Hataoka claims Kia Classic for 3rd LPGA Tour title

Connor Syme of Scotland and Sebastian Soderberg of Sweden are tied for the lead three shots clear of the field after the third round of the European Tour’s Wales Open.

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. - The PGA TOUR today announced the complete schedule for the 2020-21 PGA TOUR Season, featuring 50 official FedExCup tournaments - including 14 tournaments that were postponed or canceled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic - culminating with the crowning of the FedExCup champion Labor Day weekend in 2021. The schedule, which reflects a net increase of one tournament over the original 2019-20 schedule, features the most tournaments in a season since 1975 (51). Three events postponed in 2020 - U.S. Open, Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship and Masters Tournament - will be played in the fall portion of the 2020-21 season and again in their traditional dates during the 2021 calendar year, along with 11 tournaments that were canceled and not rescheduled as a result of the pandemic, including THE PLAYERS Championship. In addition, with the postponement of the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020, the men's Olympic Golf competition will take place July 26-August 1, 2021, as a standalone event for the first time. "We are excited to present the full 2020-21 PGA TOUR schedule - a ‘super season' of 50 fully sponsored events and capped off by the 15th edition of the FedExCup Playoffs," said PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan. "If you're a golf fan, this is a dream season with more significant events than ever before, including the Olympic Games. Building our schedule is always complicated, but never more so as over the past several months as we continue to navigate challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. We appreciate the extensive collaboration with our title sponsors, tournament organizations and golf's governing bodies that has brought us here - to the exciting conclusion of an extraordinary 2019-20 season this week, and on the brink of a season of 50 events, beginning next week." RELATED: Click here to print the 2020-21 PGA TOUR schedule As previously announced, the 2020-21 season will begin September 7-13 at the Safeway Open in Napa, California, which will serve as the season-opening tournament for the sixth time in seven years since the TOUR went to a wraparound schedule. The U.S. Open (September 14-20) at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York, follows, being played in the month of September for the first time since 1913, as well as the rescheduled Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship (September 21-27), which will award full FedExCup points (500) for the first time. The Sanderson Farms Championship (September 28-October 4) will precede a three-event swing on the West Coast with the relocation of two of the TOUR's Asia Swing events. Following the TOUR's annual stop in Las Vegas for the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open (October 5-11), THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES, annually played in Jeju Island, Korea, will be played at Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas, and will be renamed THE CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK (October 12-18) for 2020. The following week, Japan's ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP will be played at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, California, and renamed the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP @ SHERWOOD (October 19-25) for 2020. The final event of the traditional Asia Swing and the season's first World Golf Championships event, the WGC-HSBC Champions has been canceled, with the Bermuda Championship (October 26-November 1) occupying the week on its own and awarding full FedExCup points. The Houston Open moves a month later on the 2020-21 schedule (November 2-8) and precedes the Masters (November 9-15). The fall portion of the schedule concludes with The RSM Classic (November 16-22), the week prior to the Thanksgiving holiday, and the Mayakoba Golf Classic (November 30-December 6) the week after. The TOUR returns at the Sentry Tournament of Champions (January 4-10) with the same sequencing as the 2019-20 season until March, as there have been adjustments made to a number of Florida-based tournaments. The Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard (March 1-7) and THE PLAYERS Championship (March 8-14) will follow the WGC-Mexico Championship and Puerto Rico Open (both February 22-28), while The Honda Classic (March 15-21) moves to the week after THE PLAYERS. The Valspar Championship (April 26-May 2), traditionally played the week after THE PLAYERS, will now conclude on May 2, between the Zurich Classic of New Orleans (April 19-25) and the Wells Fargo Championship (May 3-9). After the 40th playing of The Honda