Field Level Media’s Golf Glance provides weekly news and storylines from each of the major North American golf tours.
PGA TOUR
LAST TOURNAMENT: World Wide Technologies Championship at Mayakoba (Russell Henley)
THIS WEEK: Houston Open, Nov. 10-13
Course: Memorial Park Golf Course (Par 72, 7,412 yards)
Purse: $8.4M (Winner: $1.512M)
Defending Champion: Jason Kokrak
FedEx Cup leader: Seamus Power
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Sunday, 1-4 p.m. ET (All times Golf Channel)
Streaming: Thursday-Friday, 7:30 a.m.-4 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
Twitter: @HouOpenGolf
NOTES: There are two events left during the “Fall Swing.” Memorial Park’s origins date back to 1912 and the municipal track underwent a major renovation before the PGA Tour returned in 2020 after nearly 60 years. … Kokrak will not defend his title after joining LIV Golf. … DP World Tour member and former Texas A&M star Johannes Veerman is in the field on a sponsors exemption. He will be joined in the field by former Texas teammates Cole Hammer and Travis Vick … Stewart Cink will make his 650th career PGA Tour start this week, trying Fred Funk for 35th-most all-time, while Henley will make his 250th career start. Henley has earned 1,031 career FedEx Cup points at the Houston Open, his most at any tournament.
BEST BETS: Dallas area resident Scottie Scheffler (+600 at BetMGM) shot a final-round 62 on Sunday to claim a T3 in Mexico. He now has six scores of 62 or better since his rookie season in 2019-20 and tied for second in Houston last year. … Sam Burns (+1400) has posted consecutive T7s at the Houston Open, the only player with two top-10s since the event moved to Memorial Park. … Hideki Matsuyama (+2500) finished runner-up the first time Memorial Park hosted the event in 2020. … Tour rookie Taylor Montgomery (+2500) has finished T15 or better in all five starts this season. … Sahith Theegala (+4000), who recently moved to the Houston area, has two top-10s in four starts this season.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: The RSM Classic, St. Simons Island, Ga., Nov. 17-20
LPGA Tour
LAST TOURNAMENT: Toto Japan Classic (Gemma Dryburgh)
THIS WEEK: Pelican Women’s Championship, Belleair, Fla, Nov. 10-13
Course: Pelican Golf Club (Par 70, 6,341 yards)
Purse: $2M (Winner: $300,000)
Defending Champion: Nelly Korda
Race to the CME Globe leader: Lydia Ko
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 7:30-10:30 p.m. (Golf Channel, tape delay)
Streaming: Thursday-Friday, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 1:30-4:30 p.m. ET (All times NBCSports.com and NBC Sports App).
Twitter: @pelicanlpga
NOTES: This is the final full-field event of the year and the last tournament before the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship. … The 120-player field will be cut to the top-70 and ties following 36 holes. … Korda defeated Ko, Sei Young Kim and Lexi Thompson on the first playoff hole last year. The four players each set a new tournament scoring record of 263. … Minjee Lee leads the season money list with $3,759,835 and trails Ko by a single point in the race for Rolex Player of the Year honors. Six players still have a mathematical chance of winning the award, including Brooke Henderson, world No. 1 Atthaya Thitikul, In Gee Chun and Jennifer Kupcho. However, Ko can clinch the award with a win this week. … Thitikul will secure Rookie of the Year unless Hye-Jin Choi wins this week. … Jessica Korda will miss the final two events of the season due to a back injury. … Brittany Lincicome will tee it up for the first time since giving berth to her second child in August.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: CME Group Tour Championship, Naples, Fla., Nov. 17-20
Champions Tour
LAST TOURNAMENT: Timber Tech Championship (Bernhard Langer)
THIS WEEK: Charles Schwab Cup Championship, Nov. 10-13
Course: Phoenix Country Club (Par 71, 6,860 yards)
Purse: $2.5M (Winner: $440,000)
Defending Champion: Alker
Charles Schwab Cup leader: Alker
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Sunday, 4-6:30 p.m. ET (All times Golf Channel)
Twitter: @SchwabCupFinale
NOTES: Alker leads the standings by 617,980 points over Padraig Harrington, the only other player with a chance to win the title. Harrington could win the championship with a victory but would also need help from Alker, who could still win with a top-five finish. … Langer has multiple victories in 10 consecutive seasons and is one win shy of Hale Irwin’s all-time champions record of 45 wins. Only 34 players in Champions history have won 11 or more times – Langer has won 11 times since turning 60.
–Field Level Media