Chicago to host LIV ’24 individual championship

CARNOUSTIE, Scotland – The last time Russell Knox came to Carnoustie for an Open Championship, he was a teenaged fan trying to get a souvenir from one of the game’s best players. Now he will play alongside Tiger Woods just hours from his boyhood home. Knox was 14 years old when he attended the 1999 Open with boyhood friend Duncan McRae. They were sitting behind Carnoustie’s sixth green when Sergio Garcia’s caddie rolled a ball their way. “We wrestled and Duncan got the ball,� Knox said. “I was kind of annoyed.� Now, as the leading hope of the home country, Knox has earned a tee time with Tiger (and Hideki Matsuyama) at Carnoustie. It will be Knox’s first time playing with Woods. “Getting to play with (Tiger), that was a huge goal of mine in my career,� Knox said. “To get to play with him at a major, an Open, in Scotland, is kind of a pinch yourself moment.� Less than three weeks ago, Knox didn’t even have a spot in The Open. The undersized Scotsman has regained the form that made him a top-20 player in a game dominated by power, though. He qualified for the U.S. Open and finished T12 at Shinnecock Hills. He followed with a second-place finish in the French Open, then won the Irish Open with a pair of 40-foot putts. It was his first victory in more than two years. He also contended at last week’s Scottish Open – he started Sunday two shots off the lead – before fading with a final-round 75. “He’s never been in better form heading into The Open,� said his sister, Diane, who is working this week for BBC Radio. A firm and fast Carnoustie could benefit Knox, who is one of the TOUR’s shortest, but straightest, hitters. He ranks 144th in driving distance but 23rd in driving accuracy and sixth in greens hit. Carnoustie has been kind to its countrymen, as well. Two of the last three Scottish-born winners of The Open hoisted the Claret Jug at Carnoustie. Paul Lawrie, who won the 1999 Open, is the last Scot to win golf’s oldest championship. “It’s a hard links course. It takes experience playing links golf to win here,� Knox said. “Padraig (Harrington, who won here in 2007) has played a ton of links. Paul Lawrie played a ton of links. “If you’ve won this tournament here, you really know how to play links golf. There’s a lot of angles off the tee, angles coming into the green. It is going to take a lot of experience here. There won’t be someone who comes out of the woodwork who wins here.� Knox’s Irish Open win came on a links course, Ballyliffin. Returning to the slower greens that he grew up on has helped Knox, who had been struggling with his putting. “Once you start seeing them go in, you can hole putts. Everything kind of snowballed. It’s not like everything changed or I found a magic formula,� he said. “I have been this good before.� Knox won the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions and Travelers Championship in the 2015-16 season to finish 10th in the FedExCup and crack the top 20 in the Official World Golf Ranking.  He was 30 years old, and making his 93rd TOUR start, when he won his first event. His second win came just 17 starts later. That rapid ascension to the game’s elite level led to a common pratfall for a player whose career has been defined by slow and steady progress. “I tried to get better too quickly,� he said. “I think I got to the point where I was really close to being right where I wanted to be, top-10 in the world, and I just pushed too hard and I got worse. “I worked hard to get back to where I am now, so it’s nice to get rewarded with a win.� And a tee time with Woods.

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This is an important time in history for golf in Japan. The inaugural edition of the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP this week reflects a commitment – at least six years to be exact – of the PGA TOUR visiting and growing with the country. After an extended hiatus, the PGA TOUR Champions returned to conduct events in 2017 and 2019, almost as a soft reopen for what’s coming. The renewed focus in the landing of the rising run includes next summer’s Olympic Games. The Japan Golf Tour is among the preeminent circuits around the world, but there hasn’t been a men’s event eligible to all since the World Cup of Golf in 2001. That was held in the afternoon shadow of Mount Fuji at The Taiheiyo Club in Gotemba City. The co-sanctioned ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP is hosted by Narashino County Club in the Chiba Prefecture east of Tokyo. Scroll past the projected contenders in the field of 78 for details on the tournament, the course and more. POWER RANKINGS: ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP Tiger Woods, Jason Day, Marc Leishman, Ian Poulter and THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES runner-up Danny Lee will be included among the notables covered in Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider. ZOZOTOWN is the apparel company responsible for making the PGA TOUR’s first-ever annual tournament in Japan possible. The ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP debuts with a prize fund of $9.75 million and there is no cut. The winner will receive $1.755 million, 500 FedExCup points and fully exempt membership through 2021-22. The field reserves space for 60 golfers in order of final position in the 2019 FedExCup Playoffs. As of midday Monday, Kevin Streelman (75th) was the last man in the field via that conduit. Ten spots are reserved for members of the Japan Golf Tour. Eight sponsor exemptions complete the field. Fifty golfers from last week’s THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES made the trip to the ZOZO. Narashino CC is a 36-hole facility. A composite course has been routed for the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP. It’s a par 34-36—70 stretching 7,041 yards. The five par 3s range from the 141-yard 13th to the 191-yard fifth. The longest of the trio of par 5s is the 608-yard 14th. The closing hole is a par 5 tipping at 562 yards, so the opportunity for walk-off heroics is in play. Golf courses of some age in Japan were built with two greens on every hole. At the time, it was a solution to present different strains of healthy grass no matter the season. Today, bentgrass blankets most greens primarily because advances in agronomy have allowed for improved conditioning where possible year-round. Narashino opened in 1965 with two greens per hole. They remain today. Those utilized for the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP have been prepped to run 11-and-a-half feet on the Stimpmeter. To honor the tradition of two greens in Japan, both the A and B greens on the par-4 fourth hole will be used at some point during the tournament. It’s possible that another hole or holes also will use alternate greens. As usual, targets in play for every round will be determined when hole locations are posted. If a golfer lands an approach on the incorrect green, the “wrong green” local rule will be enforced. It will allow the golfer relief off the green no closer the hole. No penalty will be assessed. Just like last week’s stop in South Korea, Japan has been hit by significant rain in recent weeks, so the greens will be receptive. Primary rough extending as high as three-and-a-quarter inches defending them and the Korai zoysiagrass fairways will be lush. More rain is on the way during the tournament. It’ll fall on Friday for sure and it can’t be ruled out on any of the other days. Strong winds will protect scoring during the first two rounds. It’ll abate on the weekend, which will allow the potential for a shootout to develop as ball-strikers tend to emerge on unfamiliar greens. Daytime highs will flirt with 70 degrees throughout. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous angles. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Rookie Ranking, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, Fantasy Insider * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday.

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