World No. 6 Justin Thomas has confirmed that he will defend his title at the 2021 PNC Championship at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club Orlando, Grande Lakes, Dec. 16-19.

Thomas once again will play with his father, Mike Thomas, after the pair won on their PNC Championship debut last year, birding 15 of their 18 holes to card a final-round 57 and end the week on 25-under par. Vijay Singh and son Qass claimed the second spot, while Mark O’Meara and his son Shaun shared third place alongside Lee Trevino and his son Daniel, all of whom are competing again in this year’s championship.

Winner of the 2017 PGA Championship and this year’s THE PLAYERS Championship, Thomas commented: “We are excited to return to the PNC Championship this year to defend our title. It was the perfect way to end the season last year and a great time for the whole family. We’re all looking forward to getting back out there again. It is really special to be able to be out there competing with Pops amongst this amazing field of major champions and their families. We’ve both been training, we’re ready, and can’t wait for the week to start!”

One player announcement remains to complete the field of golfing legends past and present. The 19 players confirmed for the 2021 line-up along with Thomas are: six-time Major winner Nick Faldo; three-time major winner and European Ryder Cup Captain Padraig Harrington; two-time major winner Mark O’Meara; three-time Major Champion Nick Price; double U.S. Open Champion Retief Goosen; 2003 U.S. Open Champion Jim Furyk; 1996 Open Champion Tom Lehman; World No.1 Nelly Korda; 2016 Open Champion Henrik Stenson; nine-time Major winner and all-round golf legend Gary Player; eight-time Major winner Tom Watson; Lee Trevino, who has played in every edition since the Championship began in 1995; former World No. 1 David Duval; two-time Major winner John Daly; three-time major winner Vijay Singh; 2013 PNC Championship winner Stewart Cink; two-time Masters Champion Bubba Watson; and Matt Kuchar, qualifying via his victory at the 2012 PLAYERS Championship.

The tournament, which will be broadcast live on NBC, attracts major champions whose victories this year span 1959 to 2021. Last year, the PNC Championship included a field that had won a remarkable 67 Major titles. With only 20 teams competing, players past and present have shown unprecedented interest in campaigning for a spot in the star-studded line-up.

The PNC Championship has continued to evolve and develop since the inaugural tournament in 1995, when ten major winners gathered with their sons. The tournament now features 20 major champions and their relatives competing for the total purse of $1,085,000 in a two-day, 36-hole scramble for the Willie Park Trophy.

The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. has been the title sponsor of the tournament since 2012. The event formerly known as the PNC Father/Son Challenge, was renamed the PNC Championship in 2020 to reflect the high level of competition and field composition, while still celebrating an inclusive family event that showcases the special bonds that the love of golf creates.

To qualify for the PNC Championship, players must have won a major championship or The Players Championship. Their partner must not hold a PGA TOUR card.

The PNC Championship is operated in partnership by IMG and NBC Sports.

Tiger Woods is in attendance along with 17 top 25 golfers in the world for the last event of 2021

One week has elapsed since the PGA Tour’s official calendar year ended, and there’s already another event. It happens to be a good one as the 2021 Hero World Challenge takes place in the Bahamas with Tiger Woods as host and many of the best golfers in the world — including Rory McIlroy, Bryson DeChambeau, Jordan Spieth, and Collin Morikawa — in attendance.

This is the last event of 2021 for pretty much everyone in this field and our last chance to see the best in the world until Kapalua and the Tournament of Champions in a month. Morikawa in particular has an opportunity to close the year strong as the world’s top golfer, while there’s a solid purse on the line for a limited field. Let’s take a closer look at this week’s contest with odds provided via Caesars Sportsbook.

Event information:

Event: Hero World Challenge | Dates: Dec. 2-5
Location: Albany Golf Course — Albany, New Providence, Bahamas
Par: 72 | Purse: $3.5 million

Three things to know

1. No. 1 watch: Morikawa has a chance to end what has been a dream two years by becoming the No. 1-ranked golfer on the planet this weekend. He has to win to dethrone Jon Rahm and become the 25th golfer to reach world No. 1, but that’s basically all he’s done since he turned pro. He’s done it three times so far this year, including an Open Championship victory (his second major win) and the DP World Tour Championship in his last start on the European Tour two weeks ago. Of the golfers in this field, only Viktor Hovland has been a better ball-striker over the last 12 months. Morikawa has a wider performance variance than almost everyone in this field, which can lead to some poor performances, but it’s also the very thing that allows him to win so often against the rest of the best in the world.

