The holiday season is about togetherness – the more, the merrier – so it only makes sense that the last two tournaments of the calendar year hosted by the PGA TOUR are team formats. Next week’s PNC Championship associated with the PGA TOUR Champions connects generations. It’s fitting that it’s the last stop before everyone celebrates the holidays in earnest. There won’t be a Power Rankings for it, but the entire field of 12 two-person teams at this week’s QBE Shootout is slotted below. As it has since taking over as host of the three-day competition in 2001, Tiburón Golf Club’s Gold Course in Naples, Florida, is the stage. Details of it, the format, and more can be found below. POWER RANKINGS: QBE SHOOTOUT For two of the competitors in the field – Nelly Korda and Lexi Thompson – the Gold Course at Tiburón is exceptionally familiar, for it’s also the annual host of the LPGA’s CME Group Tour Championship. It was contested just three weeks ago. Save nine holes borrowed from the Black Course in 2014, only the Gold has hosted the QBE Shootout throughout the Tiburón’s tenure. The Gold is a stock par 72 that can tip at 7,382 yards, but it’s all about the format in an event like this. Length off the tee will matter only in retrospect if it’s paid off, for there is a reason why this is dubbed a Shootout with a capital S. Nothing has changed concerning the sequence of the scoring for every round. Friday’s opener is a traditional scramble. There will be 18-hole totals in the mid-to-high 50s. Last year’s highest R1 score was 62. The second round will played as modified alternate shot. Everyone hits a tee ball on every hole, but only one ball is used to complete each hole. There was one 62 and one 71 in this format last year, but all of the others ranged from 64 to 69. Sunday’s conclusion is better ball for which the lower of the scores among teammates goes on the card. There was one 68 in this format last year, but all of the others ranged from 60 to 65. The tournament record is 37-under 179. That was authored by the dynastic duo of Harris English and Matt Kuchar in 2020. Their margin of victory of nine strokes that week also is the largest in tournament history. They make up one of just two teams in this week’s field that has partnered together before. This week’s winning combo will share $950,000 of a record purse of $3.8 million. Spectacular weather is forecast. Daytime temps probably will creep into the low 80s and mostly blue skies will be accompanied by light winds. NOTE: PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf will resume with the Sentry Tournament of Champions on Jan. 5-8.
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