INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF PGA TOURS
WORLD GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS-WORKDAY CHAMPIONSHIP
Site: Bradenton, Florida.
Course: The Concession GC. Yardage: 7,474. Par: 72.
Prize money: $10.5 million. Winner’s share: $1.82 million.
Television: Thursday-Friday, 2-7 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday, noon-2:30 p.m. (Golf Channel), 2:30-6 p.m. (NBC); Sunday, 1-2:30 p.m. (Golf Channel), 2:30-7 p.m. (NBC).
Defending champion: Patrick Reed.
Last WGC: Justin Thomas won the FedEx St. Jude Invitational.
Notes: This World Golf Championship has been held in Mexico City since 2017. It was moved to Florida with a one-time title sponsor because of COVID-19 circumstances in Mexico. … The Concession is the ninth course to host this WGC. That includes Bellerive, where the tournament was canceled in 2001 because of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. … Tiger Woods is not playing as he recovers from a fifth back surgery. This is the first time neither Woods nor Phil Mickelson is in this WGC event since it began in Spain in 1999. … Woods (50) and Paul Casey (18) are the only players from the top 50 not playing. … Dustin Johnson is the only player to have won all four of the WGCs. … The last WGC held in Florida was at Doral and won by Adam Scott. … Woods is a six-time winner of this WGC, with all six of his victories coming on different courses in Spain, Atlanta, Ireland, San Francisco, London and Miami. … For qualified European Tour members, this is the only tournament in a four-week stretch. … The Concession was designed by Jack Nicklaus with input from Tony Jacklin. It was named after the 1969 Ryder Cup moment when Nicklaus conceded a short putt to Jacklin on the final hole that allowed the matches to end in a tie.
Next WGC: Dell Technologies Match Play on March 24-28 in Austin, Texas.
Online: https://www.pgatour.com/
LPGA TOUR
GAINBRIDGE LPGA
Site: Orlando, Florida.
Course: Lake Nona Golf & CC.
Prize money: $2 million. Winner’s share: $300,000.
Television: Thursday, 8-10 p.m. (Golf Channel-tape delay); Friday, 7-9:30 p.m. (Golf Channel-tape delay). Saturday-Sunday, 8-10 p.m. (Golf Channel-tape delay).
Defending champion: Madelene Sagstrom.
Race to CME Globe leader: Jessica Korda.
Last event: Jessica Korda won the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions.
Notes: Annika Sorenstam is playing under a Hall of Fame exemption. It will be her first LPGA Tour event since the end of the 2008 season when she retired from competition to start a family. Sorenstam turned 50 last year. … Laura Davies also is using a Hall of Fame exemption to play. … This is the second of three tournaments in Florida that start the LPGA Tour season. … Lake Nona, the home course for Sorenstam and several other LPGA and PGA Tour players, was site of the first Solheim Cup in 1990. The Americans won in a landslide. … Former world No. 1 Yani Tseng is in the field. She has not played an LPGA event in two years and last won in 2012. … Former U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Gabriela Ruffels of Australia is making her pro debut. … The tournament was played last year at Boca Rio in South Florida. … Jin Young Ko, the No. 1 player in women’s golf, leads the field. A year ago because of the pandemic, Ko didn’t make her first LPGA Tour start until November. She won the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship. … The field features seven of the top 10 in the women’s world ranking. Among those missing are Hall of Famer Inbee Park.
Next week: LPGA Drive On Championship.
Online: https://www.lpga.com/
PGA TOUR
PUERTO RICO OPEN
Site: Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.
Course: Grand Reserve CC. Yardage: 7,506. Par: 72.
Prize money: $3 million. Winner’s share: $540,000.
Television: Thursday-Friday, 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday, 2:30-5 p.m. (Golf Channel); Sunday, 2:30-4:30 p.m. (Golf Channel).
Defending champion: Viktor Hovland.
FedEx Cup leader: Patrick Cantlay.
Last week: Max Homa won the Genesis Invitational.
Notes: Hovland is not defending because he qualified for the World Golf Championship. No one else who made the cut in Puerto Rico last year reached the top 50 in the world to get into the WGC. … The winner gets into the PGA Championship in May but not the Masters in April. … Smylie Kaufman is playing on a sponsor exemption. … The field includes European Ryder Cup Captain Padraig Harrington and Thomas Pieters, who played in the 2016 Ryder Cup at Hazeltine. … The alternate list includes Jonathan Kaye. … Ian Poulter is the top-ranked player in the field. … Eight of the last 12 winners of the Puerto Rico Open had never won on the PGA Tour. … Since winning in Puerto Rico in 2019, Martin Trainer has made the cut in only six of the 48 tournaments he has played.
Next week: Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Online: https://www.pgatour.com/
PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS
COLOGUARD CHAMPIONSHIP
Site: Tucson, Arizona.
Course: Omni Tucson National. Yardage: 7, 218. Par: 73.
Prize money: $1.7 million. Winner’s share: $255,000.
Television: Friday, 9:30-11:30 p.m. (Golf Channel-tape delay); Saturday, 5-7 p.m. (Golf Channel); Sunday, 4:30-7 p.m. (Golf Channel).
Defending champion: Bernhard Langer.
Charles Schwab Cup leader: Bernhard Langer.
Last event: Darren Clarke won the Mitsubishi Championship.
Notes: Phil Mickelson makes his third start on the PGA Tour Champions, as he is not eligible for the World Golf Championship this week. He won his other two starts and will try to become the first player to make it three in a row to start his Champions Tour career. … Former Atlanta Braves pitcher and Fox Sports baseball analyst John Smoltz is playing on a sponsor exemption. … Ryder Cup Captain Steve Stricker is playing. He tied for fourth in his last start in Arizona at the Waste Management Phoenix Open on the PGA Tour. … Mickelson won the Tucson Open in 1991 while still at Arizona State. No other amateur has won on the PGA Tour since then. … Jim Furyk is playing after making the cut at Riviera in the Genesis Invitational. … After going a month without playing, this is the first of back-to-back weeks for the PGA Tour Champions. … TimberTech is returning as a title sponsor for the tour’s postseason event in Florida.
Next week: Hoag Classic.