FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, August 21st, 2018

PGA TOUR KICKS OFF FEDEXCUP PLAYOFFS WITH THE NORTHERN TRUST IN NEW JERSEY; NBC SPORTS AIRING MORE THAN 70 LIVE HOURS ACROSS FOUR EVENTS

Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship Being Staged

in Ohio as First of Four Web.com Tour Finals Events

 

PGA TOUR Champions Outside of Seattle for Boeing Classic;

DiMarco & Clarke Set to Make Debut on Over-50 Circuit


Park to Make First Start as New No. 1 at CP Women’s Open in Canada

 

Major Champions Lead Field at European Tour’s Real Czech Masters

 

ORLANDO, Fla. (Aug. 21, 2018) – The PGA TOUR kicks off the FedExCup Playoffs this week with The Northern Trust in New Jersey, the first of four events culminating with next month’s TOUR Championship in Atlanta. The top-125 players in the FedExCup standings are eligible to compete in this week’s event, with the top-100 advancing to take part in next week’s Dell Technologies Championship outside of Boston. The Web.com Tour Finals also get underway this week with the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship. The top-75 players on the Web.com Tour money list and Nos. 126-200 in the final FedExCup regular season standings following last week’s Wyndham Championship are eligible to compete in the four-event playoff series. At the conclusion of the Web.com Tour Championship next month, 25 additional PGA TOUR cards will be awarded for the 2018-19 season. The PGA TOUR Champions are outside of Seattle this week for the Boeing Classic, where Bernhard Langer and Fred Couples lead the field, along with current Charles Schwab Cup standings leader Jerry Kelly, who also defends his 2017 title at the event. Chris DiMarco (three-time PGA TOUR winner) and Darren Clarke (14-time European Tour winner) also are set to make their inaugural PGA TOUR Champions start this week. On the LPGA Tour, Sung Hyun Park will make her first start as the new No. 1 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings this week at the CP Women’s Open in Saskatchewan, Canada. The European Tour stages the Real Czech Masters in Prague, with major champions John Daly, Padraig Harrington and Danny Willett headlining the field.

 

PGA TOUR

The Northern Trust

Dates: August 23-26

Venue: Ridgewood Country Club, Paramus, N.J.

 

Tournament Airtimes on Golf Channel (Eastern):

Thursday         2-6 p.m. (Live) / 9:30 p.m.-1:30 a.m. (Replay)

Friday             2-6 p.m. (Live) / 10:30 p.m.-2:30 a.m. (Replay)

Saturday          1-2:45 p.m. (Live) / 11 p.m.-3:30 a.m. (Replay)

Sunday            Noon-1:45 p.m. (Live) / 10 p.m.-3 a.m. (Replay)

 

PGA TOUR Live Streaming Airtimes (Eastern)

Thursday         7:30 a.m.-3 p.m. (Featured Groups)

  • Fleetwood/Leishman/Woods; Johnson/Koepka/Thomas

Friday             7:30 a.m.-3 p.m. (Featured Groups)

  • Day/Rose/Watson; TBA

 

Golf Central Pre and Post Round Coverage on Golf Channel (Eastern)

Thursday         1:30-2 p.m. / 9-9:30 p.m.

Friday             1:30-2 p.m. / 10-10:30 p.m.

Saturday          12:30-1 p.m. / 2:45-3 p.m. / 10-11 p.m.

Sunday            11:30 a.m.-Noon / 1:45-2 p.m. / 9-10 p.m.

 

Broadcast Notes:

NBC Sports Group to showcase more than 70 live tournament hours of FedExCup Playoffs: Beginning with the opening round of The Northern Trust on Thursday, NBC Sports Group in total will showcase more than 70 hours of live tournament coverage spanning across the four playoff events, including the final three stops airing exclusively on Golf Channel and NBC. The top-125 in the current FedExCup standings are eligible to compete this week, with the top-100 in the standings following Sunday’s final round advancing to compete in next week’s Dell Technologies Championship outside of Boston.

Player news conference airing Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET on Golf Channel: On Wednesday (tomorrow) at 1 p.m. ET, Golf Channel will air a special player news conference from Ridgewood Country Club featuring media interview sessions with Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas and Brooks Koepka.

Johnson defends: Dustin Johnson defeated Jordan Spieth with a birdie on the first playoff hole to win his fourth FedExCup Playoff event.

Headlining the field: Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka, Justin Rose, Bubba Watson, Jason Day, Webb Simpson, Francesco Molinari, Bryson DeChambeau and Tiger Woods.

