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PGA Tour This Week – The Valspar

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Welcome to PGA Tour Brunch Coverage – The Valspar Championship

This is the first time in tournament history the Valspar Championship will be played in April/May. Paul Casey, the 2018 and 2019 champion, is the only player in tournament history to win back-to-back. He’s returning in search of a third consecutive victory at the event.

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The top-two players in the Official World Golf Ranking, Dustin Johnson (1) and Justin Thomas (2), are both in the strong field.

To that end, 11 of the Top 30 in the FedExCup standings are competing at Copperhead this week, led by No. 2 Justin Thomas and No. 7 Viktor Hovland while 18 of the Top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking, as previously noted with No. 1 Johnson and No. 2, Thomas.

Overall, 97 PGA Tour winners, the second-most of any tournament to date during the 2020-21 season are in the field. The most was the 110 at The PLAYERS Championship.

Lastly, 17 major championship winners combining for 24 major victories are playing in the Tampa Bay Area this week, led by Phil Mickelson (5).

The Valspar Championship is the 31st of 50 events in the 2020-21 PGA Tour season.

Tournament Tee Times begin Thursday at 6:55am (EDT) through 2:15pm (EDT).

Weather: A high pressure system will begin to slowly shift East allowing more humid conditions to return Thursday into Friday. Mostly sunny to partly cloudy skies can be expected each day with highs in the mid-80s to upper 80s. The models have slowed down the approaching cold front and it’s looking more likely that the front will stall across the northern gulf this weekend. This will keep Central Florida mainly dry with only a slight chance for a shower or thunderstorm developing during the afternoon hours (winds 10-15 mph).

PGATourBrunch will be posting before 6:55am (EDT) early tee times Thursday and Friday.

Next Week: Wells Fargo Championship (Charlotte, NC)

PGA Tour: Wrap-Up at Zurich Classic

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PGA Tour Brunch Coverage of Zurich Classic

NEW ORLEANS  – Australians Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith defeated 54-hole leaders Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzelof South Africa with a par on the first hole of sudden death playoff to mark the first playoff in the event since 2017 when Smith and Jonas Blixt defeated Scott Brown and Kevin Kisner. With the win, Smith becomes the first player to win the event twice in the team format.

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Partnering together for the first time, the Australian natives overcame a 1-shot deficit beginning the final round to close with a 2-under (70) and then win with a par on the first extra hole, the par-5 18th.

Runner-up Louis Oosthuizen was seeking his second career PGA Tour win more than 10 years after his 2010 The Open Championship title.

Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay combined for eight birdies in the final round to tie the record for most par-breakers in a Foursomes round since the Zurich Classic of New Orleans became a team event in 2017.

Defending champions Jon Rahm and Ryan Palmer finished seventh at 17-under (271).

The Zurich Classic of New Orleans switched from individual stroke play to the two-man team format in 2017 and is the only official FedExCup team event on Tour.

Zurich Classic Final Leaderboard

Marc Leishman/Cameron Smith 63-72-63-70—268 (-20)*

Louis Oosthuizen/Charl Schwartzel 63-71-63-71—268 (-20)

Richy Werenski/Peter Uihlein 65-69-68-67—269 (-19)

Billy Horschel/Sam Burns 63-73-65-69—270 (-18)

Keith Mitchell/Brandt Snedeker 66-71-64-69—270 (-18)

Keegan Bradley/Brendan Steele 63-73-64-70—270 (-18)

*Won with a par on the first extra hole, the par-5 18th

PGA Tour: Final Round at Zurich Classic

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PGA Tour Brunch Coverage of Zurich Classic

Six teams shot (63) for low round of the day, including third round leaders Louis Oosthuizen/Charl Schwartzel.

The South African team Oosthuizen/Schwartzel seek to join nine players from outside the United States to win the Zurich Classic since 2000.

Defending champions Jon Rahm and Ryan Palmer sit T-9 and four back at (15-under).

The Zurich Classic of New Orleans switched from individual stroke play to the two-man team format in 2017 and is the only official FedExCup team event on Tour. Since team format was introduced, the 54-hole leaders/co-leaders have gone on to win twice – two of the three years – (2017/Cameron Smith/Jonas Blixt, 2019/Jon Rahm/Ryan Palmer). The 2020 event was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Two-time major champion and 2011 Zurich Classic winner Bubba Watson and 2019-20 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year Scottie Scheffler birdied two of the final three holes (Nos. 16 and 18) for a 6-under (66) and sit T-4 at (17-under), two strokes back of the leaders. Scheffler is making his Zurich Classic debut. Watson is making his 13th appearance and fourth in team format with his third different partner.

Format: Foursomes in fourth round.

