What to expect at The Open Championship

The PGA TOUR uses a standardized system for determining event fields, based off the current season’s Priority Ranking while also including additional exemption and qualifying categories. Field sizes can vary by event, as can the number of event-specific exemptions. Fully exempt PGA TOUR members are guaranteed entry into all full-field events, with various conditional categories subject to periodic reshuffles based upon FedExCup Points accrued throughout the season. Categories with ‘reshuffle’ notation indicate that a reshuffle period has occurred. Corales Puntacana Championship field list as of Friday, March 18 at 5 p.m. ET: Check here for updates. Winner of PGA Championship (five-year exemption) Jimmy Walker Winner of Masters Tournament (five-year exemption) Danny Willett PGA TOUR tournament winner (two-year exemption) Joel Dahmen Tyler Duncan Sung Kang Nate Lashley Graeme McDowell Hudson Swafford Nick Taylor Martin Trainer Kevin Tway Career money exemption Bill Haas Sponsor’s exemption (members not otherwise exempt) Ricky Barnes Matt Gogel Sponsor’s exemption (unrestricted) Dominic Bozzelli Marcus Byrd Rafa Cabrera Bello Rafael Campos Thomas Detry Rasmus Hojgaard Haotong Li Victor Perez Hiram Silfa Fabrizio Zanotti Designated sponsor’s exemption Jeronimo Esteve Juan Jose Guerra Guillermo Pumarol Manuel Relancio Commissioner exemption – 2 Foreign Players. Nicolai Hojgaard Sam Horsfield PGA Section Champion\Player of the Year Andrew Filbert Monday qualifiers Michael Balcar Brian Davis Rick Lamb Bryson Nimmer Past champion of respective event Brice Garnett Top 125 on prior season’s FedExCup Maverick McNealy Emiliano Grillo Jhonattan Vegas Andrew Putnam Brandon Hagy Wyndham Clark Adam Schenk Kramer Hickok Brian Stuard Doc Redman Roger Sloan Hank Lebioda Matthew NeSmith Kyle Stanley Chesson Hadley # Major medical extension Wesley Bryan Seung-Yul Noh Kelly Kraft Korn Ferry Tour Points winners (The 25 and The Finals 25) Stephan Jaeger Joseph Bramlett Korn Ferry Tour graduates via The 25 and The Finals 25 (reshuffled) Sahith Theegala Hayden Buckley Patrick Rodgers Aaron Rai Taylor Pendrith Vince Whaley Alex Smalley Greyson Sigg Davis Riley Adam Svensson Trey Mullinax David Lipsky Chad Ramey John Huh Paul Barjon Seth Reeves Austin Smotherman Max McGreevy Curtis Thompson Andrew Novak Bronson Burgoon Austin Cook Matthias Schwab Dylan Wu Nick Hardy Justin Lower David Skinns Ben Kohles Dawie van der Walt Michael Gligic Peter Uihlein Chris Stroud Jared Wolfe Scott Gutschewski Brandon Wu Brett Drewitt Kiradech Aphibarnrat Kurt Kitayama Joshua Creel Callum Tarren Nos. 126-150 on prior season’s FedExCup Points List (reshuffled) Beau Hossler Mark Hubbard Ryan Armour Jim Knous Camilo Villegas Vaughn Taylor Chase Seiffert Bo Van Pelt Cameron Percy Bo Hoag $ Reshuffle within categories 34-38 Jonathan Byrd Sean O’Hair Robert Garrigus Kevin Chappell Jason Dufner Aaron Baddeley David Hearn Scott Brown Ben Martin David Lingmerth D.A. Points Grayson Murray D.J. Trahan John Merrick The PGA TOUR uses a standardized system for determining event fields, based off the current season’s Priority Ranking while also including additional exemption and qualifying categories. Field sizes can vary by event, as can the number of event-specific exemptions. Fully exempt PGA TOUR members are guaranteed entry into all full-field events, with various conditional categories subject to periodic reshuffles based upon FedExCup Points accrued throughout the season. Categories with ‘reshuffle’ notation indicate that a reshuffle period has occurred. * = If all prior year Korn Ferry Tour graduates are eligible for event, exemptions become unrestricted # = Latest medical extension information can be found here. $ = Category breakdown can be found here.

Click here to read the full article…

The most famous meeting between Jordan Spieth, who reignited his career with a win at the Valero Texas Open last month, and Phil Mickelson, who just shocked the world by winning the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island, happened in 2013. That’s when Spieth, still a relatively little-known talent on the world stage, shot a final-round 62 whilst paired with Mickelson in the final round of the Deutsche Bank Championship. Duly impressed, Mickelson called U.S. Presidents Cup Captain Fred Couples, who had yet to make his captain’s picks, and said, “Dude, you’ve got to pick this guy.” Couples did. “My first kind of playing-with-him encounter couldn’t have gone any better,” Spieth said. Both players will be in the field for this week’s Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial. As it turns out, Spieth and Mickelson go back further than 2013, all the way to one of Spieth’s prized autographs from his youth. “I actually – I still have it,” he said from Colonial. “I actually know where it is now that I mention it. I have the Sports Illustrated when he – the jump when he won the (2004) Masters, when he was in mid-air six feet off the ground, with his signature on it. “I won it in an auction at like my sister’s school when I was really young,” Spieth continued. “I must have been like 12 or 13 or 14 or something.” Even then, Spieth was a seasoned Lefty fan. It’s likely he would have known that while he, Spieth, is naturally lefthanded in everything but golf, Mickelson is naturally righthanded in everything but golf. Also, Mickelson was a towering figure in Texas golf, even if he never lived there, and Spieth, like all fans, was drawn to the best players. “I remember going out and following him because he would come to the Byron Nelson and play,” he said. “I came to the Colonial a couple times in grade school as well, and he’s always been good at this tournament.” (Mickelson won in 2000 and ’08; Spieth in 2016.) The superstar’s unpredictability was appealing, too. “Obviously, the thrill of watching his rounds of golf,” Spieth said, “where he could go shoot – he could have six birdies in a row. He could also hit a drive onto a different hole and still make birdie, and he could look like he’s – I mean, it’s Phil the Thrill, right?” As for what Mickelson just accomplished at the Ocean Course, Spieth was as amazed as anyone. “I thought it would very, very difficult,” he said. The reason, he added, was because while Mickelson had won twice on PGA TOUR Champions, he hadn’t contended on the regular TOUR for ages. “It’s just so difficult to be in contention for the first time in a while and be able to tap into that confidence that you’re supposed to be there, and you’re supposed to win,” Spieth said. The great ones, though – Jack Nicklaus at the ’86 Masters, Tiger Woods at the 2019 Masters, Mickelson at the 2021 PGA Championship – “seem to have that one left at the end,” he added. This didn’t sound quite right, though, and he caught himself. “And I know he’ll probably tell you – maybe he thinks he’s got more than one left,” Spieth said. “I don’t think anybody will doubt him after this one, but I think it’s just wild. I think it’s incredible.”