Classic, the TOUR's longest-running title sponsored event dating back to 1982 - an eight-week stretch begins that includes six tournaments that were canceled and not rescheduled during the 2019-20 season prior to the PGA Championship, beginning with the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play (March 22-28) through the AT&T Byron Nelson (May 10-16), set to be contested for the first time at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas. Additional tournaments that return to the schedule include the RBC Canadian Open (June 7-13), John Deere Classic (July 5-11), The Open Championship and the Barbasol Championship (both July 12-18). The men's Olympic Golf competition (July 26-August 1) will be played the week after the 3M Open (July 19-25) as a standalone event for the first time and will be followed by the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational and Barracuda Championship (both August 2-8), before the FedExCup Regular Season concludes at the Wyndham Championship (August 9-15). The FedExCup Playoffs will consist of three events: THE NORTHERN TRUST returns to Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, New Jersey, which will host the event for the fourth time; the BMW Championship will be played for the first time at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Maryland, outside of Baltimore; and the season-ending TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta will conclude on September 5, the Sunday of Labor Day weekend. In addition to Caves Valley Golf Club, host of the 2021 BMW Championship, the 2020-21 season features several new or familiar venues. As previously announced, Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas and Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, California, will host tournaments for one year only. For the first time, the Houston Open will be played at Memorial Park Golf Course in downtown Houston; TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas, will host the AT&T Byron Nelson for the first time; and St. George's Golf and Country Club in Toronto, Canada, will return as host of the RBC Canadian Open for the first time since 2010. Rotating major championship venues in 2021 include The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort at Kiawah Island, South Carolina (PGA Championship), Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego, California (U.S. Open), and Royal St. George's Golf Club in Sandwich, Kent, England (Open Championship). Kasumigaseki Country Club in Japan will host the men's Olympic Golf competition. 2020-21 FedExCup Regular Season (50 events)

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This was supposed to be our final gaze at Quail Hollow Club before it settles into its responsibility as the host of the Presidents Cup in the early fall of 2021. Instead, our most recent lasting memory of the usual backdrop of the Wells Fargo Championship remains Max Homa’s cool-and-collected breakthrough victory in last year’s edition. Homa’s title defense likely would have slowed him down on social media, however. There are only so many hours in the day, you understand. He’s such a natural on the array of microblogging platforms that he’d sit prominently on a current Power Rankings of golfers who use any. Then again, given the youth of all of them, he’d also be right up there in an all-time version. The Wells Fargo Championship has been contested 17 times, so it’s just a little older. And not unlike social media, it’s served as the site for numerous memorable experiences. Anthony Kim (2008), Rory McIlroy (2010) and Rickie Fowler (2012) recorded their first PGA TOUR victories at Quail Hollow, and there have been seven playoffs. Bentgrass greens were in place from the tournament’s inception in 2003 and lasted through 2013 before transitioning to Mini-Verde ultra dwarf bermudagrass from 2014-2016. The course then modified the putting surfaces again, this time to Champion T-12 Ultradwarf bermuda for the PGA Championship in 2017. Because of that duty, Eagle Point Golf Club in Wilmington, North Carolina, hosted the Wells Fargo Championship that year. Similarly, because the Presidents Cup is the next significant event at Quail Hollow, the 2021 edition of the WFC will be held at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm. Among notable tournaments, the last two editions (2017, 2018) of the Quicken Loans National also were held there. Quail Hollow was a par 72 until the 2017 PGA Championship. It’s been a par 71 since. ALL-TIME POWER RANKINGS: WELLS FARGO CHAMPIONSHIP 10. Nick Watney Quail Hollow forever has favored confidence and execution tee to green, and the first 15 holes (pre-The Green Mile) have been scorable, so it would have been an upset if he didn’t find success on the course. While it wasn’t until 2018 when he shared second place to finally sniff the top of the leaderboard, it also was the latest notable contribution to a record that includes three top-10s and another five top-25s on the course. 