1. Bryson’s year ends: I was recently going back through everything significant that happened in 2021, and it’s amazing to see how much of it DeChambeau has been involved in despite only winning one time at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March. Other than the World Long Drive Championship and that nine-hole match against Brooks Koepka the day after Thanksgiving, we haven’t seen him in an official capacity since the Ryder Cup. However, we have a ton of evidence from the last few years that when he shows up stuff just … happens. I’m not sure he’s owned this year like he maybe thought he would, but it would be pretty fascinating to see the hype machine start whirring a bit for 2022 if he went out and won this thing by five strokes.
2. Tiger week: In a lot of ways, this week is as much about Woods’ first public appearance since his car wreck back in February as it is the golf itself. That will certainly garner more intrigue and interest early in the week than whoever is in the mix come Sunday afternoon. This has, unfortunately, become a bit of a tradition. This is not the first time we’ve seen Woods address the media in Albany in the middle of a recovery from some type of completely debilitating injury. This time, though, more time has elapsed since the last time we heard him officially speak in the public arena — on the CBS broadcast with Jim Nantz during the final round of the Genesis Invitational — than any other time before it. His comments from a Tuesday press conference will be the focus for most of the rest of the week.

Grading the field

Other than Sam Burns, everyone in this field has been on either a Ryder Cup team or a Presidents Cup team, and 14 of the 20 played at Whistling Straits just two months ago. Only Henrik Stenson is ranked outside the top 50 in the world, and only Patrick Reed, Justin Rose, and Stenson are even outside the top 25. Six of the top 10 in the world and 19 major championships combined by the 20 golfers in the field. That’s pretty impressive. Grade: A

2021 Hero World Challenge picks

Justin Thomas
Winner (11-1): It would be a fitting end to 2021 if Thomas, who Tiger recently described as the little brother he never had, was the one embracing Woods on Sunday afternoon at the end of the last meaningful tournament of the year. His game has been good over the last few months, and for him, it will come down to whether he can find what has, to this point in the year, been an incredibly elusive putter. In the last tournament he played that we have data on (the CJ Cup at Summit), he hit it well enough to beat everyone on the planet but put it like he was using the wrong hand. If he can figure that out, he’ll contend to win.
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Viktor Hovland
Top 10 (-187): Over the last three months, only DeChambeau has been a more prolific ball-striker. In a blind statistical test, Hovland looks like a top-five player in the world, but he comes with odds that are more like those of a top 20 player. I wanted to pick him to win, but I worry a little bit about his short game on a course like this with small greens and a lot of potential positions that make getting up and down extraordinarily difficult.
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Daniel Berger
Sleeper (18-1): Berger has been low-key tremendous all year, especially from tee to green. Over the last 12 months, only Morikawa and Thomas have been better from tee to green. And in a field with no true sleepers, his 18-1 number — in a year in which he finished in the top 10 in nine of the 19 tournaments he played — feels more like 50-1.

In an exclusive interview with Golf Digest, Tiger Woods spoke publicly about his golfing future for the first time since his car crash earlier this year.

“I think something that is realistic is playing the tour one day, never full time, ever again, but pick and choose, just like Mr. (Ben) Hogan did,” Woods told interviewer Henni Koyack.

“Pick and choose a few events a year and you play around that. You practice around that, and you gear yourself up for that. And you play. I think that’s how I’m going to have to play it from now on.
“It’s an unfortunate reality, but it’s my reality. And I understand it, and I accept it.”
Woods began the remote interview from his South Florida home by walking into the room with what he called a slight “hitch” in his stride, evidence of the serious leg injuries suffered in a car crash near Los Angeles in February.
Woods says during his grueling rehabilitation, things as simple as watching his son play or listening to birds sing have taken on greater meaning.

“I have so far to go. … I’m not even at the halfway point. I have so much more muscle development and nerve development that I have to do in my leg. At the same time, as you know, I’ve had five back operations. So I’m having to deal with that. So as the leg gets stronger, sometimes the back may act up. … It’s a tough road.
“I’m just happy to be able to go out there and watch Charlie play, or go in the backyard and have an hour or two by myself with no one talking, no music, no nothing. I just hear the birds chirping. That part I’ve sorely missed.”
Woods will be in attendance at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas this week. The 20-man tournament benefits Woods’ foundation.

