FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, September 13th, 2016
NBC SPORTS GROUP TOURNAMENT AIRTIMES & NOTES (SEPT. 15-18): EVIAN CHAMPIONSHIP; ALBERTSONS BOISE OPEN; ITALIAN OPEN; NATURE VALLEY FIRST TEE OPEN AT PEBBLE BEACH; 41ST JUNIOR PGA CHAMPIONSHIP
NBC Sports Group Dedicating More than 20 Hours of Coverage to the Evian Championship, Final Major of 2016 as World No. 1 Ko Set to Defend
Web.com Tour Finals Continue with Albertsons Boise Open
Seven Members of European Ryder Cup Team Lead Field at Italian Open
PGA TOUR Champions & 81 Standout Junior Golfers Set to Compete in Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach
41st Junior PGA Championship Airing on Golf Channel Featuring 78 Boys, 78 Girls Representing 40 States, 41 PGA Sections around United States
ORLANDO, Fla. (Sept. 13, 2016) – The LPGA Tour this week stages the final major championship of 2016, where World No. 1 Lydia Ko is set to defend at the Evian Championship. The Web.com Tour Finals continue with the Albertsons Boise Open, the second of four events in the Finals, with Bryson DeChambeau, Andrew (Beef) Johnston and Wesley Bryan headlining the field. Seven members of the European Ryder Cup team will tee it up at the Italian Open, including Danny Willett, Martin Kaymer and Lee Westwood. The PGA TOUR Champions travel to the Monterey Peninsula for the Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach, where they’ll be joined by 81 standout junior golfers from across the United States. And the 41st Junior PGA Championship will be showcased in a 60-minute highlight show on Wednesday, featuring a field of 78 boys and 78 girls representing 40 states and 41 PGA sections.
LPGA TOUR
The Evian Championship
Dates: Sept. 15-18
Venue: Evian Resort Golf Club, Evian-les-Bains, France
Tournament Airtimes on Golf Channel (Eastern):
Thursday 5-8 a.m. / 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. (Live) / 6:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. (Replay)
Friday 5-8 a.m. / 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. (Live) / 9:30 p.m.-2:30 a.m. (Replay)
Saturday 6:30-11:30 a.m. (Live) / 9:30 p.m.-2:30 a.m. (Replay)
Sunday 8 a.m.-Noon (Tape delay) / 5:30-11:30 a.m. (Streaming on Golf Live Extra)
Tournament Airtimes on NBC (Eastern):
Sunday 12:30-2 p.m. (Tape delay) / Streaming on Golf Live Extra and the NBC Sports App
Broadcast Notes:
NBC Sports dedicating more than 20 hours of coverage to final major of 2016: Golf Channel will air live coverage of the first three rounds Thursday-Saturday. On Thursday and Friday, Golf Channel will feature the morning and afternoon waves in two, three-hour telecast windows. Golf Channel will air five hours of coverage on Saturday, and on Sunday, Golf Channel and NBC will combine for final round coverage, with NBC airing the final 90 minutes of tournament action.
NBC Sports Digital Coverage: All four rounds of The Evian Championship will be streamed live on Golf Live Extra, powered by Playmaker Media. Sunday’s final round live streaming will begin on Golf Live Extra at 5:30 a.m. ET and run through the tournament’s conclusion. NBC’s coverage from Noon-1:30 p.m. ET also will be streamed on Golf Live Extra and the NBC Sports App.
Ko defends: World No. 1 Lydia Ko finished six strokes clear of the field to earn her first major championship.
Headlining the field: Lydia Ko, Ariya Jutanugarn, Brooke Henderson, Lexi Thompson, Sei Young Kim, In Gee Chun, Stacy Lewis, Amy Yang, Anna Nordqvist, So Yeon Ryu and Gerina Piller.
Golf Channel / NBC Broadcast Team:
Studio Host: Mike Ritz
Play by Play: Terry Gannon / Tom Abbott
Analyst: Judy Rankin / Karen Stupples
Tower: Richard Kaufman
On-Course: Jerry Foltz / Sandy Mackenzie
WEB.COM TOUR
Albertsons Boise Open
Dates: Sept. 15-18
Venue: Hillcrest Country Club, Boise, Idaho
Tournament Airtimes on Golf Channel (Eastern):
Thursday 3-6 p.m. (Live) / 12:30-3:30 a.m. (Friday replay)
Friday 3-6 p.m. (Live) / 5-6:30 a.m. (Saturday replay)
Saturday 3-6 p.m. (Live) / 5-7 a.m. (Sunday replay)
Sunday 3-6 p.m. (Live) / 5-6 a.m. (Monday replay)
Broadcast Notes:
Web.com Tour Finals continue with second-leg: The Albertsons Boise Open will be contested as a Web.com Tour Finals event for the first time this week, where it will serve as the second of four events encompassing the Finals. The move also returns the event to a September date, after being contested in July for the previous three years.
