Field Level Media’s Golf Glance provides weekly news and storylines from each of the major North American golf tours.
PGA TOUR
LAST TOURNAMENT: RBC Heritage (Jordan Spieth)
THIS WEEK: Zurich Classic of New Orleans, Avondale, La., April 21-24
Course: TPC Louisiana (Par 72, 7,425 yards)
Purse: $8.3M
Defending Champions: Cameron Smith, Marc Leishman
FedExCup Leader: Scottie Scheffler
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday, 3:30-6:30 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 1-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3-6 p.m. (CBS)
PGA Tour Live: Daily feeds on ESPN+
Social Media: @Zurich_Classic (Twitter)
NOTES: This is the fifth playing of the PGA Tour’s only full-field team event. The top 80 players in the field choose their partner, who must have PGA Tour status unless given a sponsors exemption. … The format features a Four-ball format for the first and third rounds and Foursomes for the second and final rounds. In Four-ball, players on each team will play their own ball throughout the round, with the team recording the best score on each hole. In Foursomes, players rotate tee shots with one hitting on odd-numbered holes and the other on even-numbered holes. The players then alternate shots until the hole is completed. … There will be a cut to the low 33 teams and ties following the second round. … Both players on the winning team will split FedEx Cup points (400 per player) and official money, receive a two-year winner’s exemption and earn eligibility into Invitational fields as well as the Tournament of Champions. … Jay Haas will make his 799th career PGA Tour start and his first since the 2010 Players Championship as he is teamed with his son, Bill.
BEST BETS: U.S. Ryder Cup opponents Collin Morikawa and Viktor Hovland (+800 at BetMGM) are the only team comprised of two top-10 players this week. … Fellow Californians and Ryder Cup teammates Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele (+800) have teamed up. Cantlay is the reigning FedEx Cup champion while Schauffele is the reigning Olympic gold medalist. … Australians and International Presidents Cup teammates Smith and Leishman (+900) are back to defend their title. Smith has won the team event twice (Jonas Blixt in 2017). … Scheffler will team with Ryan Palmer (+1100). Scheffler has won four of his past six starts and Palmer won the event with Jon Rahm in 2019, when the pair set the alternate shot record of 65 in the second round. Palmer’s teammates in the event have had an average world ranking of 4.6. … Billy Horschel has won twice in New Orleans – once in an individual format and once as part of a team. He and former LSU star Sam Burns (+1000) tied for fourth last year.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Mexico Open, Vidanta Vallarta, Vallarta, Mexico, April 28-May 1
LPGA Tour
LAST TOURNAMENT: Lotte Championship (Hyo Joo Jim)
THIS WEEK: DIO Implant LA Open, Los Angeles, April 21-24
Course: Wilshire Country Club (Par 71, 6,447 yards)
Purse: $1.5M
Defending champion: Brooke Henderson
Race to the CME Globe leader: Danielle Kang
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday, 6:30-9:30 p.m. ET; Saturday-Sunday, 7-9:30 p.m. (All times Golf Channel)
Streaming: Thursday-Friday, 6:30-9:30 p.m. ET; Saturday-Sunday, 7-9:30 p.m. (All times NBC Sports App, golfchannel.com)
Social: @lpga_LA (Twitter, Instagram)
NOTES: The 144-player field will be cut to the low 70 and ties following the second round. … Henderson, who defeated Jessica Korda by one shot last year, will defend her title despite withdrawing from last week’s event due to illness. … World No. 1 Jin Young Ko returns to action for the first time since the Chevron and has finished in the top five in all three previous starts in the event. She has 10 top-six finishes in his past 12 starts on tour. … Twenty-six of the 32 rookies on tour this year are in the field, including Atthaya Thitikul, who won the JTBC Classic. … Nanna Koerstz Madsen leads the tour in scoring average (68.857) while Ko leads in total strokes gained (3.270). … The average age of winners on tour this season is 25.25, with Kang the oldest at 29 years, three months and three days. … This is the third of five LPGA events in California this year. … Jillian Hollis and Kaitlyn Papp are the two Monday Qualifiers.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Palos Verdes Championship, Palos Verdes Estates, Calif., April 28-May 1
Champions Tour
LAST TOURNAMENT: Rapiscan Systems Classic (Steven Alker)
THIS WEEK: ClubCorp Classic, Irving, Texas, April 22-24
Course: Las Colinas Country Club (Par 71, 6,703 yards)
Purse: $2M (Winner: $300,000)
Defending Champion: Inaugural event
Charles Schwab Cup leader: Miguel Angel Jimenez
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Friday-Sunday, 12-3 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)
Social: @ClubCorpClassic
NOTES: This is the first of four consecutive weeks of events on tour. … The field includes 78 professionals and 45 celebrities. The professionals will play 54 holes of stroke play, with the celebrities competing in a modified Stableford format for a $500,000 prize pool. The celebrity field includes the likes of World Golf Hall of Fame member Annika Sorenstam and former NFL quarterback and current CBS analyst Tony Romo. … Mark Calcavecchia is making his 1,000th combined start on the PGA and Champions tours.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Insperity Invitational, The Woodlands, Texas, April 29-May 1.
–Field Level Media