Golf Glance: New formats for PGA Tour, LIV Golf finales
Field Level Media's Golf Glance provides weekly news and storylines from each of the major North American golf tours.
PGA TOUR
LAST TOURNAMENT: BMW Championship (Scottie Scheffler)
THIS WEEK: Tour Championship, Atlanta, Aug. 21-24
Course: East Lake Golf Club (Par 70, 7,440 Yards)
Purse: $40M (Winner: $10M)
Defending Champion: Scheffler
FedEx Cup leader: Scheffler
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday: 1-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday: 1-2:30 p.m. (GC); 2:30-7 p.m. (NBC, Peacock); Sunday: Noon-1:30 p.m. (GC); 1:30-6 p.m. (NBC, Peacock)
Streaming (ESPN+): Thursday: 11 a.m.-6 p.m. ET; Friday: 11:15 a.m.-6 p.m.; Saturday: Noon-7 p.m.; Sunday: 11 a.m.-6 p.m.
X: @TOURChamp
NOTES: Only the top 30 in the standings after the BMW Championship qualified for the Tour Championship. The Starting Strokes format has been eliminated, with this year's field all beginning at even par for the 72-hole stroke play event. The outright winner will be the FedEx Cup champion. ... The $40 million purse will count toward career money earnings for the first time since 2018. ... Rory McIlroy is attempting to become the first player to win four FedEx Cup titles. ... There are seven players making their Tour Championship debuts: J.J. Spaun (No. 3), Ben Griffin (No. 6), Maverick McNealy (No. 10), Andrew Novak (No. 15), Harry Hall (No. 26), Jacob Bridgeman (No. 27) and Chris Gotterup (No. 29). ... Eight players reached the Tour Championship despite not winning a tournament yet this season: Tommy Fleetwood (No. 5), McNealy, Corey Conners (No. 19), Shane Lowry (No. 24), Hall, Bridgeman, Sungjae Im (No. 28), Akshay Bhatia (No. 30) ... None of the 35 rookies on tour advanced to the season-ending event, with only Aldrich Potgieter qualifying for the playoffs. ... East Lake played to a par 71 last season, with the 14th hole returning to a par 4 this year after playing as a par 5 in 2024. ... Tiger Woods holds the tournament scoring record of 257 set in 2007.
BEST BETS: Scheffler (+150 at DraftKings) is trying to become the first back-to-back FedEx Cup champion. He's the No. 1 seed for the fourth consecutive year and is already the first player with consecutive seasons with at least five wins since Woods (2005-07). ... McIlroy (+800) holds the longest active streak as he makes his eighth consecutive Tour Championship appearance. He has nine top-10 finishes in 11 starts at East Lake. ... Fleetwood (+1400) and Aberg (+1600) joined Scheffler as the only players to finish in the top 10 in each of the first two legs of the playoffs. ... Spaun (+2500) is a career-high sixth in the world rankings following a runner-up and a T23 in the first two legs of the playoffs. ... Viktor Hovland (+2800) is a former FedEx Cup champion who is coming off a T7 last week. ... Sepp Straka (+3000) returns after missing last week's event to attend to a personal matter. The big Austrian has a pair of wins this year and finished seventh at last month's Scottish Open.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Procore Championship, Napa, Calif., Sept. 11-14
LPGA TOUR
LAST TOURNAMENT: Portland Classic (Akie Iwai)
THIS WEEK: CPKC Women's Open, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, Aug. 21-24
Course: Mississauga G&CC (Par 71, 6,661 Yards)
Purse: $2.75M (Winner: $390,000)
Defending Champion: Lauren Coughlin
Race to the CME Globe leader: Jeeno Thitikul
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday: 9 a.m.-Noon ET (Golf Channel); Saturday: 4:30-7 p.m. (GC); Sunday: 4-6 p.m. (CBS)
Streaming: Saturday: 4-4:30 p.m. ET (NBC Sports App); Sunday: 3-4 p.m. (NBC Sports App)
X: @cpkcwomensopen
NOTES: The 156-player field includes six of the top 10 in the Rolex's Women's World Golf Rankings. ... Mississauga will play host to the event for the first time as the tournament returns to Ontario for the first time since 2022. Mississauga hosted the RBC Canadian Open six times between 1931 and 1974. ... Reigning U.S. Open champion Maja Stark and three-time LPGA Tour winner Haeran Ryu are among several players who competed at Mississauga in the 2016 World Junior Girls Championship.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: FM Championship, Norton, Mass., Aug. 28-31
LIV GOLF LEAGUE
LAST TOURNAMENT: LIV Golf Indianapolis (Individual: Sebastian Munoz; Team: Torque GC)
THIS WEEK: Team Championship, Saint John's, Michigan, Aug. 22-24
Course: The Cardinal at Saint John's (Par 70, 6,980 Yards)
Purse: $5M (Winner: $3M, 2nd: $1.5M, 3rd: $500,000)
Defending Champions: Ripper GC
Season Leaders: Individual: Jon Rahm; Team: Legion XIII
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV/Streaming: Friday: 12:05 p.m. ET (FOX, LIV Golf Plus); Saturday: 10:05 a.m. ET (FOX, LIV Golf Plus); Sunday: 1:05 p.m. ET (FOX, LIV Golf Plus)
X: @livgolf_league
NOTES: Friday's quarterfinals and Saturday's semifinals will be match play, with Sunday's finals being a stroke-play competition. All 48 players across the 12 teams will compete in each of the three rounds, with no byes for the higher-seeded teams this year. ... Rahm's Legion XIII enters as the No. 1 seed after winning four tournaments this season. No. 12 Majesticks GC and No. 13 Iron Heads GC will face off in a single-elimination match play round at 8 a.m. on Wednesday to determine the final team in the field. ... Rahm passed Joaquin Niemann to claim the individual title in Indianapolis. ... This is LIV Golf's first event in Michigan, and the league's 50th event overall since debuting in London in June 2022.
PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS
LAST TOURNAMENT: Rogers Charity Classic (Richard Green)
THIS WEEK: The Ally Challenge, Grand Blanc, Mich., Aug. 22-24
Course: Warwick Hills G&CC (Par 70, 7,093 Yards)
Purse: $2.2M (Winner: $330,000)
Defending Champion: Stewart Cink
Charles Schwab Cup leader: Miguel Angel Jimenez
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Friday: 4-6 p.m. (NBC Sports App); 7-9 p.m. ET (Golf Channel -- Tape Delay); Saturday: 2:30-4:30 (GC); Sunday: 1:30-4:30 (GC)
X: @ChampionsTour
NOTES: The 78-player field will compete in a 54-hole tournament. ... Cink is No. 2 in the Charles Schwab Cup standings and is joined in the field by No. 3 Steven Alker along with notable names including John Daly, David Duval and Darren Clarke. ... Cink set the tournament scoring record of 17-under 199 last year.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Canada News.Net
4 hours ago
- Canada News.Net
Yankees bash team-record-tying 9 homers, rout Rays
(Photo credit: Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images) Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger and Giancarlo Stanton hammered consecutive homers in the first inning as the New York Yankees powered past the host Tampa Bay Rays 13-3 by belting a franchise-record-tying nine home runs on Tuesday. New York matched the club record established earlier this year in a 20-9 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on March 29. The major league mark is 10 homers, set by the Toronto Blue Jays in an 18-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Sept. 14, 1987. After the teams sat through a lighting and rain delay of 1 hour, 55 minutes, the second batter of the game, Judge, launched a 429-foot shot off Shane Baz (8-10) for his 40th long ball of the year. Bellinger followed by yanking one to right, and then Stanton drove one the other way to right-center for a 3-0 lead. Bellinger finished 4-for-5 with two homers, three runs and three RBIs. Stanton slugged two home runs and drove in four. Judge went 2-for-5 with a walk and three runs. New York's Jose Caballero had a two-homer night. Jazz Chisholm Jr. (2-for-5) and Ben Rice each had solo shots. Yankees starter Carlos Rodon (13-7) tossed six innings of two-run ball on five hits. He struck out five and walked two. The Yankees improved to 4-0 on their five-game road trip. Baz lasted just three innings and surrendered six runs on seven hits, five of them homers. He walked two and fanned three. Jake Mangum went 2-for-4 with a run, RBI and stolen base. Christopher Morel had a single and a double. Following the first-inning power surge, former Rays player Caballero, traded from one dugout to the other on July 31 during a rain delay in New York, added on by slicing a two-run homer down the right field line for a 5-0 edge in the second after a video tribute to him was displayed on the scoreboard. In the bottom of the second, Nick Fortes (single) and Chandler Simpson (fielder's choice) made it 5-2 with RBIs. Chisholm answered by getting by golfing a solo shot in the third. With reliever Ian Seymour on in the fourth, Stanton lifted a three-run pop for a commanding 9-2 advantage. Rice immediately followed with a homer to right-center. Bellinger continued the bashing blitzkrieg with a two-run shot to right in the sixth -- the third long ball served up by Seymour. Mangum's infield single in the eighth plated a run for Tampa Bay before Caballero rocketed his second of the night in the ninth for the final score.
