Golf Glance: PGA Tour kicks off final wraparound season

9/14/2022 1:29:55 PM EST

Field Level Media's Golf Glance provides weekly news and storylines from each of the major North American golf tours.

PGA TOUR
LAST TOURNAMENT: Tour Championship (Rory McIlroy)
THIS WEEK: Fortinet Championship, Napa, Calif., Sept. 15-18
Course: Silverado Report and Span, North Course (Par 72, 7,123 yards)
Purse: $8M (Winner: $1.44M)
Defending Champion: Max Homa
FedEx Cup leader: First Event
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Sunday, 6-9 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)
Streaming: Thursday-Friday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. (ESPN+)
Twitter: @FortinetChamp
NOTES: This is the start of the 2022-23 FedEx Cup season, with each of the past three event champions going on to qualify for the Tour Championship. ... This is the final season of the wraparound schedule, which debuted in 2013-14. ... The top 70 players after the Wyndham Championship will qualify for the playoffs, with the top 125 not being finalized until the end of 2023. The tour will return to a calendar-year schedule in 2024. ... Rickie Fowler is in the field for the first time since 2010 as he returns to action following a change in swing coaches. ... Homa is the lone United States team member in the field who will participate in next week's Presidents Cup. Four International Team members are playing this week: Corey Conners (Canada), Cam Davis (Australia), Hideki Matsuyama (Japan) and Taylor Pendrith (Canada). ... All but one of the 28 PGA Tour rookies are in the field this week. Justin Suh, who topped the combined Points List on the Korn Ferry Tour, is fully exempt this season. ... Zac Blair and Kyle Stanley are each playing their first event on major medical extensions.
BEST BETS: Matsuyama (+1400 at BetMGM) is the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 16 and finished T6 last year. He returns to action after finishing 11th at the Tour Championship, as do Homa (5th, +1400), Tom Hoge (10th, +4000), Conners (26th, +1600) and Sahith Theegala (28th, +2800). ... Maverick McNealy (+2500) finished second by a single shot last year and went on to reach the second leg of the playoffs.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Presidents Cup, Charlotte, Sept. 22-25

LPGA Tour
LAST TOURNAMENT: Queen City Championship (Ally Ewing)
THIS WEEK: Portland Classic, Portland, Ore., Sept. 15-18
Course: Edgewater Country Club (Par 72, 6,478 yards)
Purse: $1.5M ($225,000)
Defending Champion: Jin Young Ko
Race to the CME Globe leader: Minjee Lee
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Sunday, 3-6 p.m. ET (All times Golf Channel)
Streaming: Thursday-Friday, 4-7 p.m. ET; Saturday-Sunday, 2-5 p.m. (NBC Sports App)
Twitter: @PortlandClassic
NOTES: The 144-player field will be cut to the top 70 and ties after 36 holes. ... World No. 1 Ko will not defend her title as she recovers from a wrist injury. ... Nelly Korda is the only player gaining at least 0.25 strokes per round in every category this season, according to the LPGA Tour. ... The event returns to Edgewater after being played at the Oregon Golf Club last year. It is the longest-running non-major event on tour, dating back to the Portland Golf Club in 1972. Georgia Hall won the most recent event at Edgewater in 2020. ... Sei Young Kim set the course record of 11-under 61 in the second round in 2019. ... Oregon native Kennedy Swan, a member of the Epson Tour, is in the field as a Monday Qualifier.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: NW Arkansas Championship, Rogers, Ark., Sept. 23-25

Champions Tour
LAST TOURNAMENT: Ascension Charity Classic (Padraig Harrington)
THIS WEEK: Sanford International, Sioux Falls, SD, Sept. 12-18
Course: Minnehaha Country Club (Par 70, 6,729 yards)
Purse: $2M (Winner: $300,000)
Defending Champion: Darren Clarke
Charles Schwab Cup leader: Steven Alker
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Friday-Sunday, 9:30-11:30 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)
Twitter: @SanfordIntl
NOTES: This is a 54-hole event with a 78-player field. ... Harrington has moved into second place in the Charles Schwab Cup standings. ... Alker (three wins), Harrington (three), Jerry Kelly (three), Steve Stricker (two) and Miguel Angel Jimenez (three) have won 14 of the first 20 events this season and occupy the top five spots in the standings. ... Clarke won last year's event in a playoff over K.J. Choi and Steve Flesch. ... Jimenez holds the tournament scoring record of 196 set in 2020.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Pure Insurance Championship, Pebble Beach, Calif., Sept. 19-25

--Field Level Media

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