Pro golf week ahead: It's the Olympics and Xander Schauffele goes after his second gold medal

Pro golf week ahead: It’s the Olympics and Xander Schauffele goes after his second gold medal

Posted by Admin July 30, 2024 Golf

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LPGA is in Portland, U.S. Senior Women’s Open in Pittsburgh, Korn Ferry goes out West to Utah

The major championships are over and points races and money lists are on hold for a week.

And for four days, labels such as the PGA Tour, LIV Golf and the DP World Tour also don’t matter.

What does is Olympic gold.

Olympic Golf groups, tee times

The men’s Olympic Golf Competition will begin in the early morning hours on Thursday at Le Golf National in Paris. Sixty players from 32 countries will compete for the third time since golf returned to the Olympics in 2016.

Xander Schauffele won the gold medal in Japan in 2021. He has won two major championships this year, the PGA and the Open but is still behind world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler on the FedEx Cup. Scheffler won The Players and the Masters among his six victories.

Schauffele will play in a group with Jon Rahm of Spain and Viktor Hovland of Norway the first two rounds. Scheffler will play with Rory McIlroy and Ludvig Aberg.

Who’s playing in the Olympics from LIV Golf?

Rahm, who won his first LIV Golf event last week in England, and David Puig will represent Spain, one of three countries in which both Olympic players are LIV Golf members.

Also playing from LIV Golf are Joaquin Niemann and Mito Pereria of Chile; Carlos Ortiz and Abraham Ancer of Mexico; and Adrian Meronk of Poland.

How is the Olympic field determined?

The top-15 players on the World Golf Rankings are automatically in, but there is a maxium of four per nation. That’s why Bryson DeChambeau, No. 10 at the time of the cutoff, was left out, with Scheffler, Schauffele, Morikawa and Clark ahead of him.

After that, each nation gets a maximum of two players, based on the world rankings.

The women’s Olympic Golf will be Aug. 8-11.

Olympic Golf: Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy chase Schauffele

Event: Olympic Men’s Golf, Thursday-Sunday, Le Golf National, Paris.

What’s the purse? No purse

Who won last Olympics? Schauffele shot 67 in the final round in 2021 in Japan to beat Rory Sabattini of Slovakia by one shot. Hideki Matsuyama earned the bronze medal.

How to watch on TV: Golf Channel (Thursday-Friday, 3 a.m.-noon; Saturday-Sunday, 3 a.m.-12:30 p.m.).

Area players entered: Adrien Dumont de Chassart (Belgium), Nico Echavarria (Colombia), Carl Yuan (China).

Notable: In addition to the four Americans, Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry (Ireland), Jon Rahm (Spain), Ludvig Aberg (Sweden), Viktor Hovland (Norway), Jason Day (Australia) and Sepp Straka (Austria). … The course was the venue for the 2018 Ryder Cup.

LPGA Tour: Monday qualifier won in 2023

Event: Portland Classic, Thursday-Sunday, Columbia Edgewater Country Club, Portland.

What’s the purse? $1.75 million ($262,500 to the winner).

Who won last year? Channette Wannasen became the first Monday qualifier to win an LPGA event since 2015 when she fired a 63 in the final round and beat Xiyu Lin by four shots.

How to watch on TV: Golf Channel (Thursday-Friday, 6-9 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 6-8 p.m.).

Area players entered: Auston Kim, Amelia Lewis.

Notable: Wannasen, who was 19 years old at the time, had a six-hole stretch of five birdies and an eagle to take charge in the final round. … The native of Thailand won the Dana Open earlier this season. … Lewis has three top-10s on the Epson Tour and is 16^th on the points list, 5.82 behind No. 15 Ana Balec. The top-15 at the end of the season earn LPGA cards for 2025.

USGA: Trish Johnson defends in Pittsburgh

Event: U.S. Senior Women’s Open, Thursday-Sunday, Fox Chapel Golf Club, Pittsburgh

What’s the purse? $1 million in 2023 ($150,000 to the winner).

Who won last year? Trish Johnson defeated Leta Lindley by one shot at the Waverly Country Club in Portland. It was Lindley’s second consecutive runner-up finish.

How to watch on TV: Peacock (Saturday-Sunday, 2-5 p.m.); Golf Channel (Saturday-Sunday, 8-11 p.m.).

Area players entered: None.

Notable: This is the fifth Senior Women’s Open, which began in 2018. Laura Davies, Annika Sorenstam, Helen Alfredsson and Jill McGill have also won it.

Korn Ferry Tour: Ospreys take flight in Utah

Event: Utah Championship, Thursday-Sunday, Oakridge Country Club, Farmington, Utah.

What’s the purse? $1 million ($180,000 to the winner).

Who won last year? Roger Sloan shot 63-66 on the weekend and outlasted Christopher Petefish by one shot at 24-under.

How to watch on TV: The Korn Ferry Tour returns to Golf Channel and four of the last six tournaments will be aired. The Utah Championship will be on the air Thursday and Friday from 4-6 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 3-6 p.m.

Area players entered: Dawson Armstrong, Chris Baker, Fred Biondi, Chandler Blanchet, Dillon Board, Vince Covello, Brett Drewitt, Nick Gabrelcik, Joey Garber, Tano Goya, Philip Knowles, Rick Lamb, Doc Redman, Danny Walker, Jared Wolfe.

Notable: Covello, Gabrelcik and Knowles all played college golf at the University of North Florida. … There are three more events left before the Korn Ferry Finals begin.