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Pro golf week ahead: It’s a crowded schedule with PGA Tour, LIV Golf, LPGA playing in Europe

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Pro golf week ahead: It’s a crowded schedule with PGA Tour, LIV Golf, LPGA playing in Europe

PGA Tour players two sanctioned events, LPGA has its fourth major in France and Jaguars coach Doug Pederson and quarterback Trevor Lawrence play in American Century Championship

This week, in terms of volume, is the busiest on the 2024 calendar for professional golf.

After the John Deere Classic had Fourth of July week all to itself, it’s crowded from Thursday to Sunday with every major professional tour in action — and in the case of the PGA Tour, there are two sanctioned tournaments.

The LPGA and PGA Tour Champions are conducting major championships, the Scottish Open will be a worthy lead-in to the season’s final professional men’s major and for good measure, a field chock-full of past and present NFL quarterbacks, NBA players, Major League players and actors and singers of all sorts playing in Lake Tahoe, Nev.

In the latter tournament, the Jacksonville Jaguars coach and his starting quarterback will be going head-to-head. If the quarterback seems to be running extra laps when training camp opens on July 23, it might be the result of a side bet.

And if you’re the channel-surfing type, have some ice ready for a possible sore thumb: Five tournaments combine for 85 hours of airtime.

PGA Tour: Rory McIlroy defends in Open prelude 

Event: Genesis Scottish Open, Thursday-Sunday, The Renaissance Club, North Berwick, Scotland. 

What’s the purse? $9 million ($1,620,000 and 500 FedEx Cup points to the winner.  

Who won last year? Rory McIlroy shot 64-66 to open the tournament and prevailed by one shot over Robert MacIntyre. 

How to watch on TV: Golf Channel (Thursday-Friday, 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-12 p.m.); CBS (Saturday-Sunday, 12-3 p.m.). 

Area players entered: Harris English, Ben Griffin, Brian Harman, Billy Horschel, Ben Kohles, Keith Mitchell, Davis Thompson. 

Notable: The tournament has become the warmup act for the Open Championship, which is next week at Royal Troon. … In addition to McIlroy, the field is led by Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler and Ludvig Aberg. … World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is skipping the tournament. He tied for third last year, five shots behind McIlroy. … Thompson won his first PGA Tour title last week at the John Deere Classic. He’s the 11th former Georgia Bulldog coached by Chris Haack to win on Tour.

Event: ISCO Championship, Thursday-Sunday, Keene Trace Golf Club, Nicholsville, Ky. 

What’s the purse? $4 million ($720,000 and 300 FedEx Cup points to the winner). 

Who won last year? Vincent Norrman parred the first hole of sudden death to beat Nathan Kimsey. 

How to watch on TV: Golf Channel (Thursday-Friday, 4:30-7:30 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 4-7 p.m.). 

Area players entered: Tyson Alexander, Jonathan Byrd, Adrien Dumont de Chassart, Lanto Griffin, Patton Kizzire, Russell Knox, Raul Pereda, Sam Ryder, Greyson Sigg, Carl Yuan. 

Notable: Two past FedEx Cup champions, Bill Haas and Brandt Snedeker, lead the field. Also playing are Kevin Kisner and Daniel Berger, and amateurs Luke Clanton and Neal Shipley. … Clanton’s tie for second last week in the John Deere Classic marked the first time since 1958 that an amateur posted back-to-back top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour. 

LIV Golf League: Talor Gooch defends third 2023 win 

Event: LIV Golf Andalucia, Friday-Sunday, Real Club Valderrama, Spain. 

What’s the purse? $25 million ($4 million to the winner). 

Who won last year? Talor Gooch beat Bryson DeChambeau by one shot for his third victory of the season. 

How to watch on TV: CW (Saturday-Sunday, 1-6 p.m. 

Area players entered: Cameron Smith. 

Notable: Joaquin Niemann leads the individual standings with 152.2 points, with Jon Rahm a distant second with 116.17. Rahm has yet to win a LIV Golf event but he has five top-five finishes in eight starts. … The Crushers Golf Club leads with 137.5 points over Legion XIII (128). 