 

Golf Channel Broadcast Team:

Play by Play: Rich Lerner

Analyst: Nick Faldo

Tower: Matt Gogel

On-Course: Billy Ray Brown

Interviews: Todd Lewis

 

WEB.COM TOUR

Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship

Dates: August 23-26

Venue: Ohio State University Golf Club (Scarlett Course), Columbus, Ohio

 

Tournament Airtimes on Golf Channel (Eastern):

Thursday         6-9 p.m. (Tape delay) / Streaming on Golf Channel Digital (Time TBD)

Friday             8-10 p.m. (Tape delay) / Streaming on Golf Channel Digital (Time TBD)

Saturday          8-10 p.m. (Tape delay) / 2-4 p.m. (Streaming on Golf Channel Digital)

Sunday            2-4 p.m. (Live)

 

Broadcast Notes:

Web.com Tour Finals kick off with first of four events: The top-75 players on the Web.com Tour money list and Nos. 126-200 in the final FedExCup regular season standings following last week’s Wyndham Championship are eligible to compete in the four-event Web.com Tour Finals. At the conclusion of the Web.com Tour Championship next month, 25 additional PGA TOUR cards will be awarded for the 2018-19 season.

Headlining the field: Curtis Luck, Maverick McNealy, Henrik Norlander, Robby Shelton, Joseph Bramlett, Erik Compton, Kevin Dougherty, Ben Crane, Lucas Glover and Hunter Mahan.

 

Golf Channel Broadcast Team:

Play by Play: Steve Burkowski

Analyst: Craig Perks

Tower: Phil Blackmar

On Course: Gary Christian / Tripp Isenhour

 

PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS

Boeing Classic

Dates: August 24-26

Venue: The Club at Snoqualmie Ridge, Snoqualmie, Wash.

 

Tournament Airtimes on Golf Channel (Eastern):

Friday             6-8 p.m. (Live)

Saturday          6-8 p.m. (Live)

Sunday            7-9 p.m. (Live)

 

Broadcast Notes:

Clarke, DiMarco making PGA TOUR Champions debut: 14-time European Tour winner Darren Clarke and three-time PGA TOUR winner Chris DiMarco both are set to make their PGA TOUR Champions debut this week, with both celebrating their 50th birthday this month.

Kelly defends: Current Charles Schwab Cup standings leader Jerry Kelly defeated Jerry Smith by one shot to earn his first-career PGA TOUR Champions victory.

Headlining the field: Jerry Kelly, Bernhard Langer, Fred Couples, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Paul Broadhurst, Colin Montgomerie, Kenny Perry, David Toms, Darren Clarke and Chris DiMarco.

 

Golf Channel Tournament Broadcast Team:

Play by Play: Whit Watson

Analyst: Lanny Wadkins

Tower: John Mahaffey

On-Course: John Cook / Arron Oberholser

 

LPGA TOUR

 

CP Women’s Open

Dates: August 23-26

Venue: Wascana Country Club, Regina, Saskatchewan

 

Tournament Airtimes on Golf Channel (Eastern):

Thursday         10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. (Live)

Friday             10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. (Live)

Saturday          3-6 p.m. (Live)

Sunday            4-7 p.m. (Live)

 

Broadcast Notes:

Park making first start as new No. 1: Sung Hyun Park this week will make her first start as the new No. 1 player in the world following her victory at last week’s Indy Women in Tech Championship.

Ko to be focus of “Rookie Feature”: During Friday’s live tournament coverage, Jin Young Ko will be spotlighted as part of a “Rookie Feature”.

Headlining the field: Sung Hyun Park, Ariya Jutanugarn, Lexi Thompson, Shanshan Feng, Minjee Lee, Georgia Hall, Jessica Korda, Moriya Jutanugarn, Jin Young Ko, Brooke Henderson and Pernilla Lindberg.

 

Tournament Broadcast Team:

Play by Play: Terry Gannon

Analyst: Judy Rankin

Tower: Tom Abbott

On-Course: Jerry Foltz / Gail Graham

 

EUROPEAN TOUR

 

Real Czech Masters

Dates: August 23-26

Venue: Albatross Golf Resort, Prague, Czech Republic

 

Tournament Airtimes on Golf Channel (Eastern)

Thursday         5-7 a.m. / 9-10:30 a.m. (Live)

Friday             5-7 a.m. / 9-10:30 a.m. (Live)

Saturday          8 a.m.-12:30 p.m. (Live)

Sunday            7-11:30 a.m. (Live)

 

Broadcast Notes

Porteous defends: Haydn Porteous finished two shots ahead of Lee Slattery to earn his second European Tour win.

Headlining the field: Padraig Harrington, John Daly, Danny Willett, Lee Westwood, Thomas Pieters, Dru Love, Haydn Porteous, Hunter Stewart and Paul Waring.

 

Golf Channel Broadcast Team:

Host: Scott Walker

Play by Play: Dominik Holyer

Analyst: Warren Humphreys / Gary Murphy

On-Course: Julian Tutt

 

-NBC Sports Group-