NEWS

This week's pro golf events | September 14-20, 2015

By The Associated Press
Published on
This week's pro golf events | September 14-20, 2015

 
PGA TOUR
BMW CHAMPIONSHIP
 
Site: Lake Forest, Illinois.
Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.
Course: Conway Farms Golf Club (7,198 yards, par 71).
Purse: $8.25 million. Winner's share: $1,485,000.
 
Last year: Billy Horschel won at Cherry Hills in Colorado, beating Bubba Watson by two strokes. Horschel also won the Tour Championship to take the FedExCup title.
 
Last event: Rickie Fowler won the Deutsche Bank Championship on Sept. 7 at TPC Boston, rallying to beat Henrik Stenson by a stroke.
 
Notes: The top 70 in the FedExCup standings qualified for the third of the four playoff events. The field will be cut to 30 for the Tour Championship next week at East Lake in Atlanta. ... Jason Day won the series opener at Plainfield Country Club in New Jersey. He leads the FedExCup standings, followed by Jordan Spieth, Fowler, Stenson and Watson. ... In 2013 at Conway Farms, Jim Furyk became the sixth player in PGA Tour history to shoot 59. Zach Johnson won the tournament. ... The 2016 event will be played at Crooked Stick in Indiana.
 
 
LPGA TOUR/LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR
SOLHEIM CUP
 
Site: St. Leon-Rot, Germany.
Schedule: Friday-Sunday.
Course: St. Leon-Rot Golf Club (6,535 yards, par 72).
 
Format: Team match play. Friday and Saturday, four morning foursome (alternate-shot) and four afternoon fourball (best-ball) matches; Sunday, 12 singles matches.
 
Last matches: Europe won on American soil for the first time, beating the U.S. 18-10 in 2013 at Colorado Golf Club. Caroline Hedwall became the first player to win five matches, the last a 1-up victory over Wie.
 
United States (c-captain's pick): c-Paula Creamer, Cristie Kerr, c-Brittany Lang, Alison Lee, Stacy Lewis, Brittany Lincicome, Gerina Piller, Morgan Pressel, Lizette Salas, Angela Stanford, Lexi Thompson, Michelle Wie. Captain, Juli Inkster.
 
Europe: Carlota Ciganda, Spain; Sandra Gal, Germany; c-Caroline Hedwall, Sweden; Charley Hull, England; c-Karine Icher, France; c-Caroline Masson, Germany; c-Catriona Matthew, Scotland; Azahara Munoz, Spain; Gwladys Nocera, France; Anna Nordqvist, Sweden; Suzann Pettersen, Norway; Melissa Reid, England. Captain: Carin Koch, Sweden.
 
Notes: The U.S. leads the series 8-5. ... Wie tied for 16th last week in France in the Evian Championship, her best finish since returning from a left ankle injury. She is 6-5-1 in three previous appearances in the biennial event. ... Lincicome, Kerr, Thompson, Pettersen and Nordqvist have LPGA Tour victories this season. ... The event is named in honor of Karsten Solheim, the Ping golf equipment founder who created this event. He died in 2000. ... Europe won 15-13 in 2011 at Killeen Castle in Ireland. ... The 2017 matches will be played at Des Moines Golf and Country Club in Iowa.
 
WEB.COM TOUR
SMALL BUSINESS CONNECTION CHAMPIONSHIP
 
Site: Davidson, North Carolina.
Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.
Course: River Run Country Club (7,317 yards, par 72).
Purse: $1 million. Winner's share: $180,000.
 
Last year: Canada's Adam Hadwin closed with a 4-under 68 for a two-stroke victory.
 
Last week: Sweden's Henrik Norlander won the Hotel Fitness Championship in Fort Wayne, Indiana, to wrap up a PGA Tour card. He closed with a course-record 62 for a three-shot victory.
 
Notes: The tournament is the second of four events in the series for the top 75 players from the Web.com Tour money list, Nos. 126-200 in the PGA Tour's FedExCup standings and non-members of the tour who earned enough money to have placed in the top 200 had they been eligible to receive points. The top 25 players on Web.com regular-season money list earned 2015-16 PGA Tour cards. They are competing against each other for PGA Tour priority, with regular-season earnings counting in their totals. The other players are fighting for another 25 cards based on earnings in the series. ... The Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship is next week in Columbus, Ohio, followed by the Web.com Tour Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
 
EUROPEAN TOUR
ITALIAN OPEN
 
Site: Monza, Italy.
Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.
Course: Golf Club Milano (7,158 yards, par 72).
Purse: $1.7 million. Winner's share: $282,910.
 
Last year: South Africa's Hennie Otto won at Circolo Golf Torino, beating England's David Howell by two strokes. Otto also won in 2008 at Castello di Tolcinasco.
 
Last week: Belgium's Thomas Pieters won the KLM Open in the Netherlands for his second victory in his last two European Tour starts. He won the Czech Masters on Aug. 30.
 
Notes: Francesco Molinari was the last Italian winner in 2006 at Castello di Tolcinasco. ... Major champions Padraig Harrington, Martin Kaymer, Darren Clarke, Stewart Cink and Y.E. Yang are in the field. ... The European Open is next week in Germany, followed by the Alfred Dunhill Links in Scotland.
 
CHAMPIONS TOUR
Next event: First Tee Open, Sept. 25-28, Pebble Beach Golf Links, Pebble Beach, California.
 
Last event: Jeff Maggert won the Dick's Sporting Goods Open on Aug. 30 in Endicott, New York, for his fourth victory of the year.
 
OTHER TOURNAMENTS
MEN
 
JAPAN GOLF TOUR: ANA Open, Thursday-Sunday, Sapporo Golf Club, Hokkaido, Japan.
 
MACKENZIE TOUR-PGA TOUR CANADA: Freedom 55 Financial Championship, Thursday-Sunday, Highland Country Club, London, Ontario.
 
PGA TOUR LATINOAMERICA: Colombian Classic, Thursday-Sunday, Club Campestre El Rancho, Bogota, Colombia.
 
SUNSHINE TOUR: Sun Windmill Challenge, Wednesday-Friday, Bloemfontein Golf Club, Bloemfontein, South Africa.
 
WOMEN
SYMETRA TOUR: Garden City Charity Classic, Friday-Sunday, Buffalo Dunes Golf Club, Garden City, Kansas.
 
JAPAN LPGA TOUR: Munsingwear Ladies Tokai Classic, Friday-Sunday, Aichi Country Club, Aichi, Japan.
 
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