U.S. Women’s Open Final Major Of A Strange Year In Golf

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION

U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN

Site: Houston.

Course: Champions GC. Cypress Creek (Yardage: 6,731, Par: 71) and Jackrabbit (Yardage: 6,558, Par: 71).

Prize Money: $5.5 million. Winner's Share: $1 million.

Television: Thursday, 10:30 a.m. to noon (peacock), 12:30-6 p.m. (Golf Channel); Friday, 1-3 p.m. (peacock), 3-6 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. (Golf Channel), 1-2:30 p.m. (peacock), 2:30-6 p.m. (NBC); Sunday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. (Golf Channel), 2-6 p.m. (NBC).

Defending Champion: Jeongeun Lee6.

Notes: The championship was postponed from June 4-7 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. By moving to December, the USGA will use two courses at Champions for the opening two rounds, and the final 36 holes will be played on the Cypress Creek course. ... Champions hosted the 1969 U.S. Open won by Orville Moody. It also hosted the Tour Championship in 1997 (won by David Duval), 1999 (Tiger Woods), 2001 (Mike Weir) and 2003 (Chad Campbell). ... As was the case at the U.S. Open, there was no qualifying. ... Jin Young Ko, the No. 1 player in the world, stayed in South Korea during the pandemic and returned only two tournaments ago. ... Karrie Webb in 2000 and 2001 is the last player to win back to back in the U.S. Women's Open ... This is the 75th edition of the Women's Open. The first one in 1946, won by Patty Berg, was match play. ... Meg Mallon won the only other Women's Open in Texas, at Colonial in 1991. ... With the LPGA Tour season concluding next week, that means consecutive weeks of prize money at $5 million or more.

Next Year: June 3-6 at Olympic Club in San Francisco.

Online: www.usga.org


EUROPEAN TOUR

DP WORLD TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

Site: Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Course: Jumeirah Golf Estates. Yardage: 7,676. Par: 72.

Prize Money: $8 million. Winner's Share: $3 million.

Television: Thursday-Saturday, 2-8 a.m. (Golf Channel); Sunday, 1:30-7:30 a.m. (Golf Channel).

Defending Champion: Jon Rahm.

Race to Dubai Leader: Patrick Reed.

Last Week: Antoine Rozner won the Golf in Dubai Championship and Christiaan Bezuidenhuit won the South African Open.

Notes: The top five players in the Race to Dubai going into the final event are Patrick Reed, Tommy Fleetwood, Collin Morikawa, Lee Westwood and Christiaan Bezuidenhuit. ... No American has won the European points list. ... Fleetwood is the only one of those without a victory this year. ... Viktor Hovland is coming off his second PGA Tour victory. The Norwegian is listed on the entry form as being among the top 75 in the world not already eligible. ... Erik van Ryoyne is at No. 53 in the world and needs a good week to crack the top 50 by the end of the year and secure a spot in the Masters. Also on the bubble is Robert MacIntyre at No. 59 in the world. ... Bezuidenhuit moved up to No. 5 in the Race to Dubai with consecutive victories in South Africa. ... This will be Reed's third regular European Tour start. Morikawa is making his first start and still has not played in Europe. ... European-born players have won the Harry Vardon Trophy for leading the European Tour every year since Ernie Els won in 2004.

Next Week: End of season.

Online: www.europeantour.com/european-tour


PGA TOUR

QBE SHOOTOUT

Site: Naples, Florida.

Course: Tiburon GC. Yardage: 7,382. Par: 72.

Prize Money: $3.6 million. Winning Team's Share: $900,000.

Television: Friday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday, 1-5 p.m. (Golf Channel); Sunday, noon to 2 p.m. (NBC), 2-4 p.m. (Golf Channel).

Defending Champions: Rory Sabbatini and Kevin Tway.

FedEx Cup Leader: Dustin Johnson.

Last Week: Viktor Hovland won the Mayakoba Golf Classic.

Notes: The unofficial team event dates to 1989 and is the creation of Greg Norman. ... Among the 12 two-man teams is Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker playing with Daniel Berger, who has risen to the top 15 in the world this year and is No. 12 in the U.S. standings. ... Bubba Watson is playing with Louis Oosthuizen, whom he beat in a sudden-death playoff at the 2012 Masters. ... Lanto Griffin is playing with Mackenzie Hughes in an all-rookie team at the Shootout. ... The format is a scramble in the first round, a modified alternate shot in the second round and better ball on Sunday. ... Four players have won majors and were part of the winning Shootout team — Keegan Bradley, Steve Elkington, Tom Kite and Curtis Strange. None of the major champions is in this year's field. ... Cameron Champ is playing with fellow big hitter Tony Finau, while Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith feature an all-Aussie team.

Next Tournament: Sentry Tournament of Champions on Jan. 7-10.

Online: www.pgatour.com


LPGA TOUR

Last Week: Angela Stanford won the Volunteers of America Classic.

Next Week: CME Group Tour Championship.

Race to CME Globe Leader: Danielle Kang

Online: www.lpga.com