Highlights from Round Three:

Tournament Tee Times today at 9:50am (local)/10:50am (EDT through 12:55pm (local)/1:55pm (EDT)

Weather: Sunday will be mostly sunny and 71-degrees with winds at 10 mph.

PGATourBrunch will be posting a Zurich Classic Wrap-Up at Noon (EDT)on Monday, April 26.

Next Week: Valspar Championship (Palm Harbor, FLA)

Leaderboard After Third Round at Zurich Classic

Louis Oosthuizen/Charl Schwartzel 63-71-63—197 (-19)

Marc Leishman/Cameron Smith 63-72-63—198 (-18)

Cameron Champ/Tony Finau 63-68-67—198 (-18)

Bubba Watson/Scottie Scheffler 64-69-66—199 (-17)

Viktor Hovland/Kris Ventura 62-69-68—199 (-17)

Previewing Round 3 at Zurich Classic

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PGA Tour Brunch Coverage of Zurich Classic of NOLA

By carding (68s), Cameron Champ/Tony Finau match Henrik Stenson/Justin Rose for low round of the day on Friday.

Meanwhile, the Norwegian team of Viktor Hovland/Kris Ventura are attempting to join nine players from outside the United States to win the Zurich Classic since 2000. Ventura can join 17 players since 1990 who have made the Zurich Classic their maiden victory on the PGA Tour.

Defending champions Jon Rahm and Ryan Palmer sit T-9 and five back at 8-under.

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Nick Watney (No. 4) and Graeme McDowell (No. 17) made the fourth and fifth aces, respectively, at TPC Louisiana since the tournament switched to the team format.

Since team format was introduced, the 36-hole leaders/co-leaders have gone on to win twice (2017/Cameron Smith/Jonas Blixt, 2019/Jon Rahm/Ryan Palmer)

Cutline came in at (-6).

Format: Four-ball third round, Foursomes in fourth round.

Tournament Tee Times today at 8:05am (local)/9:05am (EDT through 11:45pm (local)/12:45pm (EDT)

Weather: Scattered thunderstorms on Saturday (30% chance of rain) with temps ranging from 73-degrees to 85. Southwest winds at 15-25mph. Scattered pop-up type thunderstorms will be possible through much of the day as a frontal boundary remains nearly stalled north of New Orleans. Thunderstorms are not expected to be widespread, and probabilities of any given hour are low, yet the threat for a storm will linger through sunset. Sunday will be mostly sunny and 71-degrees with winds at 10 mph.

PGATourBrunch will be posting before 9am (EDT) on Sunday.

Next Week: Valspar Championship (Palm Harbor, FLA)

Leaderboard After Second Round at Zurich Classic

Cameron Champ/Tony Finau 63-68—131 (-13)

Viktor Hovland/Kris Ventura 62-69—131 (-13)

Henrik Stenson/Justin Rose 65-68—133 (-11)

Bubba Watson/Scottie Scheffler 64-69—133 (-11)

Full Leaderboard: (link)

PGA Tour: Second Round Preview at Zurich Classic of New Orleans

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PGA Tour Brunch 1st Round Coverage of Zurich Classic of NOLA

NEW ORLEANS – Making their first starts in the Zurich Classic, Viktor Hovland and Kris Ventura opened with a bogey-free 10-under (62). Brice Garnett and Scott Stallings birdied eight of their last 11 holes to post 10-under (62).

Louisiana native Sam Burns and two-time Zurich Classic champion Billy Horschel birdied first four holes en route to a (63).

Defending champions Jon Rahm and Ryan Palmer are T-16 after a 7-under (65).

Format: Four-ball in first and third rounds, Foursomes in second and fourth rounds.

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The Tournament Tee Times today at 8:20am (local)/9:20am (EDT through 2:14pm (local)/3:14pm (EDT)

Weather: Forecast today calls for mostly cloudy skies, showers and thunderstorms after 3pm with a 40% chance of rain. The showers and thunderstorms could hold over until Saturday (90% chance of rain). Sunday will be mostly sunny and 71-degrees.

PGATourBrunch will be posting before 9am (EDT) on Saturday and Sunday.

Next Week: Valspar Championship (Palm Harbor, FLA)

Leaderboard After First Round at Zurich Classic

Viktor Hovland/Kris Ventura 62 (-10)

Brice Garnett/Scott Stallings 62 (-10)

Seven teams 63 (-9)

PGA Tour: R-1 Coverage of Zurich Classic

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PGA Tour Brunch 1st Round Coverage of Zurich Classic of New Orleans

The Zurich Classic field consists of five of Top 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking: Jon Rahm (3), Collin Morikawa (4), Xander Schauffele (5), Tyrrell Hatton (8), Patrick Cantlay (10).