Click here to read the full article…

The PGA TOUR’s lone match-play event returns to Austin Country Club with a 64-player field divided into 16 groups of four for round-robin play. Billy Horschel is back to defend his title. He beat Scottie Scheffler 2 and 1 in last year’s final. FIELD NOTES: Sixty-four of the world’s top 69 players are set it to tee it up… The field includes eight-time TOUR winner Bryson DeChambeau, who has been sidelined with a wrist injury since he missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open in late January… Five of the top five players in the OWGR are in the field, including Jon Rahm, Collin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland, Patrick Cantlay, and Scottie Scheffler. Since his runner-up result in 2021, Scheffler has shone for the U.S. Ryder Cup team and won twice on TOUR… Eleven players are set to make their Match Play debuts, including TOUR winners Sam Burns, Seamus Power, Lucas Herbert, and Tom Hoge… Sepp Straka, who won The Honda Classic for his maiden TOUR title, was the last golfer to earn a spot in the field… Those who qualified for the event and are not playing in Austin include Rory McIlroy, Hideki Matsuyama, Harris English, Phil Mickelson, and THE PLAYERS Championship winner Cameron Smith… Recent WGC-Match Play winners in the field include Horschel, Kevin Kisner, Bubba Watson and Dustin Johnson. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 550 FedExCup points. COURSE: Austin Country Club, par 71, 7,108 yards (yardage subject to change). The Pete Dye design has yielded different kinds of winners, from long-bombers Dustin Johnson and Bubba Watson to short-game wizards like Kevin Kisner. This is the sixth year Austin CC has hosted. With roots dating to 1899, the course is believed to be the oldest in Texas; it was relocated twice before landing on its current location. The course features two distinct nines. The front showcases some of the Texas hill country, while the back is more in the lowlands beside Lake Austin – a scenic backdrop as the matches reach their conclusion. STORYLINES: Final seeds will be determined based on the OWGR released on March 22… The field will be divided into 16 four-player groups with the top 16 players being the top player in each group. The remaining players will be picked randomly. Points are awarded based on the following results: 1 point to the winner of a match, 0 to the loser, and 0.5 for a halved match. After group play, the format turns to single elimination… After injury prevented him from defending his title at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, DeChambeau – who lives in Dallas, only a three-hour drive away – is back in action… The last No.1 seed to win it all was Dustin Johnson, who defeated another No.1 (Jon Rahm) in 2017. Jason Day was a No.2 seed when he won in 2016, while Rory McIlroy was another No.1 seed when he won in 2015… The rankings of the last three winners have been 32-48-35… Tiger Woods is the only one to successfully defend his title. Woods won in both 2003 and 2004. There have been some other close calls, though: Paul Casey finished runner-up two years in a row (2009, 2010), while Hunter Mahan won in 2012 and was runner-up in 2013. Jason Day won in 2014 and 2016. LARGEST MARGIN OF VICTORY: 9 & 8, Tiger Woods def. Stephen Ames (1st round, 2006 at La Costa Resort & Spa). LONGEST MATCH: 26 holes, Mike Weir def. Loren Roberts (1st round, 2003 at La Costa), Scott Verplank def. Lee Westwood (1st round, 2006 at La Costa) LAST TIME: Billy Horschel defeated Scottie Scheffler in the championship match 2 and 1. It marked Horschel’s sixth TOUR title and came after he failed to get past the round of 16 in his past four starts at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. Matt Kuchar defeated Victor Perez 2 and 1 in the consolation match. For the first time since group play was introduced in 2015 the semifinals did not include a seed from the top 16. Horschel also defeated Kevin Streelman, Tommy Fleetwood, and Perez on his way to capturing the title. Jon Rahm, Fleetwood, Sergio Garcia, and Brian Harman were the other quarterfinalists. HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Wednesday-Friday, 2 p.m.-8 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. (Golf Channel), 2 p.m.-6 p.m. (NBC). Sunday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-7 p.m. (NBC) Radio: Wednesday-Saturday, 2 p.m.-8 p.m. ET. Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio) For outside of the U.S., click here for GOLFTV powered by the PGA TOUR PGA TOUR LIVE PGA TOUR Live is available exclusively on ESPN+ • Main Feed: primary tournament-coverage featuring the best action from across the course • Marquee Group: new “marquee group” showcasing every shot from each player in the group • Featured Groups: traditional PGA TOUR LIVE coverage of two concurrent featured groups • Featured Holes: a combination of par-3s and iconic or pivotal holes

Click here to read the full article…