Woods is scheduled to hold his first media availability since the crash at 9:00 a.m. ET Tuesday in New Providence, The Bahamas.

Jason Kokrak earns third PGA TOUR title at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Jason Kokrak had reason to believe he shot himself out of the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open on the back nine Saturday morning. He played it 10 shots better when it counted Sunday afternoon, making four straight birdies for a 5-under 65 and a two-shot victory.

Two shots behind with six holes to play, Kokrak delivered all the right shots to pull away from a fading Scottie Scheffler and Martin Trainer and win for the third time in the last 13 months.

“Very blessed to be standing here,” Kokrak said.

Kokrak couldn’t help but think back to Saturday morning, when he returned to complete the second round and went the other direction. He played seven holes in 7-over par for a 41 that left him 10 shots behind after 36 holes.

What a turnaround on Sunday.

Kokrak holed a 12-foot birdie putt on the 13th to get in the mix and then made a 25-foot birdie putt on the 14th hole, the toughest at Memorial Park, to get within one shot. He hit wedge on the 115-yard 15th hole with a front pin to 6 feet to tie for the lead.

He had enough mud on his golf ball from rain earlier in the week that he chose to lay up on the par-5 16th, even though he could have reached with a mid-iron. Kokrak hit wedge to 5 feet for a fourth straight birdie.

By then, he was on his way and finished at 10-under 270.

Scheffler, going after his first PGA TOUR victory, had a two-shot lead when he made the turn. He didn’t hit a green in regulation until the 15th, making three soft bogeys that left him too far behind to make a late run.

Scheffler had a long two-putt birdie on the 16th to get within three shots and nearly drove the green on the par-4 17th, only to hit a pedestrian chip and fail to make birdie. He birdied the final hole for a 69 and tied for second with Kevin Tway (68).

Trainer, who made only his ninth cut in 71 starts since his victory in the 2019 Puerto Rico Open, took the lead on the 11th hole by rolling in a 70-foot birdie across the green, and then he calmly saved par with an 8-foot putt.

But he couldn’t make up ground on the some of the scoring holes, took a bogey on the 14th and then fell back for good with bogeys on his last two holes for a 70.

Matthew Wolff was among six players who had at least a share of the lead in opening hour, courtesy of five players being within one shot of Scheffler to start the final round.

He fell back with bogeys, and then made a hole-in-one with a 9-iron on the par-3 ninth to get back into the mix, but only briefly.

Kokrak went 232 starts on the PGA TOUR before his first victory, and now has three in his last 27 starts dating to THE CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK north of Las Vegas a year ago in October. He also won at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas, in the spring.

He moves to No. 7 in the FedExCup standings and No. 22 in the world ranking.

He shot 41 on the back nine to complete his second round Saturday morning, when it was cold and “I really didn’t have my best stuff.” Kokrak was bogey-free and shot 31 on Sunday afternoon.

“I made some putts,” he said. “That’s what kept me in it.”

Former world No. 1 Lydia Ko shot a final-round 65 at the Aramco Saudi Ladies International, one day after tying the course record, to finish at 23 under for a five-shot victory.

“When I was out there I was just trying to play the best golf I can,” said Ko, who notched her second win this season after a four-year drought. “I knew a lot of the top names were playing well and this is a golf course where there’s a fair amount of birdies, so I just tried to have my share of them, have fun out there and enjoy the experience at Royal Greens.

“It helps going into the final round and you have a four-shot cushion, as we could possibly shoot the same score but I still have those shots from the last three days. I birdied the first hole then holed two really good putts for par on two and three and I think that kind of set my momentum and I just tried to not look back and keep going forward. I’m delighted to have won.”

The event’s runner-up was 18-year-old Thai Atthaya Thitikul, this year’s LET Race to Costa del Sol champion. Her final day 66 placed her five shots ahead of Spain’s Carlota Ciganda and Alice Hewson of England, who held the 36-hole lead. Though Thitikul wishes she came away with the win, she took note of how the 24-year-old New Zealander held on for the victory.