There are 11 major championsplaying and two teams include two major champions: Justin Rose/Henrik Stenson and Louis Oosthuizen/Charl Schwartzel

The strong field includes 11 winners from the current 2020-21 season: CollinMorikawa, Patrick Cantlay, Billy Horschel, Max Homa, Joel Dahmen, Branden Grace, Viktor Hovland, Matt Jones, Jason Kokrak, Martin Laird, and Robert Streb

Reminder: This is a two-player “team” event, with each team comprised of two professionals, competing at Four-ball (best ball) during the first and third rounds and Foursomes (alternate shot) during the second and fourth rounds.

The starting field will consist of 80 teams (160 players) with the 36-hole cut to the low 33 teams and ties at the 33rd position.

The Tournament Tee Times begin Thursday at 7:00am (EDT) through 2:10pm (EDT).

Weather: Today’s Forecast calls mild, sunny skies and a temperature of 64-degrees with 49% humidity and 13 mph winds. Zero chance of rain. Friday (70% chance of rain) could bring PM showers and thunderstorms which will hold over until Saturday (90% chance of rain). Sunday will be mostly sunny and 71-degrees.

PGATourBrunch will be posting before 7am (EDT) for early tee times on Friday.

Next Week: Valspar Championship (Palm Harbor, FLA)

Field:

The Field (team player noted in (parenthesis) (link)

THIS WEEK on the PGA TOUR: RBC Heritage

COURSE: TPC Louisiana, Avondale, LA

ARCHITECT: Pete Dye

YARDS/PAR: 7,425 yards/Par 72

PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $7,400,000/$1,069,300 (for each winning player)

DEFENDING Champion (April 2019) – Jon Rahm/Ryan Palmer – (Leaderboard link)

PAST RESULTS: (link)

PAST CHAMPIONS: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points Winner Share: 800 per team/400 per player

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @Zurich_Classic

OFFICIAL SITE: (Zurich Classic of New Orleans)

TV COVERAGE: Today, April 22 and Friday, April 23: 3:30pm to 6:30pm (EDT) on Golf Channel. On Saturday, April 24 and Sunday, April 25 – Golf Channel’s TV coverage goes from 1:00pm to 3:00pm (EDT), then CBS takes over coverage from 3:00pm to 6:00pm (EDT).

STREAMING: PGA Tour Live will offer streaming coverage of Featured Groups Today from 8:00am to 6:30pm (EDT) and Friday from 9:15am to 6:30pm (EDT) and Friday from 9:15am to 6:30pm (EDT). On Saturday PGA Live Featured Groups runs from 9:00am to 3:00pm (EDT) with Featured Holes going from 3:00pm to 6:00pm (EDT). On Sunday, PGA Tour Live offers Featured Groups streaming from 10:30am to 3:00pm (EDT) and Featured Holes from 3:00pm to 6:00pm (EDT).

PGA TOUR RADIO COVERAGE: Streaming Radio coverage Today and Friday from 1:00pm to 6:30pm (EDT); then Saturday and Sunday, 1:00pm to 6:00pm (EDT) on Sirius XM Satellite Radio. PGA Tour Radio is available on Sirius 208/XM 92) or online on PGATour.com.

PGA Tour: First Look at Zurich Classic

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Welcome to PGA Tour Brunch Coverage of the Zurich Classic

The 2020 Zurich Classic of New Orleans was one of 11 events canceled in the 2020-21 season due to COVID-19. The Zurich Classic (which was first played in 1938), has utilized the two-man team format since 2017. It remains the only official FedExCup team event on the PGA TOUR schedule.

Two-player team event, with each team comprised of two professionals, featuring Four-ball (best ball) during the first and third rounds and Foursomes (alternate shot) during the second and fourth rounds.

The starting field will consist of 80 teams (160 players) with the 36-hole cut to the low 33 teams and ties at the 33rd position.

The field consists of 12 past Zurich Classic of New Orleans winners: K.J. Choi (2002), Nick Watney (2007), Andres Romero (2008), Bubba Watson(2011), Jason Dufner (2012), Billy Horschel (2013, 2018), Justin Rose(2015), Brian Stuard (2016), Cameron Smith (2017), Scott Piercy (2018), Jon Rahm (2019), Ryan Palmer (2019)

Zurich Ambassadors: Justin Rose, Billy Horschel, and Collin Morikawa.

The Tournament Tee Times begin Thursday at 7:00am (EDT) through 2:10pm (EDT).

Weather: Thursday’s Forecast calls mild, sunny skies and a temperature of 64-degrees with 49% humidity and 13 mph winds. Zero chance of rain. Friday (70% chance of rain) could bring PM showers and thunderstorms which will hold over until Saturday (90% chance of rain). Sunday will be mostly sunny and 71-degrees.

