FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, May 17th, 2016
GOLF CHANNEL TOURNAMENT AIRTIMES & NOTES (MAY 19-25): DUBAI DUTY FREE IRISH OPEN; REGIONS TRADITION; AT&T BYRON NELSON; KINGSMILL CHAMPIONSHIP; BMW CHARITY PRO-AM; NCAA WOMEN’S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS
The K Club Hosts McIlroy, Willett at Dubai Duty Free Irish Open hosted by the Rory Foundation with More Than 20 Hours of Coverage on Golf Channel
PGA TOUR Champions Stages First Major of 2016 with Regions Tradition
Spieth, D. Johnson Headline the Field in Texas at AT&T Byron Nelson
Top-3 Players in the World Ko, Park and Thompson Return to Compete in Kingsmill Championship in Virginia
Bryan Vying for 3rd Win of ’16 at BMW Charity Pro-Am
2016 NCAA Women’s Golf Championships May 23-25 in Primetime on Golf Channel
ORLANDO, Fla. (May 17, 2016) – The famed K Club (2006 Ryder Cup) will serve as the venue for the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open hosted by the Rory Foundation this week, with World No. 3 Rory McIlroy and reigning Masters champion Danny Willett headlining more than 20 hours of live tournament coverage on Golf Channel. The PGA TOUR Champions stages the first of five majors in 2016 this week with the Regions Tradition in Alabama, the first of three majors over the next four weeks. The PGA TOUR shifts to Texas for the AT&T Byron Nelson, with World No. 2 and Texas native Jordan Spieth in the field along with Dustin Johnson. The LPGA Tour is in Virginia for the Kingsmill Championship, featuring the return of the top-3 players in the world – Lydia Ko (1), Inbee Park (2) and Lexi Thompson (3) – after extended breaks and will be grouped together for the first two rounds. And the Web.com Tour is in South Carolina for the BMW Charity Pro-Am, with a two-man team format that includes celebrities competing alongside Web.com Tour professionals.
EUROPEAN TOUR
Dubai Duty Free Irish Open hosted by the Rory Foundation
Dates: May 19-22
Venue: The K Club (Palmer Ryder Cup Course), Straffan, County Kildare, Ireland
Tournament Airtimes on Golf Channel (Eastern):
Thursday 7:30 a.m.-1 p.m. (Live)
Friday 4:30-8:30 a.m. / 10:30 a.m.-1 p.m. (Live)
Saturday 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m. (Live)
Sunday 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m. (Live)
Broadcast Notes:
Venue: While the K Club has hosted numerous events, including the 2006 Ryder Cup, this is the first time that it is hosting the Irish Open. This also is the second consecutive year that the event will be hosted by Rory McIlroy and his foundation, which raises funds for children’s charities around the world.
Kjeldsen defends: Soren Kjeldsen defeated Eddie Pepperell and Bernd Wiesberger with a birdie on the first playoff hole for his fourth career European Tour win.
Headlining the field: Rory McIlroy, Danny Willett, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Padraig Harrington, Russell Knox, Martin Kaymer, Shane Lowry, Lee Westwood and David Lingmerth.
Golf Channel Broadcast Team:
Studio Host: Mike Ritz
Play by Play: Rich Lerner
Analyst: Frank Nobilo / Tom Abbott / Warren Humphreys
On-Course: Phil Blackmar / George Savaricas
PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS
Regions Tradition
Dates: May 19-22
Venue: Greystone Golf & Country Club (Founders Course), Birmingham, Ala.
Tournament Airtimes on Golf Channel (Eastern):
Thursday 1-3:30 p.m. (Live) / 2:30-4:30 a.m. (Friday replay)
Friday 1-3:30 p.m. (Live) / 2:30-5 a.m. (Saturday replay)
Saturday 5-7 p.m. (Live) / 2:30-4:30 a.m. (Sunday replay)
Sunday 5-7 p.m. (Live) / 2:30-4:30 a.m. (Monday replay)
Broadcast Notes:
First of Three PGA TOUR Champions majors over next four weeks: The Regions Tradition this week marks the first major of the 2016 PGA TOUR Champions season. It also is the first of three majors on their schedule over the next four weeks, with the Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid (May 26-29) and Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS Championship (June 9-12) also airing on Golf Channel and NBC over the coming weeks.
Maggert defends: Jeff Maggert outlasted Kevin Sutherland with a par on the first playoff hole for his second career PGA TOUR Champions win, and first major.
Headlining the field: Bernhard Langer, Colin Montgomerie, John Daly, Kenny Perry, Jesper Parnevik, Mark O’Meara, Jay Haas, Tom Lehman, Jeff Maggert and Lee Janzen.
Golf Channel Broadcast Team:
Play by Play: Whit Watson
Analyst: Lanny Wadkins
Tower: John Mahaffey / Dave Marr
On-Course: Billy Ray Brown
PGA TOUR
AT&T Byron Nelson
Dates: May 19-22
Venue: TPC Four Seasons Resort & Club Las Colinas, Irving, Texas
Tournament Airtimes on Golf Channel (Eastern):
Thursday 4-7 p.m. (Live) / 11:30 p.m.-2:30 a.m. (Replay)
Friday 4-7 p.m. (Live) / 11:30 p.m.-2:30 a.m. (Replay)
Saturday 1-2:30 p.m. (Live) / 10 p.m.-2:30 a.m. (Replay)
Sunday 1-2:30 p.m. (Live) / 10 p.m.-2:30 a.m. (Replay)
Broadcast Notes:
Bowditch defends: Steven Bowditch finished four shots ahead of Charley Hoffman, Scott Pinckney and Jimmy Walker for his second career PGA TOUR victory.
