DP WORLD TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP
Site: Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Course: Jumeirah Golf Estates (Earth). Yardage: 7,706. Par: 72.
Prize money: $10 million. Winner's share: $3 million.
Television: Thursday-Saturday, 2-8 a.m. (Golf Channel); Sunday, 1:30-7:30 a.m. (Golf Channel).
Defending champion: Matt Fitzpatrick.
Race to Dubai leader: Eugenio Chacarra.
Last week: Jon Rahm won the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship.
Notes: This is the final event of the European tour
season for the top 50 players that decides the Race to Dubai title. ... Rory McIlroy finished third last week in Abu Dhabi to move to No. 2 in the standings behind Eugenio Chacarra. ... McIlroy has won the Race to Dubai the last four years. He is going for his eighth title, which would tie him with Colin Montgomerie. ... Rahm won last week in his first competition in seven weeks, and first since he ended his contract with bankrupt LIV Golf. It was his first regular European tour victory since the DP World Tour Championship in 2022. ... Patrick Reed is at No. 3 in the standings. He won the Dubai Desert Classic in January on a different course. ... Ludvig Aberg fell out of the top 50 by not playing in Abu Dhabi last week. ... The leading 10 players in the Race to Dubai not already on the PGA Tour will be offered cards for 2027. Rahm is not eligible because he played on LIV Golf this year. Joe Dean is holding down the last spot.
Next week: End of season.
Online: https://www.europeantour.com/dpworld-tour/
___
AUSTIN CHAMPIONSHIP
Site: Austin, Texas.
Course: Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa (Fazio Canyons). Yardage: 7,451. Par: 72.
Prize money: $6 million. Winner's share: $1,080,000.
Television: Thursday-Sunday, 2-5 p.m. (Golf Channel).
Defending champion: New tournament.
FedEx Cup champion: Scottie Scheffler.
Last week: Blades Brown won the World Wide Technology Championship.
Notes: The new tournament originally was to sponsored by Good Good Golf until its controversial commercial of a man tackling a woman for trying to touch his driver. ... Austin Smotherman is going for his third PGA Tour victory in as many starts. ... The last time the PGA Tour was in Austin was for the Match Play in 2023. ... Blades Brown last week became the youngest PGA Tour winner in 95 years at age 19. He is in the field this week. Another victory would make him exempt for the U.S. Open. ... The field includes Tommy Morrison, who played at Texas and earned his PGA Tour card through the Korn Ferry Tour this year. ... Miles Russell, the 18-year-old who was named AJGA player of the year, is playing on a sponsor exemption. He has made the cut in three of the four PGA Tour-sanctioned events he has played this year, including the U.S. Open. ... Two tournaments remain for the top 100 in the FedEx Cup Fall to keep full cards for 2027.
Next week: RSM Classic.
Online: https://www.pgatour.com/
___
THE ANNIKA
Site: Belleair, Florida.
Course: Pelican GC. Yardage: 6,349. Par: 70.
Prize money: $3.25 million. Winner's share: $487,500.
Television: Thursday-Friday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday, 2-5 p.m. (CNBC); Sunday, 1:30-4:30 p.m. (CNBC).
Defending champion: Linn Grant.
Race to CME Globe leader: Nelly Korda.
Last week: Shuri Sakuma won the Toto Classic.
Notes: The LPGA Tour returns to U.S. soil after four weeks in Asia. ... Nelly Korda, the No. 1 player in women's golf, is playing for the first time since the Solheim Cup on Sept. 13. She typically skips the Asia swing. ... Toto Classic winner Shuri Sakuma is deferring her LPGA membership until next year with only two tournaments remaining. ... Japanese players won three of the four tournaments on the Asia swing, Sakuma and Yuri Yoshida becoming first-time winners. ... The field features only five of the top 10 in the women's world ranking. ... After this week, the top 60 players on the Race to CME Globe qualify for the season-ending Tour Championship, where whoever wins gets $2 million as the Race to CME Globe champion. ... Eight players who competed in the Solheim Cup are outside the top 60 going into the final full-field event of the season. ... The last American winners on the LPGA this season were Gina Kim and Yana Wilson in the Dow Championship team event on June 14.
Next week: CME Group Tour Championship.
Online: https://www.lpga.com/
___
CHARLES SCHWAB CUP CHAMPIONSHIP
Site: Phoenix.
Course: Phoenix CC. Yardage: 6,860. Par: 71.
Prize money: $3 million. Winner's share: $528,000.
Television: Thursday-Sunday, 4-5 p.m. (Golf Channel mobile), 5-7 p.m. (Golf Channel).
Defending champion: Stewart Cink.
Charles Schwab Cup leader: Stewart Cink.
Last tournament: Darren Fichardt won the Simmons Bank Championship.
Notes: This is the final event of the PGA Tour Champions season for the leading 36 players in the Charles Schwab Cup standings. ... Bernhard Langer did not qualify for the final event for the first time since his abbreviated first season on the 50-and-older circuit. ... Stewart Cink has been leading the Schwab Cup since winning the season-opening event in Hawaii. ... Cink, Steven Alker and PGA Tour Champions tour rookie Zach Johnson have combined to win 15 of the 24 individual tournaments this year. None of those three has won the previous two postseason events. ... Johnson leads the circuit with six wins. ... George McNeil is No. 6 in the Schwab Cup without having won this year. In fact, 20 players in the 36-man field have yet to win this year. ... The tournament is moving to Papago Golf Club in Phoenix. ... Vijay Singh won at age 63 and narrowly qualified for the Schwab Cup Championship at No. 32 in the standings. He is the oldest player in the field.
Next week: End of season.
Online: https://www.pgatour.com/pgatour-champions
___
Japan Golf Tour: Mitsui Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters, Taiheiyo Club (Gotemba), Shizuoka, Japan. Defending champion: Kota Kaneko. Online: https://www.jgto.org/en/
Asian Tour: Philippine Open, The Manila Southwoods Golf & CC (Masters), Manila, Philippines. Previous winner: Julien Sale. Online: https://asiantour.com/
PGA Tour of Australasia: Ford NSW Open, The Vintage GC, Pokolbin, Australia. Defending champion: Christopher Wood. Online: https://golf.com.au/
Sunshine Tour: The Hyundai Open, Ebotse Links, Benoni, South Africa. Previous winner: Casey Jarvis. Online: https://sunshinetour.com/
Japan LPGA: Itoen Ladies, Great Island Club, Chiba, Japan. Defending champion: Hana Wakimoto. Online: https://www.lpga.or.jp/en/
___
See AP’s full golf coverage here
