Buildup to The Players
As the PGA Tour stops in Harbour Town this week, the players are afforded an opportunity to decompress coming off of the pressure cooker that is The Masters. The field at the RBC Heritage is usually very strong coming off of a major. And the good news for golf fans is that the tournaments leading up to The Players provide a lot of star power.
After the Heritage, the Tour will head to New Orleans for the Zurich Classic. The field usually includes players such as Bubba Watson, Justin Rose, Rickie Fowler, and Jason Day. The field won't be set until 5:00 today but look for some of the bigger names to make their way to the Big Easy.
The WGC Match-Play event is different in every way possible: new location, new date, new sponsor, and a new format. Cadillac will be pulling double-duty as sponsor of two WGC events. The match-play heads to Hardy Park in San Francisco.
There are two exciting changes in store for this year's event. First, there will be a new format to eliminate losing the best players in the world early on. A detailed explanation on the new format can be found here. There will be no eliminations until the weekend, so you get three full days of watching your favorite player before they are sent home.
The other great tweak to the event will be the prime time coverage on Golf Channel and NBC. The Saturday matches will follow the Kentucky Derby. NBC has embraced golf in prime time in the past (US Opens at Torrey Pines and Pebble Beach), so fire up the BBQ and a cooler of cold ones for a night of match play golf.
The Wells Fargo Championship will once again provide the lead-in to The Players. This is yet another touranment which has traditionally attracted a solid field including Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, and Phil Mickeslon. Not sure how the new placement of the Match Play will impact whether or not players decide to play three weeks in a row or not, but Quail Hollow and it's finishing holes always provides fantastic golf.
Even though The Masters has come and gone yet again, the golf season is really just getting started.
After the Heritage, the Tour will head to New Orleans for the Zurich Classic. The field usually includes players such as Bubba Watson, Justin Rose, Rickie Fowler, and Jason Day. The field won't be set until 5:00 today but look for some of the bigger names to make their way to the Big Easy.
The WGC Match-Play event is different in every way possible: new location, new date, new sponsor, and a new format. Cadillac will be pulling double-duty as sponsor of two WGC events. The match-play heads to Hardy Park in San Francisco.
There are two exciting changes in store for this year's event. First, there will be a new format to eliminate losing the best players in the world early on. A detailed explanation on the new format can be found here. There will be no eliminations until the weekend, so you get three full days of watching your favorite player before they are sent home.
The other great tweak to the event will be the prime time coverage on Golf Channel and NBC. The Saturday matches will follow the Kentucky Derby. NBC has embraced golf in prime time in the past (US Opens at Torrey Pines and Pebble Beach), so fire up the BBQ and a cooler of cold ones for a night of match play golf.
The Wells Fargo Championship will once again provide the lead-in to The Players. This is yet another touranment which has traditionally attracted a solid field including Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, and Phil Mickeslon. Not sure how the new placement of the Match Play will impact whether or not players decide to play three weeks in a row or not, but Quail Hollow and it's finishing holes always provides fantastic golf.
Even though The Masters has come and gone yet again, the golf season is really just getting started.
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