Canada News.Net
12 hours ago
- Canada News.Net
Golf Glance: New formats for PGA Tour, LIV Golf finales
(Photo credit: Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images) Field Level Media's Golf Glance provides weekly news and storylines from each of the major North American golf tours. PGA TOUR LAST TOURNAMENT: BMW Championship (Scottie Scheffler) THIS WEEK: Tour Championship, Atlanta, Aug. 21-24 Course: East Lake Golf Club (Par 70, 7,440 Yards) Purse: $40M (Winner: $10M) Defending Champion: Scheffler FedEx Cup leader: Scheffler HOW TO FOLLOW TV: Thursday-Friday: 1-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday: 1-2:30 p.m. (GC); 2:30-7 p.m. (NBC, Peacock); Sunday: Noon-1:30 p.m. (GC); 1:30-6 p.m. (NBC, Peacock) Streaming (ESPN+): Thursday: 11 a.m.-6 p.m. ET; Friday: 11:15 a.m.-6 p.m.; Saturday: Noon-7 p.m.; Sunday: 11 a.m.-6 p.m. X: @TOURChamp NOTES: Only the top 30 in the standings after the BMW Championship qualified for the Tour Championship. The Starting Strokes format has been eliminated, with this year's field all beginning at even par for the 72-hole stroke play event. The outright winner will be the FedEx Cup champion. ... The $40 million purse will count toward career money earnings for the first time since 2018. ... Rory McIlroy is attempting to become the first player to win four FedEx Cup titles. ... There are seven players making their Tour Championship debuts: J.J. Spaun (No. 3), Ben Griffin (No. 6), Maverick McNealy (No. 10), Andrew Novak (No. 15), Harry Hall (No. 26), Jacob Bridgeman (No. 27) and Chris Gotterup (No. 29). ... Eight players reached the Tour Championship despite not winning a tournament yet this season: Tommy Fleetwood (No. 5), McNealy, Corey Conners (No. 19), Shane Lowry (No. 24), Hall, Bridgeman, Sungjae Im (No. 28), Akshay Bhatia (No. 30) ... None of the 35 rookies on tour advanced to the season-ending event, with only Aldrich Potgieter qualifying for the playoffs. ... East Lake played to a par 71 last season, with the 14th hole returning to a par 4 this year after playing as a par 5 in 2024. ... Tiger Woods holds the tournament scoring record of 257 set in 2007. BEST BETS: Scheffler (+150 at DraftKings) is trying to become the first back-to-back FedEx Cup champion. He's the No. 1 seed for the fourth consecutive year and is already the first player with consecutive seasons with at least five wins since Woods (2005-07). ... McIlroy (+800) holds the longest active streak as he makes his eighth consecutive Tour Championship appearance. He has nine top-10 finishes in 11 starts at East Lake. ... Fleetwood (+1400) and Aberg (+1600) joined Scheffler as the only players to finish in the top 10 in each of the first two legs of the playoffs. ... Spaun (+2500) is a career-high sixth in the world rankings following a runner-up and a T23 in the first two legs of the playoffs. ... Viktor Hovland (+2800) is a former FedEx Cup champion who is coming off a T7 last week. ... Sepp Straka (+3000) returns after missing last week's event to attend to a personal matter. The big Austrian has a pair of wins this year and finished seventh at last month's Scottish Open. NEXT TOURNAMENT: Procore Championship, Napa, Calif., Sept. 11-14 LPGA TOUR LAST TOURNAMENT: Portland Classic (Akie Iwai) THIS WEEK: CPKC Women's Open, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, Aug. 21-24 Course: Mississauga G&CC (Par 71, 6,661 Yards) Purse: $2.75M (Winner: $390,000) Defending Champion: Lauren Coughlin Race to the CME Globe leader: Jeeno Thitikul HOW TO FOLLOW TV: Thursday-Friday: 9 a.m.-Noon ET (Golf Channel); Saturday: 4:30-7 p.m. (GC); Sunday: 4-6 p.m. (CBS) Streaming: Saturday: 4-4:30 p.m. ET (NBC Sports App); Sunday: 3-4 p.m. (NBC Sports App) X: @cpkcwomensopen NOTES: The 156-player field includes six of the top 10 in the Rolex's Women's World Golf Rankings. ... Mississauga will play host to the event for the first time as the tournament returns to Ontario for the first time since 2022. Mississauga hosted the RBC Canadian Open six times between 1931 and 1974. ... Reigning U.S. Open champion Maja Stark and three-time LPGA Tour winner Haeran Ryu are among several players who competed at Mississauga in the 2016 World Junior Girls Championship. NEXT TOURNAMENT: FM Championship, Norton, Mass., Aug. 28-31 LIV GOLF LEAGUE LAST TOURNAMENT: LIV Golf Indianapolis (Individual: Sebastian Munoz; Team: Torque GC) THIS WEEK: Team Championship, Saint John's, Michigan, Aug. 22-24 Course: The Cardinal at Saint John's (Par 70, 6,980 Yards) Purse: $5M (Winner: $3M, 2nd: $1.5M, 3rd: $500,000) Defending