Players eligible to compete: Eligible players for the Web.com Tour Finals are Nos. 1-75 on the Web.com Tour’s regular season money list, as well as Nos. 126-200 in the FedExCup standings following last month’s Wyndham Championship (less those with exemptions), plus non-members who earned enough equivalent FedExCup points to finish within the 126-200 range.
Headlining the field: Andrew “Beef” Johnston, Bryson DeChambeau, Wesley Bryan, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Matt Jones, Erik Compton, Will MacKenzie, Gregory Bourdy and Camilo Villegas,
Golf Channel Broadcast Team:
Play by Play: John Swantek
Analyst: Craig Perks
Tower: Steve Burkowski
On-Course: Phil Blackmar / Kay Cockerill
EUROPEAN TOUR
Italian Open
Dates: Sept. 15-18
Venue: Milan Golf Club, Monza Park, Italy
Tournament Airtimes on Golf Channel (Eastern):
Thursday 12:30-2:30 p.m. (Tape delay)
Friday 12:30-2:30 p.m. (Tape delay)
Saturday 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. (Tape delay)
Sunday Noon-2:30 p.m. (Tape delay)
Broadcast Notes:
Karlberg defends: Rikard Karlberg defeated Martin Kaymer with a birdie on the second playoff hole to earn his first career European Tour victory.
Headlining the field: Danny Willett, Martin Kaymer, Lee Westwood, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Andy Sullivan, Chris Wood, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Padraig Harrington.
Golf Channel Broadcast Team:
Play by Play: Julian Tutt
Analyst: Warren Humphreys
On-Course: Jay Townsend
PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS
Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach
Dates: Sept. 16-18
Venues: Pebble Beach Golf Links & Poppy Hills Golf Course, Pebble Beach, Calif.
Tournament Airtimes on Golf Channel (Eastern):
Friday 6-9 p.m. (Live) / 2:30-5 a.m. (Saturday replay)
Saturday 6-9 p.m. (Live) / 2:30-5 a.m. (Sunday replay)
Sunday 6-9 p.m. (Live) / 3-5 a.m. (Monday replay)
Broadcast Notes:
Format: 81 PGA TOUR Champions will each be paired with one junior golfer from The First Tee and two other amateurs. Each group will play one round on Pebble Beach and Poppy Hills over the course of Friday-Saturday. 23 pro-junior teams as well as 10 two-player amateur teams will then advance to the final round at Pebble Beach on Sunday. The 81 junior golfers in the field were selected from 55 First Tee chapters from across the United States.
Toledo defends: Esteban Toledo finished one shot ahead of Tom Watson to earn his third PGA TOUR Champions win.
Headlining the field: Bernhard Langer, Tom Watson, John daly, Tom Lehman, Vijay Singh, Mark O’Meara, Rocco Mediate, Hale Irwin, Woody Austin, Tom Kite and Peter Jacobsen.
Golf Channel Broadcast Team:
Play by Play: Whit Watson
Analyst: Lanny Wadkins
Tower: John Mahaffey / Dave Marr
On-Course: Billy Ray Brown
41st Junior PGA Championship
Dates: Sept. 14
Venue: Wannamoisett Country Club, Rumford, R. I.
Tournament Airtimes on Golf Channel (Eastern):
Wednesday 8-9 p.m.
Broadcast Notes:
41st Junior PGA Championship airing Wednesday night (8-9 p.m. ET) on Golf Channel: Golf Channel on Wednesday (8-9 p.m ET) will air the 41st Junior PGA Championship highlight show, which includes feature profiles and special moments on several of the 78 boys and 78 girls in the field. Californians Norman Xiong of Canyon Lake, and Lucy Li of Redwood Shores, captured the respective Boys’ and Girls’ Division titles, and will compete on the U.S. Junior Ryder Cup team, which faces Europe, Sept. 26-27, at Interlachen Country Club in Edina, Minnesota. The 41st Junior PGA Championship’s 156-player field is made up of competitors from 40 states, 41 PGA Sections, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea.
-NBC Sports Group-
