Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) – EUROPEAN TOUR – ISPS Handa Wales Open,
The Celtic Manor Resort, City of Newport, Wales – The European Tour heads to
Celtic Manor this week for the ISPS Handa Wales Open.
This is the last event before the Ryder Cup, and four of Paul McGinley’s
European Ryder Cup team members are teeing it up this week. Jamie Donaldson,
Thomas Bjorn, Stephen Gallacher and Lee Westwood will all be at Celtic Manor.
Of those four, Westwood was the only one on the 2010 European Ryder Cup team,
when they regained the cup by beating the United States at Celtic Manor.
They will all be trying to take the Wales Open crown from Gregory Bourdy, who
closed with a 4-under 67 last year to beat American Peter Uihlein.
Bourdy closed with three straight birdies en route to winning for the fourth
time on the European Tour. That win stands as his last on tour. Bourdy has
just two top-10 finishes this season, and he has missed the cut in three of
his last five starts overall.
Among the others in the field are Edoardo and Francesco Molinari and Ross
Fisher, who all played with Westwood on that 2010 European Ryder Cup team.
Last week’s winner, Paul Casey, a three-time Ryder Cup performer, will look to
continue his hot play as well.
Golf Channel will have coverage of all four rounds this week.
The Europeans will look to keep the Ryder Cup next week. The Ryder Cup will be
played at Gleneagles for the first time. The European team has won five of the
last six Ryder Cups. The last American win in Europe was in 1993, when this
year’s captain, Tom Watson, led the United States to a 15-13 win.
LPGA TOUR
YOKOHAMA TIRE LPGA CLASSIC, Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail – Capitol Hill
(Senator Course), Prattville, Alabama – The Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic returns
to the schedule after a year off.
World No. 1 Stacy Lewis won the title by two strokes the last time the event
was played in 2012. Lewis led by two entering the final round and closed with
a 3-under 69 to fend off 2011 winner Lexi Thompson.
The win was Lewis’ third of the 2012 season, and her fourth on the LPGA Tour.
She has raised that total to 11, including a pair of major championship wins.
This will be the final full field event in the United States this year for the
LPGA Tour. After a week off, the tour will play six straight events in Asia,
followed by one in Mexico and the CME Group Titleholders in Florida.
Lewis, Thompson and 2010 winner Katherine Kirk will be among those headlining
the field this week. Cristie Kerr and Ai Miyazato will also be at Capitol
Hill, along with Austin Ernst and Lizette Salas, who both earned their first
tour wins this season.
Golf Channel will have action of all four rounds this week.
After a week off, the LPGA Tour kicks off its fall Asian swing with the
Reignwood LPGA Classic, where Shanshan Feng held off Lewis to win by one last
year.
WEB.COM TOUR
WEB.COM TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP, TPC Sawgrass (Dye’s Valley Course), Ponte Vedra
Beach, Florida – The Web.com season finale is this week with the Web.com Tour
Championship.
Chesson Hadley came from behind last year to win the title with a final-round,
1-under 69. Hadley struggled for most of the season on the PGA Tour with 16
missed cuts, but he did win the Puerto Rico Open and had three other top-10
finishes this season.
Hadley will not be back to defend his title. Two of the three winners from the
finals series — Adam Hadwin and last week’s winner Justin Thomas — are in
the field hoping to improve their priority ranking position.
The top 25 from the Web.com Tour money list after the Portland Open already
earned their PGA Tour cards for next season. The next 25 available players
from the finals series money list will also get their PGA Tour cards for next
season.
Those 50 players will be slotted into the priority ranking system after this
event.
Also in the field this week is Derek Fathauer, who had the 36-hole lead each
of the last two weeks; Sean O’Hair, who shared third place last week and tied
for eighth at this event last year; long-hitting Tony Finau; and two-time PGA
Tour winner J.J. Henry.
Golf Channel will have coverage of all four days of this event.
This is the season finale for the Web.com Tour. Those hoping to make the tour
return to action in December as the Web.com Tour Q School runs from December
11-16.
CHAMPIONS TOUR
PACIFIC LINKS HAWAII CHAMPIONSHIP, Kapolei Golf Course, Kapolei, Hawaii – The
Champions Tour returns to action after a week off and the tour will be in the
50th state.
Mark Wiebe needed two playoff holes last year to beat Corey Pavin and win the
Pacific Links Hawaii Championship. Earlier in 2013, Wiebe had also won the
Senior British Open.
Last year at Kapolei, Wiebe led by two entering the final round, but closed
with an even-par 72. That allowed Pavin to catch him and force a playoff.
Wiebe parred the second extra hole last year to defeat Pavin.
The field gets a boost this week from 20-time PGA Tour winner Davis Love III.
He turned 50 back in April, but this event will mark his Champions Tour debut.
At least 11 other rookies will be in the field this week, including Jeff
Maggert, Joe Durant, Paul Goydos, Scott Dunlap, Skip Kendall, Doug Garwood,
and Wes Short, Jr. In that group, Maggert, Dunlap and Short have all won this
year on the Champions Tour.
A busy Golf Channel will have coverage of all three rounds this week.
The Champions Tour returns to the west coast next week for the Nature Valley
First Tee Open at Pebble Beach, where Kirk Triplett repeated as champion last
year.