While the LIV Golf League will certainly take a 3-week break from its opening 54-hole occasion in Mexico, the PGA Tour will certainly be striking its pre-Masters stride over the following month.
There will certainly be 3 assigned competitions in the following 4 weeks. Up initially is the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in Orlando, Florida, the 4th raised occasion of the period with a $20 million bag. Next week, the Players Championship will certainly have a $25 million bag, the largest on the PGATour After the Valspar Championship, a non-elevated occasion, an additional $20 million will certainly get on the line when probably the last WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play occasion happens at Austin Country Club on March 22-25.
The LPGA will certainly likewise play among its largest competitions of the period this week at the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore.
Here’s what to watch in expert golf this week:
What’s following on the PGA Tour
Arnold Palmer Invitational provided by Mastercard
When: Thursday-Sunday
Where: Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & & Lodge, Orlando
Defending champ: Scottie Scheffler
Purse: $ 20 million
Puerto Rico Open
When: Thursday -Sunday
Where: Grand Reserve Country Club, Rio Grande, Puerto Rico
Defending champ: Ryan Brehm
Purse: $3.8 million
Three storiesto watch:
The wind is goingto wail: Bay Hill is taken into consideration among the PGA Tour’s most hard tracks.Last year’s racking up standard of 73.886 made it the most difficult training course on the timetable amongst non-majors; just the UNITED STATE Open (+2.507), PGA Championship( +2.458)and Masters (+1.951) had greater racking up standardsto the same level.
With the weather prediction asking for winds of 20 to 30 miles per hour on Friday and 15 to 25 miles per hour on Saturday, persistence and sphere striking are going to be crucial.
“Last year was extremely difficult conditions,” Jon Rahm stated.”I had heard that it gets challenging on the weekend, but obviously last year it was a very difficult one. I learned why Tiger has had such success here. It’s a ball striker’s golf course. We need to be very accurate with the irons, and obviously, like everywhere else, you have to be good on the greens.”
No 1 up for grabs (once more): The leading place in the Official World Golf Ranking has actually currently altered hands 3 times because the beginning of 2023. Rory McIlroy began the year atNo 1, Scheffler redeemed it after protecting his WM Phoenix Open title, and after that Rahm lastly arrived once more by taking the Genesis the following week.
There are circumstances in which both Scheffler and McIlroy might redeem theNo 1 position this week.
#OWGR No1 watch:
These are the thorough circumstances for globe No.1 at the @APinv this week … pic.twitter.com/lWpztOUuS3
— Nosferatu (@VC606) February 27, 2023
According to ESPN Stats & Information research, it’s the first time there have been multiple changes at the top priorto March In fact, it’s just the eighth time since 1991 that there was at least one change beforeMarch Greg Norman was involved in three of the previous instances, losing it twice and gaining it once. McIlroy was also involved in the most recent change before this year, when he tookNo 1 from Brooks Koepka in 2020.
“It’s been great,” Rahm said. “There’s a lot of satisfaction that comes to it when you get to be No. 1 when the other players have been playing great golf as well. Scottie had a great year last year, Rory had a great year last year, and then toward the end of the year I kind of picked up. And even with Scottie winning at Phoenix, I was able to get to No. 1 right after.”
McIlroy’s chance: After winning in Dubai in January, McIlroy is still trying to find his form in the U.S. He tied for 32nd in Phoenix and 29th atRiviera Although McIlroy has played in only three PGA Tour events this season, he is 171st in strokes gained: putting ( -.446 ). He ranks in the top 10 in every other strokes gained category.
The reigning FedEx Cup winner has been very good at Bay Hill, where he won in 2018. He has finished worse than a tie for 13th only once in eight previous starts. His scoring average of 70.31 is the second lowest at the event among players with at least 20 rounds played; Woods, who won the tournament eight times, averaged 69.97.
What’s next on the LPGA Tour
HSBC Women’s World Championship
When: Wednesday-Saturday
Where: Sentosa Golf Club (Tanjong Course), Singapore
Defending champion: Jin Young Ko
Purse: $1.8 million
Three storylines to watch:
Ko’s defense: Ko won “Asia’s major” in her first start of 2022 and had two top-10s in official majors, finishing solo fourth at the U.S. Women’s Open and tied for eighth at theAmundi Evian Championship A five-event winner and LPGA Player of the Year in 2021, she missed seven weeks late in the 2022 season because of a nagging left wrist injury and didn’t win again.
Ko, 27, told reporters in Singapore on Tuesday that she spent the offseason in Vietnam, working with her swing coach and trainer. The former worldNo 1 player said she’s meditating every morning and night in hopes of becoming a better person and golfer.
“Yeah, all the players [have] high expectations and that makes [it] difficult and tired,” Ko said. “So I don’t want to [put] high expectations [on] myself. Just look [at] the ball and just hit it and just walk and then hit again, that’s it.”
Ko started seeing positive results last week, when she carded an 8-under 64 in the final round to tie for sixth at the Honda LPGA Thailand.