PGA Tour: Cink Goes Wire-to-Wire

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PGA Tour Brunch Coverage of the RBC Heritage

Stewart Cink became the fourth player – the fifth occasion – age 47 or older to win multiple times in a season on the PGA Tour since 1960. Cink joins Davis Love III (5) and Hale Irwin (3) with three or more victories at the RBC Heritage. Cink won 21 years, two days after his 2000 RBC Heritage title and 16 years, 11 months, 30 days after winning at the Heritage in 2004.

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Harold Varner III (T-2 at (-15) closed with a 5-under (66) to claim his career-best finish on Tour. His previous best, a T-3/2019 THE NORTHERN TRUST. Varner’s T-2 came after three straight missed cuts at previous RBC Heritage events.

A week after his T-8 finish at the Masters Tournament, Canada’s Corey Conners finished T-4 at 13-under (271).

First-round leader Cameron Smith (T-9 at (-11) bookended his week with bogey-free rounds (R-1 a (62), and R-4 a (66).

In his bid to join Payne Stewart (1989-90), Davis Love III (1991-92) and Boo Weekley (2007-08) as back-to-back winners at the RBC Heritage, defending champion Webb Simpson finished T-9.

RBC Heritage Final Leaderboard

Stewart Cink 63-63-69-70—265 (-19)

Harold Varner III 66-68-69-66—269 (-15)

Emiliano Grillo 68-64-69-68—269 (-15)

Maverick McNealy 71-67-66-67—271 (-13)

Corey Conners 67-64-72-68—271 (-13)

Matt Fitzpatrick 71-64-68-68—271 (-13)

Cink Sets RBC Heritage Record (Again)

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PGA Tour Brunch Coverage of the RBC Heritage

HILTON HEAD – PGA Tour vet Stewart Cink leads RBC Heritage and now holds the 54-hole scoring record by two strokes. Today, Cink will attempt to join Davis Love III (5) and Hale Irwin (3) with three or more victories at the RBC.

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Cink holds largest 54-hole lead on the Tour since Dustin Johnson held the same margin (five strokes) at the 2020 TOUR Championship

That said, the RBC Heritage has had a come-from-behind winner seven out of the last eight years.

Collin Morikawa has three Top-10s in his 12 prior starts this season but finished T-64 in his only other RBC Heritage start (2020).

Following a third-round 6-under (65), Matt Wallace (T-4) now has four rounds of 65 or better in 125 rounds on Tour. Two of those came this week (rounds one and three). He is seeking his first win in 39 PGA Tour starts, with a third place finish at the 2021 Valero Texas Open and T-3 at the 2019 PGA Championship his best outings to date.

RBC Heritage Leaderboard After Three Rounds:

Stewart Cink 63-63-69—195 (-18)

Collin Morikawa 65-68-67—200 (-13)

Emiliano Grillo 68-64-69—201 (-12)

Matt Wallace 65-72-65—202 (-11)

Sungjae Im 68-65-69—202 (-11)

Four players at (-10) and a total of nine players under par with double-digits

 

Cink Sets Record at RBC Heritage

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PGA Tour Brunch Coverage of the RBC Heritage

HILTON HEAD – PGA Tour vet Stewart Cink broke the previous RBC Heritage 36-hole record by three strokes with his pair of (63s). At 47 years old, Cink became the oldest player to hold the 36-hole lead at RBC.

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Cink joined Loren Roberts as the only players with multiple 63s or better in tournament history. Cink leads the field in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green (6.556) and Strokes Gained: Tee to Green (9.626).

RBC Ambassador Corey Conners (67-64 -11) is seeking to become the first Canadian to win the RBC Heritage. He could be the sixth international winner at Harbour Town since 2012.

Emiliano Grillo (68-64 -10) is the only player bogey-free through 36 holes.

After posting a career-low and bogey-free 9-under (62), first-round leader Cameron Smith (T-4 at (-9), followed with an even par (71) in R-2..

Defending champion Webb Simpson enters the weekend T-40.

Leaderboard After Second Round

Stewart Cink 63-63—126 (-16)

Corey Conners 67-64—131 (-11)

Emiliano Grillo 68-64—132 (-10)

Four players tied at (-9)

Tournament Tee Times begin today at 8:45am (EDT) through 2:10pm (EDT) when Stewart Cink and Corey Connors tee it up.

Weather: Forecast calls for showers and a 70% chance of rain as a weak low-pressure system developed along the stalled front pushing showers northward into region. Temperatures in the 59-68-degree range with winds 5-10 mph. Sunday will be mostly cloudy with chance of AM showers (50%).

See PGA Tour Brunch online for more information