe leader: Boutier
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday, 11 p.m.-2 a.m.; Saturday, 11:30 p.m.-2:30 a.m.; Sunday, 11 p.m.-2 a.m. (Golf Channel)
Streaming: Thursday-Friday, 10-11 p.m. ET; Saturday, 10:30-11:30 p.m.; Sunday, 10-11 p.m. (Peacock)
X: @LPGA
NOTES: This is the final of four events on the LPGA Tours Asian swing. It is a 78-player, no-cut event with 43 LPGA Tour players competing along with 35 JLPGA members. Only five of 22 winners on the LPGA Tour this year are in the field. … Boutier extended her lead in the Race to the CME Globe from Lilia Vu with her fourth win of the year. She also passed Vu in the Rolex Player of the Year rankings by three points. Boutier, Vu and Ruoning Yin are the only three players mathematically alive in the Player of the Year race. … Dryburgh posted a four-shot victory at 20-under 268 in the first year the event was played over 72 holes.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: The Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican, Belleair, Fla., Nov. 9-12
PGA Tour Champions
LAST TOURNAMENT: Dominion Energy Charity Classic (Harrison Frazar)
THIS WEEK: TimberTech Championship, Boca Raton, Fla., Nov. 3-5
Course: The Old Course at Broken Sound (Par 71, 6,943 yards)
Purse: $2.2M (Winner: $350,000)
Defending Champion: Bernhard Langer
Charles Schwab Cup leader: Steve Stricker
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Friday-Saturday, 1-4:30 p.m. ET; Sunday, 12-3 p.m. (Golf Channel)
X: @TimberTechChamp
NOTES: Stricker has clinched the Charles Schwab Cup title with two playoff events remaining. … This is a 54-hole event featuring the top 54 players in the standings. The top 36 after this week will qualify for the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship. … Langer has won this event three times, including 2010 and 2019. The Boca Raton resident won last year’s event at Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club while The Old Course at Broken Sound was undergoing a renovation. He set the tournament scoring record of 19-under 197 four years ago.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Charles Schwab Cup Championship, Phoenix, Nov. 9-12
LIV Golf League
THIS WEEK: Season Complete
Series Winners: Talor Gooch (Individual), Crushers GC (Team)
NEXT TOURNAMENT: TBA
–Field Level Media