“It was a good fight today,” Thitikul said. “I just did my best out there but Lydia Ko is just the best brilliant. She was really good with her putting, her approach shots, everything she did this week! I will definitely learn from her to get better myself. “It’s an honor and really an amazing feeling for me to win the Race to the Costa del Sol this year, on my rookie year as well. Words cannot describe it.”

Saudi Arabia’s growing influence on world golf is felt again as the Kingdom stages a fortnight of women’s events, a week after announcing Greg Norman as spearhead for plans that could lead to a Super League in the men’s game.

This is a fascinating time for the professional game. Evolution is vying with revolution with disruptive influences and new revenue streams concentrating the minds of tour bosses.

It has been further stirred by increasing Saudi Arabian influence. Golf is one of several sports used in the country’s efforts to rebrand itself amid concern over its record on human rights, a process regarded in many quarters as ‘sport swashing’.

The riches of the country’s Public Investment Fund are persuasive in putting human rights concerns to one side. Just ask Newcastle United football fans who have been celebrating the Saudi takeover at St James Park.

It is an inescapable fact that professional golf has always followed the money. So it is no surprise that the country has already bought its way onto leading schedules and attracts big name players.

Major winners such as Lydia Ko, Anna Nordqvist, Minjee Lee and Georgia Hall compete in this week’s Aramco Saudi Ladies International, an event sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour.

“I know the impact this event had with Saudi girls last year, with more than 1,000 signing up to learn to play,” Ko claimed after accepting her invitation to make her debut there.

“So it sounds like I’ll be playing somewhere that’s really starting to fall in love with golf.”

We have witnessed similar PR spin from stars who played in the men’s equivalent tournament, which was staged by the European Tour over the past three years.

“I’m excited to go play and see a place in the world I’ve never been,” Phil Mickelson told us when he decided to play last year’s edition.

“I understand those who are upset or disappointed. You’ll be OK. I’m excited to experience this for the first time.”

Significantly, the event switches to the Asian Tour when it becomes the organization’s flagship tournament next February. Saudi influence is fueling a feeling that the current structure of the men’s sport, dominated by America’s PGA Tour, may be under threat.

“This is only the beginning,” Norman said after being unveiled as chief executive of Liv Golf Enterprises, which is committing £145m to 10 new Asian Tour events to be staged annually over the next 10 years.

The 66-year-old former world number one was short on detail on how his Saudi financed project might develop, but pointedly stated the new Asian Tour events would involve tournaments in the Middle East and Europe.

It is golfing territory dominated by the European Tour, who can ill afford to give ground but are bolstered by a strategic alliance with the PGA Tour that was struck nearly a year ago.

They partnered after the continental circuit turned down an approach from the Premier Golf League (PGL), another outfit that wants to revolutionize the professional game.

PGL originally had Saudi backing but that is no longer the case, with the country now looking to set up their own version of a lucrative Formula One style season for leading golfers.

Neither PGL or the Saudis have signed a single player to date. All they have are ideas and claims to vast amounts of money.

PGL want to open talks with the PGA Tour because they believe they have a plan that would take the game to a new level while significantly benefiting rank and file members of the American circuit.

But, so far the PGA Tour has ignored the overtures made by the British-based upstarts, preferring to forge ahead in tandem with the European Tour.

The challenge for both established circuits is to judge the true extent of the threat to their primacy in golf outside the majors.

And they have to do this while keeping happy star names as well as less vaunted playing members; different constituencies who do not necessarily share the same priorities. It is far from easy.

Rumours of vast sums available to those at the very top of the game have become the talk of the locker room in recent times. Leading players have never been more aware of their increasing value.

But jumping ship from a collective that has already made them very wealthy is a massive and contentious call. This is an intriguing period as the game tries to determine its future direction.