Champions: Ripper GC Season Leaders: Individual: Jon Rahm; Team: Legion XIII HOW TO FOLLOW TV/Streaming: Friday: 12:05 p.m. ET (FOX, LIV Golf Plus); Saturday: 10:05 a.m. ET (FOX, LIV Golf Plus); Sunday: 1:05 p.m. ET (FOX, LIV Golf Plus) X: @livgolf_league NOTES: Friday's quarterfinals and Saturday's semifinals will be match play, with Sunday's finals being a stroke-play competition. All 48 players across the 12 teams will compete in each of the three rounds, with no byes for the higher-seeded teams this year. ... Rahm's Legion XIII enters as the No. 1 seed after winning four tournaments this season. No. 12 Majesticks GC and No. 13 Iron Heads GC will face off in a single-elimination match play round at 8 a.m. on Wednesday to determine the final team in the field. ... Rahm passed Joaquin Niemann to claim the individual title in Indianapolis. ... This is LIV Golf's first event in Michigan, and the league's 50th event overall since debuting in London in June 2022. PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS LAST TOURNAMENT: Rogers Charity Classic (Richard Green) THIS WEEK: The Ally Challenge, Grand Blanc, Mich., Aug. 22-24 Course: Warwick Hills G&CC (Par 70, 7,093 Yards) Purse: $2.2M (Winner: $330,000) Defending Champion: Stewart Cink Charles Schwab Cup leader: Miguel Angel Jimenez HOW TO FOLLOW TV: Friday: 4-6 p.m. (NBC Sports App); 7-9 p.m. ET (Golf Channel -- Tape Delay); Saturday: 2:30-4:30 (GC); Sunday: 1:30-4:30 (GC) X: @ChampionsTour NOTES: The 78-player field will compete in a 54-hole tournament. ... Cink is No. 2 in the Charles Schwab Cup standings and is joined in the field by No. 3 Steven Alker along with notable names including John Daly, David Duval and Darren Clarke. ... Cink set the tournament scoring record of 17-under 199 last year.
Winnipeg Free Press
12 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Rory McIlroy loves signing Masters flags more than wearing the green jacket
ATLANTA (AP) — Rory McIlroy didn't leave Augusta National as the Masters champion without one last purchase from the gift shop. He said there were 1,100 pin flags remaining in the Masters Shop. 'And we took all 1,100,' McIlroy said Tuesday ahead of the Tour Championship, the end of a PGA Tour season that has been his most memorable to date all because of one Sunday in April. 'It's been a lot,' he said of the flags he has signed. 'But I'll never get sick of signing them. I've waited 17 years to sign that flag in the middle, and I will never complain about doing it.' Players sign flags all the time for fans, but the golf protocol is that only the Masters champion signs his name inside the outline of the U.S. that is part of golf's most famous logo. It has been just over four months since McIlroy delivered an exhilarating end to his 17-year pursuit of winning the green jacket, making birdie on the first playoff hole to beat Justin Rose and complete the career Grand Slam. He hasn't won since then and at times he has talked about finding motivation. But being the Masters champion doesn't get old. He already is planning some trips to Augusta National, a luxury afforded the champion, including one with his dad. If anything surprised him, it was the one-year ownership of the Masters green jacket. He hardly ever wears it. McIlroy said he wore it all night until he went to bed at about 3:30 a.m., and then awoke and went through sensations so many others have. He saw the jacket draped over a chair, a reminder that it all wasn't a dream. He wore it during a brief appearance at the Association of Golf Writers' dinner during the British Open. Otherwise, the occasions have been rare. Thursdays Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter. 'I'm reluctant to wear it,' he said. 'It's not as if I wear it a lot. I have it hanging in my wardrobe in a place where I can see it every day. I always thought if I had one — if I did win the Masters one day — I'd never have the thing off, and it hasn't been that way. I haven't worn it as much as I thought I would.' McIlroy said he has trips planned with friends and some Augusta National members with whom he has become friends over the years. He would be required to wear his green jacket at the club, which most likely won't require anyone twisting his arm. 'I've always said some of my favorite times at Augusta were when it wasn't the Masters Tournament,' he said, referring to the times he went there before the Masters for practice rounds. 'But it'll be lovely to next time go there and go up to the champions locker room and put on my green jacket and feel like I belong.' ___ AP golf:
