Professional golf returns to full swing this week, with live coverage of five tournaments scheduled to air on GOLF Channel Thursday-Sunday. The PGA TOUR is in Memphis for the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, as Brooks Koepka defends his title amongst an elite field that includes 27 of the top-30 ranked players in the world. Live tournament coverage airs Thursday-Sunday on GOLF Channel, utilizing a unified CBS Sports and GOLF Channel linear broadcast production. The PGA TOUR also is in Northern California for the Barracuda Championship, with live coverage airing in primetime on GOLF Channel Thursday-Sunday. The LPGA is set to make its return after a more than five-month hiatus, with the Tour in Ohio this week for the LPGA Drive On Championship. Live coverage will air Friday-Sunday on GOLF Channel. The PGA TOUR Champions also will resume competition this week – for the first time since March – at the Ally Challenge in Michigan. Jim Furyk, Mike Weir and K.J. Choi are each making their debut this week on the PGA TOUR Champions. The European Tour continues its stretch of events being staged in the United Kingdom, with live coverage of the Hero Open airing Thursday-Sunday on GOLF Channel.
PGA TOUR
WGC-FedEx St. Just Invitational
Dates: July 30-Aug. 2
Venue: TPC Southwind, Memphis, Tenn.
Tournament Airtimes on GOLF Channel (Eastern):
Thursday 2-7 p.m. (Live) / 10 p.m.-3 a.m. (Replay)
Friday 2-7 p.m. (Live) / 10 p.m.-3 a.m. (Replay)
Saturday Noon-2 p.m. (Live) / 11 p.m.-3 a.m. (Replay)
Sunday 1-3 p.m. (Live) / 11 p.m.-3 a.m. (Replay)
Golf Central Airtimes on GOLF Channel (Eastern):
Thursday 1-2 p.m. / 9:30-10 p.m. (Live)
Friday 1:30-2 p.m. / 9:30-10 p.m. (Live)
Saturday 10-11 p.m. (Live)
Sunday 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. / 10-11 p.m. (Live)
PGA TOUR LIVE on NBC Sports Gold (Eastern):
Thursday 11:45 a.m.-2 p.m. (Featured Groups)
- Bryson DeChambeau/Rickie Fowler/Jon Rahm (12:40 p.m. ET)
- Rory McIlroy/Webb Simpson/Jordan Spieth (12:50 p.m. ET)
Friday 11:45 a.m.-2 p.m. (Featured Groups)
- Hideki Matsuyama/Collin Morikawa/Justin Thomas (12:30 p.m. ET)
- Viktor Hovland/Brooks Koepka/Patrick Reed/ (12:40 p.m. ET)
Broadcast Notes:
“FedEx Charity Challenge” airing today at 3 p.m. ET: Three past FedExCup champions – Billy Horschel, Brandt Snedeker and Henrik Stenson – convene this afternoon (along with Viktor Hovland) to take part in the “FedEx Charity Challenge,” featuring a $100,000 charitable donation to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Snedeker and Horschel will team up in a four-ball competition against Stenson and Hovland in a nine-hole match-play competition on TPC Southwind’s back nine. The competition is being staged as a PGA TOUR LIVE production, and is being simulcast live on GOLF Channel beginning at 3 p.m. ET this afternoon.
Koepka defends: Brooks Koepka finished three shots ahead of Webb Simpson to earn his seventh PGA TOUR win.
Headlining the field: Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Webb Simpson, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa.
GOLF Channel Broadcast Team:
Play by Play: Terry Gannon
Analysts: Nick Faldo / Arron Oberholser / Mark Immelman
On-Course: Trevor Immelman / Davis Love III
Reporter: Chantel McCabe
LPGA TOUR
LPGA Drive On Championship
Dates: July 31-Aug. 2
Venue: Inverness Club, Toledo, Ohio
Tournament Airtimes on GOLF Channel (Eastern):
Friday 9-11:30 a.m. (Live) / 11:30 a.m.-Noon (Streaming on GOLF Channel Digital)
Saturday 4:30-7 p.m. (Live) / 4-4:30 p.m. (Streaming on GOLF Channel Digital)
Sunday 5-7 p.m. (Live) / 4-5 p.m. (Streaming on GOLF Channel Digital)
Broadcast Notes:
LPGA returns for first time in more than five months: The inaugural LPGA Drive On Championship this week marks the Tour’s return to competition for the first time in more than five months due to COVID-19. The tournament is being staged at Inverness Club, which is scheduled to host next year’s Solheim Cup. This week also marks the first of two consecutive LPGA tournaments to be contested in the Toledo, Ohio area in as many weeks, with the Marathon Classic getting underway next Thursday.