Australia’s Lucas Herbert picked up his first PGA Tour victory on Sunday at the Bermuda Championship. Here’s everything you need to know from Sunday at Port Royal Golf Club in Southampton, Bermuda:

Leaderboard: Lucas Herbert (-15), Patrick Reed (-14), Danny Lee (-14), Patrick Rodgers (-13), Scott Stallings (-12), Taylor Pendrith (-12)

How it happened: Herbert began the final round, which was moved up because of weather, four shots back of Pendrith, the 54-hole leader. As Stallings and Reed made charges from in front, Herbert and Lee each held the lead for stretches on Sunday as Pendrith didn’t card a single birdie. Eventually Stallings’ blistering run fell short and Reed got in the clubhouse at 14 under, leaving the three players in the final group too battle it out. Lee birdied Nos. 15-17 to give himself a shot, but his double-bogey-bogey stretch right before cost him. The long-hitting Pendrith made a costly double on the par-5 penultimate hole. Herbert’s four closing pars, which followed two birdie bombs at Nos. 12 and 14, was just enough to get the job done in blustery conditions.

What it means: Herbert, already a two-time European Tour winner, earned his PGA Tour card via the Korn Ferry Tour Finals earlier this year. Now, he’s got not only his first Tour win, but he’s also back inside the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking and can count on a Masters invite this April. Herbert is also the first first-timer winner this season on Tour.

Round of the day: Stallings was trying to become the first player since Derek Lamely at the 2010 Puerto Rico Open to win a Tour event after beginning his final round on the 10th hole. Instead, Stallings shot 9-under 62 and settled for a solo-sixth finish.

Shot of the day: After holing a birdie from 20 feet at No. 12, Herbert made one from even longer, about 30 feet, at the 14th hole

Biggest disappointment: Pendrith. The Canadian rookie went birdie-less and turned a three-shot lead after 54 holes into a three-stroke loss.

Winning quote: “I felt like I grinded really well early and I had the right attitude going into the day that it wasn’t going to be easy,” Herbert said. “You just knew it was going to be one of those days where you had to battle really, really hard. Under par was going to be a great score.”

SOUTHAMPTON, Bermuda – With an announcement looming that a proposed global tour will name Greg Norman its commissioner, a concept that had previously been largely speculation has become very real.

Following a meeting between representatives of the Saudi-backed tour and select members of the media on Wednesday in New York City (Golf Channel was not invited to the meeting) the circuit is expected to name Norman commissioner and outline an investment in the Asian Tour, which announced earlier this year it will sanction the Saudi International starting in 2022.

“We’ve talked over pints for the last couple of years of what it all means,” Graeme McDowell said. “Is it constructive or is it destructive if five or 10 of the best in the world leave the PGA Tour. Obviously, we know that’s a major problem.”

McDowell won the 2020 Saudi International and there’s been speculation he would be interested in the new tour’s limited-field schedule.

“It’s such an unknown quantity right now. It’s so hard to make a comment. Is it good for golf or bad for golf? It’s very difficult,” he said following the first round of the Bermuda Championship, where he shot 1-under 70. “Competition is typically good for everyone. I feel that typically the PGA Tour product has never been as strong as it is right now and it continues to get stronger. I certainly don’t have any contracts [from the new circuit] right now. I’m certainly very happy where I am right now on the PGA Tour.”

McDowell also addressed a related issue that will likely have more near-term consequences. Like at least seven other PGA Tour players, the Northern Irishman has requested a conflicting-event release to play next year’s Saudi International but the Tour initially balked at granting those releases and has not yet said whether its members will be given releases to play the event.

“I asked the PGA Tour for a release to go back there again next year because I’ve played the Middle East for a large part of my career,” McDowell said. “[The Tour] said to do so [ask for a release] even though they haven’t decided if we’re going to be able to go and play that event.”

Leona Maguire completed what’s been a near flawless Solheim Cup debut in her match against Jennifer Kupcho today.

The Cavan native dominated throughout to secure Europe’s first points of the day, leaving them just four away from victory.

In doing so, Maguire now boasts a record for a rookie in the competition after a scintillating weekend in Toledo.

Maguire duly completed a comprehensive 5 and 4 victory to make it four and a half points from five matches on her debut in the contest.

The 26-year-old told Sky Sports: “The goal was to get my point, that’s all I can do.

“I’ve given it my absolute all this week, I couldn’t have given anything more. I couldn’t have asked for a better week and hopefully the girls can finish it off.”

With all 12 matches out on the course, Europe led in three, trailed in three and were all square in the remaining six.

Ireland’s Maguire was in the strongest position as she raced four up on fellow unbeaten rookie Jennifer Kupcho after just seven holes.

Maguire, who had taken three and a half points from her four matches to date, eagled the second and birdied the fourth, sixth and seventh to take command of match three.