Loaded field: There’s a reason the HSBC Women’s World Championship is fondly known as the Asian major. Nine of the top 10 players in the world are in the field, including all five major champions from a year ago: Jennifer Kupcho (Chevron), Minjee Lee (U.S. Women’s Open), In Gee Chun (KPMG Women’s PGA), Brooke M. Henderson (Amundi Evian) and Ashleigh Buhai (AIG Women’s Open).
“This is Asia’s major, so to be invited to come play here is a really big deal,” Henderson said. “I work hard all year so I can get invited back. So I just always really enjoy the opportunity to be here. There’s been so many incredible past champions. Some year I hope to add my name to that list.”
Not getting comfortable: World No 1 golfer Lydia Ko has won in three of her past five starts, most recently the Saudi Ladies International, but says she is taking nothing for granted.
“You can never get too cocky about what ranked player you are because it’s so tight at the top,” Ko said. “Everyone is playing really well and you can’t say, ‘I’m going to be there forever.’ When I was younger, I felt like being number one meant that I had to be winning or contending week in, week out, but that’s not necessarily true.
“Everybody is going to have their ups and downs, but you have to manage that by making sure those lows aren’t super-low and you don’t get too high from the highs.”
Ko has 19 victories on the LPGA Tour but has never captured the HSBC Women’s World Championship. She is 69 under in her past eight starts in the event, best among any player, and her scoring average of 69.84 is more than 2 strokes better than the field average of 72.12.
Ko, who got married in December, said her recent life changes have also put golf into perspective.
“It makes a big difference to know that there’s somebody at the end of my round, no matter what I shoot, to support me and just think of me, not [as] the golfer Lydia Ko but Bo-Gyung, my Korean name,” Ko said. “I think that’s something that you’re very thankful for, and I think sometimes it can feel very lonely out there. You have your caddie and your team and your family, but there are things that you kind of just put in and keep to yourself. My husband has been one of the biggest influences in my life.”
A smaller field?
As the PGA Tour continues to tweak its schedule and the number of elevated events in future seasons, the size of fields and cuts in those events are becoming a polarizing issue.
The top players, including McIlroy and Woods, seem to be in favor of smaller fields that would help ensure that the best and most recognizable players are around for the weekend. That would also help secure sponsors and TV ratings, they believe. Some players outside the top 50, on the other hand, are afraid they’re going to be left out.
Xander Schauffele, the No. 6 player in the world, put it another way Tuesday.
” I am constantly for a cut, ” Schauffele said. “Emotionally I’m fora cut.There is a facet of it, I would certainly state, that’s actually amusing for some. But at the end of the day a great deal of individuals likeand a great deal of children like to come see the leading gamers playin the globe. If they have actually obtained a baseball video game on Saturday, Timmy can still include his father (* )tee up on and watch Rory, regardless of what occurs. Sunday I assume it’s likewise a simpler plan “
Schauffele said smaller fields also shorten the length of competition days. The Genesis, an elevated event, had rounds suspended because of darkness, despite having good weather in Los Angeles.
” sell to the enrollers when you inform ’em that 20 of the leading 20 gamers to the globe are going in exist to with Thursday,Sunday I assume that’s a simpler plan ” Schauffele said. ” market when it comesto ironing out what makes the very best item.
to wagers
“And then size of field, I mean, you start looking at the issues we start to have on the West Coast. We can’t even finish tournaments on time. We’re waking up at 5 a.m., we’re teeing off earlier, we’re missing windows on television.”
Best might be
Anita Marks
Rory McIlroy to:
Marks simply enjoys Rory area. A champion this 2018, with 4 added leading 10s, in has actually indulged at McIlroy area. Arnie’s is leading 10 He shots obtained on method in enjoys placing on and, which ought to recover the injuries from the previous couple of weeks. Bermuda leading 10 (+200)
Willie Zalatoris:
Marks I most likely would’ve chose him win otherwise for him attracting a very early tee time to, which indicates late tee time Thursday when the winds are expected Friday misbehave. to completed T-10 below He 2021 in T-4 and couple of weeks ago a L.A. in prospers He hard problems on hard tracks, in you have both below. and win (+900)
David Bearman
Rory McIlroy to:
Bearman lotion generally increases The the top at to, Bay Hill you can not fail choosing any one of the faves. and have actually been unstoppable, however Rahm and Scheffler specific occasion is possessed bythis McIlroy, Yes won in 2015 (what really did not he win?), however Scheffler has actually just played Rahn as soon as (T-17 in 2015). in? Rory has actually completed no even worse than T-13 He his previous 6 looks below, consisting of in win 5 years earlier. a putter has actually been cool the previous couple of weeks, however tee – His – eco-friendly he’s 2nd on excursion. to comes back ahead with an additional Rory win below. Arnie top-10 surface (+350)
Tyrrell Hatton:
Bearman I currently chose among the faves over, I desired Since decrease the board to little bit a locate and tricky gamer that does effectively below. a do not listen to You name pointed out a lot, as he plays both PGA Hatton’s, however below is one place where you ought to hear it. and European Tours single PGA His win was below Tour 2020 in he was runner-up in 2015, and shot behinda Scheffler made it He’s all 6 looks, so in solid DFS play too. a web link