9. Jason Day He’s made only four appearances spanning 10 years, but all resulted in a top-25, including a pair of top-10s. When he captured victory in 2018, he set the new bar for winners on The Green Mile by scoring 3 under – and bogey-free at that – on holes 16, 17 and 18 for the week. 8. Anthony Kim In a sense, his career was both ignited and extinguished at Quail Hollow. It was there in 2008 that he established himself as a PGA TOUR champion. His 16-under 272 and five-stroke margin were tournament records until Rory McIlroy eclipsed both in the 13th edition in 2015. AK went on to win twice more on TOUR before the last of his 122 career starts ended after one round at Quail Hollow in 2012 due to a wrist injury. It was his sixth appearance. Half yielded a top-10. 7. Tiger Woods Other than 2019 champion Max Homa by default, Woods is the only winner of the Wells Fargo Championship not to attempt to defend his title. He triumphed at Quail Hollow in 2007, and then scaled way back on his schedule in 2008 when he underwent reconstructive surgery on his left knee after winning the U.S. Open. He did return in 2009 and finished fourth. It remains his most recent impressive result in Charlotte. Prior to the victory, he placed T3 in 2004 and T11 in 2005. 6. Phil Mickelson Not unlike the migratory U.S. Open in which the 49-year-old has six runner-up finishes without a victory, he has unrequited love at Quail Hollow where he’s collected 10 top-10s and another two top-20s in 15 appearances. His record includes a solo second in 2010, two thirds, a pair of T4s and a trio of T5s. He added a T18 at Eagle Point in 2017. 5. Lucas Glover The South Carolina native hasn’t missed an edition since breaking onto the PGA TOUR in 2004. It makes sense, too, given that Quail Hollow’s demanding test tee to green feeds right into his skill set. After a close-call T2 in 2009, he prevailed in a playoff in 2011 and has another three top-10s among 12 cuts made. 4. Vijay Singh Shared runner-up honors in the inaugural edition of 2003 and placed T10 in 2004 before emerging with victory in a playoff in 2005. He’d go on to record another pair of top-10s and a T17 through his age-48 season of 2011. 3. Rickie Fowler For a talent who has struggled in avoiding big numbers, especially early in his career, his 8-for-8 slate at Quail Hollow is even more impressive when you consider the overall challenge. He lifted his first PGA TOUR trophy as a 23-year-old on the course in 2012, he’s finished T4 twice, sixth once (in his debut at age 21 in 2010) and connected for another two top-25s. 2. Jim Furyk Avenged a playoff loss at Quail Hollow in 2005 with a playoff win in 2006. Also finished alone in second in 2014. Sprinkled in a pair of seventh-place finishes and a T11 among eight paydays. 1. Rory McIlroy We’ve watched him grow as a professional at this tournament. After his breakthrough title at Quail Hollow in 2010, he proved that the distractions for a first-time defending champion (in 2011) play no favorites as he missed his only cut in nine appearances. He rebounded but lost in a playoff in 2012, and then became (and still is) the only multiple winner in tournament history in 2015 at a tournament-record 21-under 267 with a course-record 61 in the third round. Overall, he’s 8-for-9 with seven top-10s and a T16. HONORABLE MENTIONS David Toms By comparison, his record at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans is stronger than it is at the Wells Fargo Championship. Yet, even with a win among three top-10s and another trio of top-20s piggybacking his connection to LSU and communities throughout the Pelican State, his record wasn’t strong enough to elbow into the Honorable Mentions last week. The difference, of course, is that the WFC didn’t even exist until this century. After serving as its first champion in 2003, he’s gone on to connect for four more top 25s among seven paydays. J.B. Holmes The 2014 champ preceded his title with a T17 in 2008 and a T9 in 2011. All told, he’s 8-for-13. Brian Harman Edges 2004 champion Joey Sindelar for the final slot among winners. The lefty prevailed at the only edition at Eagle Point in 2017, and he has another top-10 among three top-25s to sit 7-for-8 overall. Sindelar is 4-for-5, also with two top-10s and three top-25s. Jonathan Byrd Essentially all or nothing at Quail Hollow in 15 starts. In the worst 11, he made one cut (T80/MDF in 2013) and failed to break par in all 23 rounds. However, his best warrants attention here. He lost in a playoff in 2011 and finished T5 in 2009, T9 in 2012 and T14 in 2014. Geoff Ogilvy From 2004-2015, he went 11-for-11 at Quail Hollow with three top-10s and another five top-25s. While his best finish was but a T7 in 2015, his body of work snubs five winners of the Wells Fargo Championship, who have a combined six top-10s, nine top-25s and 19 cuts made.

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