LPGA Tour: France hosts the fourth major of the season 

Event: Amundi Evian Championship, Thursday-Sunday, Evian Resort Golf Club, Evian-Les-Bains, France. 

What’s the purse? $8 million ($1.2 million to the winner).  

Who won last year? Celine Boutier became the first native of France to win in her native country by beating Brooke M. Henderson by four shots. 

How to watch on TV: Peacock (Thursday-Friday, 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m.); Golf Channel (Thursday-Friday, 6-10:30 a.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 4:30-10 a.m.). 

Area players entered: Auston Kim. 

Notable: The top three players on the women’s world rankings, Nelly Korda, Lilia Vu and Jin Young Ko, lead the field. 

PGA Tour Champions: A spot in The Players at stake 

Event: Kaulig Companies Championship, Thursday-Sunday, Firestone Golf and Country Club, Akron, Ohio. 

What’s the purse? $3.5 million ($525,000 to the winner).  

Who won last year? Steve Stricker beat David Toms by three shots. 

How to watch on TV: Golf Channel (Thursday-Friday, 2-4:30 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 12-4 p.m.). 

Area players entered: David Duval, Jim Furyk, Vijay Singh. 

Notable: The winner gets a spot in the 2025 Players Championship. 

Korn Ferry Tour: Heading for the Rockies

Event: The Ascendant, Thursday-Sunday, TPC Colorado, Berthoud, Colo. 

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

Who won last year? Nicholas Lindheim shot 66 in the final round to beat Max Greyserman by two shots. 

How to watch on TV: The event is not televised. 

Area players entered: Dawson Armstrong, Chris Baker, Fred Biondi, Chandler Blanchett, Dillon Board, Nick Gabrelcik, Joey Garber, Tano Goya, Evan Harmeling, Peter Knade, Rick Lamb, Doc Redman, Julian Suri, Danny Walker, Thomas Walsh, Jared Wolfe. 

Notable: The Korn Ferry Tour is coming off its final break before the Finals, with seven events in a row. 

American Century: Doug Pederson, Trevor Lawrence tee it up in Tahoe 

Event: American Century Championship, Friday-Sunday, Edgewood Tahoe Resort, South Course, Stateline, Nev. 

What’s the purse? $750,000 ($150,000 to the winner). 

Who won last year? Steph Curry scored 75 points under the Modified Stableford Points format. 

How to watch on TV: Peacock (Friday, 3-5 p.m.); Golf Channel (Friday, 8:30-10:30 p.m.; NBC (Saturday-Sunday, 2:30-6 p.m.). 

Area players entered: Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence and coach Doug Pederson. 

Notable: Curry isn’t in the field this year but among the players are NFL quarterbacks Josh Allen, Joe Flacco and Baker Mayfield, Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce, and his brother, retired Philadelphia center Jason Kelce. … Pederson tied for 24th last year in his sixth start in the tournament. 

What are the (golf) odds? 

  • Scottish Open: McIlroy is the clear favorite at +700 by Hard Rock Bet, followed by Schauffele (+800), Morikawa (+1300) and Aberg (+1500). 
  • Evian Masters: Nelly Korda is +1100 by Hard Rock Bet, followed by Atthaya Thitikul (+1200), Vu (+1400) and Ally Ewing and Ko (+2000). 
  • ISOC Championship: Here’s an oddity – an amateur is the favorite in a PGA Tour event. Hard Rock has established Clanton the betting favorite at +1200, followed by Michael Thorbjornsen (+1750) and Mac Meissner (+3000). 
  • Kaulig Companies Championship: Hard Rock likes Stricker to defend his title (+300). Steven Alker (+700) and Ernie Els (+750) are next. 
  • American Century Championship: Hard Rock didn’t list odds for the celebrity tournament but according to Caesars Sportsbook, former tennis player Mardy Fish is a 5-2 favorite, followed by Tony Romo at 15-4 and NBA player Austin Reeves at 5-1. Pederson is 125-1 and Lawrence is 350-1. 
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