Featured group to be mic’d up during second round coverage on Saturday: GOLF Channel is scheduled to “mic up” a featured group during live second round coverage on Saturday. The group will be announced later this week, with each of the three players wearing a microphone to provide an inside-the-ropes perspective for fans tuning in during the course of the telecast.
Valenzuela to be spotlighted in “rookie feature”: During Saturday’s live tournament coverage, Albane Valenzuela will be spotlighted as part of a “rookie feature,” focusing on her inaugural season on the LPGA Tour.
Headlining the field: Nelly Korda, Danielle Kang, Minjee Lee, Lexi Thompson, Carlota Ciganda, Jessica Korda, Lizette Salas, Jennifer Kupcho, Haley Moore and Cristie Kerr.
GOLF Channel Broadcast Team:
Play by Play: Grant Boone
Analyst: Karen Stupples
Tower: Tom Abbott
On-Course: Jerry Foltz / Kay Cockerill
PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS
The Ally Challenge
Dates: July 31-Aug. 2
Venue: Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club, Grand Blanc, Mich.
Tournament Airtimes on GOLF Channel (Eastern):
Friday 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. (Live) / 5:30-7:30 a.m. (Saturday replay)
Saturday 2-4:30 p.m. (Live) / 5-7 a.m. (Sunday replay)
Sunday 3-5 p.m. (Live) / 5-7 a.m. (Monday replay)
Broadcast Notes:
PGA TOUR Champions staging first event since March: Like the LPGA, the PGA TOUR Champions also is set to resume competition this week (for the first time since March).
Haas, Jacobsen, O’Meara to be “mic’d up” during Friday’s opening round: Jay Haas, Peter Jacobsen and Mark O’Meara are grouped together for Friday’s opening round, and each will be mic’d up during the course of GOLF Channel’s live tournament telecast.
Furyk, Weir and Choi to make PGA TOUR Champions debut: Jim Furyk, Mike Weir and K.J. Choi are each making their debut this week on the PGA TOUR Champions.
Headlining the field: Jim Furyk, Bernhard Langer, Scott McCarron, Ernie Els, Scott Parel, Vijay Singh, Mike Weir, Retief Goosen, Jerry Kelly, Tom Lehman, Colin Montgomerie and K.J. Choi.
GOLF Channel Broadcast Team:
Play by Play: Bob Papa
Analyst: Lanny Wadkins
Tower: John Cook
On-Course: Billy Ray Brown
PGA TOUR
Barracuda Championship
Dates: July 30-Aug. 2
Venue: Tahoe Mountain Club (Old Greenwood Course), Truckee, Calif.
Tournament Airtimes on GOLF Channel (Eastern):
Thursday 7-9:30 p.m. (Live) / 3-5:30 a.m. (Friday replay)
Friday 7-9:30 p.m. (Live) / 3-5:30 a.m. (Saturday replay)
Saturday 7-10 p.m. (Live) / 3-5 a.m. (Sunday replay)
Sunday 7-10 p.m. (Live) / 3-5 a.m. (Monday replay)
Broadcast Notes:
New venue: The tournament is being staged at a new venue for the first time in more than two decades, after previously being contested at Montreux Golf & Country Club in Reno.
Format: The tournament follows a modified stableford format, with eight points for an albatross, five for an eagle, two for a birdie and zero for a par. Players lose one point for a bogey, and lose three points for a double bogey or worse.
Two exemptions available into U.S. Open: The top-two finishers (inside the top-10) not already exempt will earn a spot into the field at the U.S. Open in September at Winged Foot Golf Club.
Headlining the field: Alex Noren, Martin Kaymer, Ryan Moore, Bill Haas, Si Woo Kim, Nick Watney, Will Gordon, Talor Gooch, Sahith Theegala, Maverick McNealy and Matthias Schwab.
GOLF Channel Broadcast Team:
Play by Play: Whit Watson
Analyst: Curt Byrum
Tower: Craig Perks
On-Course: Phil Blackmar / Gary Christian
EUROPEAN TOUR
Hero Open
Dates: July 30-Aug. 2
Venue: Forest of Arden Marriott Hotel & Country Club, Birmingham, England
Tournament Airtimes on GOLF Channel (Eastern):
Thursday 7-9 a.m. / 10 a.m.-1 p.m. (Live)
Friday 7-9 a.m. (Live)
Saturday 7:30 a.m.-Noon (Live)
Sunday 7-11:30 a.m. (Live)
Broadcast Notes:
Headlining the field: Miguel Angel Jimenez, Eddie Pepperell, Joost Luiten, Alexander Levy, Michael Campbell, Thorbjorn Olesen, Ryan Fox and Andy Sullivan.
GOLF Channel Broadcast Team:
Play by Play: Dominik Holyer
Analyst: Richard Boxall
On-Course: Wayne Riley / Anthony Wall / Iona Stephen
Reporter: Tim Barter