Headlining the field: Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Zach Johnson, Louis Oosthuizen, Bryson DeChambeau, Ernie Els, Matt Kuchar and Charl Schwartzel.
Golf Channel Broadcast Team:
Play by Play: Terry Gannon
Analyst: Curt Byrum
Tower: Matt Gogel
On-Course: Arron Oberholser
Interviews: Damon Hack
LPGA TOUR
Kingsmill Championship
Dates: May 19-22
Venue: Kingsmill Resort (River Course), Williamsburg, Va.
Tournament Airtimes on Golf Channel (Eastern):
Thursday 9-11 p.m. (Tape delay) / 4:30-6:30 p.m. (Streaming on Golf Live Extra)
Friday 9-11 p.m. (Tape delay) / 4:30-6:30 p.m. (Streaming on Golf Live Extra)
Saturday 3-5 p.m. (Live) / 4:30-6 a.m. (Sunday replay)
Sunday 3-5 p.m. (Live)
Broadcast Notes:
Lee defends: Minjee Lee finished two shots ahead of So Yeon Ryu for her first LPGA Tour win.
Headlining the field: Lydia Ko, Lexi Thompson, Inbee Park, Stacy Lewis, Gerina Piller, Brooke Henderson, Sei Young Kim, So Yeon Ryu, Suzann Pettersen, Anna Nordqvist and Brittany Lincicome.
Golf Channel Broadcast Team:
Play by Play: Steve Sands
Analyst: Judy Rankin
Tower: Jim Gallagher Jr.
On-Course: Jerry Foltz / Jane Crafter
WEB.COM TOUR
BMW Charity Pro-Am
Dates: May 19-22
Venues: Thornblade Club; The Reserve at Lake Keowee; The Preserve at Verdae, Greer, S.C.
Tournament Airtimes on Golf Channel (Eastern):
Thursday 7-9 p.m. (Tape delay) / 2-4 p.m. (Streaming on Golf Live Extra)
Friday 7-9 p.m. (Tape delay) / 2-4 p.m. (Streaming on Golf Live Extra)
Saturday 7-9 p.m. (Tape delay) / 2-4 p.m. (Streaming on Golf Live Extra)
Sunday 7-9 p.m. (Tape delay) / 4-6 p.m. (Streaming on Golf Live Extra)
Broadcast Notes:
Format: The event features a celebrity pro-am similar to that of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Two-person teams compete at three different courses over the first three days, and the ten low-scoring pro-am teams, six low-scoring celebrity pro-am teams and 65 low Web.com Tour players (and ties) advance to Sunday’s final round at Thornblade Club.
Headlining the field: Wesley Bryan, Jonathan Byrd, Ben Curtis, Nick Flanagan, Brad Fritsch, Oliver Goss, Cody Gribble, Trey Mullinax, Max Homa and Ollie Schniederjans.
Notable celebrities in the field: Lucas Black, Bill Engvall, Oliver Hudson, Jim McMahon, Alfonso Ribeiro, Joe Don Rooney, Andy Buckley, and Dennis Haysbert.
Golf Channel Broadcast Team:
Play by Play: Grant Boone
Analyst: Craig Perks
Tower: Tripp Isenhour
On-Course: Kay Cockerill / Gary Christian
COMING UP…
NCAA Women’s Golf Championships
Dates: May 23-25
Venue: Eugene Country Club, Eugene, Ore.
Tournament Airtimes on Golf Channel (Eastern):
Monday, May 23 7-10 p.m. (Live) Final Round, Individual National Championship
Tuesday, May 24 1:30-3:30 p.m. (Live) Quarterfinals, Team Match Play
Tuesday, May 24 6:30-10 p.m. (Live) Semifinals, Team Match Play
Wednesday, May 25 6-10 p.m. (Live) Finals, Team Match Play
Broadcast Notes:
Coverage: Hosted by the University of Oregon at Eugene Country Club, the 2016 NCAA Women’s and Men’s Golf Championships will feature teams and student-athletes who advanced from NCAA Regional Qualifying. Golf Channel’s live tournament coverage of the women’s championships will begin on Monday, May 23 to crown the individual national champion, as well as to track the teams attempting to qualify for the eight-team match-play tournament. Golf Channel’s coverage also will include all three rounds of the team match-play tournament on Tuesday, May 24 and Wednesday, May 25.
Teams competing: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, BYU, Duke, Florida, Florida State, Furman, Georgia, Miami, Michigan, North Carolina, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Oregon, South Carolina, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas, UCLA, USC, Virginia and Washington.
Individuals competing: Sarah Burnham (Michigan State), Olivia Cason (Louisville), August Kim (Purdue), Jennifer Kupcho (Wake Forest), Marianne Li (California-Berkley), Laura Lonardi (Baylor), Bianca Pagdanganan (Gonzaga), Lauren Stephenson (Clemson) and Andrea Wong (California-Davis).
Golf Channel Live Event Broadcast Team:
Play by Play: Bob Papa
Analyst: Karen Stupples / Steve Burkowski
Tower: Curt Byrum
On-Course: Billy Ray Brown / Kay Cockerill / Nicole Castrale
Golf Central On-Site Team:
Host: Lisa Cornwell
Analyst: Amanda Blumenherst / Paige Mackenzie / Steve Burkowski
Reporter: Ryan Lavner
-NBC Sports Group-
