Philadelphia, PA – PGA TOUR - THE GREENBRIER CLASSIC, The Old White TPC, White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia - Coming off his third win of the season, Tiger Woods will compete at The Greenbrier Classic for the first time this week.
Woods's three wins have all come at events hosted by legends. Last weekend, he won his own tournament after winning Jack Nicklaus' and Arnold Palmer's events earlier in the year.
The Greenbrier is hosted by Hall-of-Famer Tom Watson and Sam Snead used to be the course's head professional. Snead is the only player ahead of Woods on the PGA Tour's all-time wins list.
This is the second event of the season that Woods is playing for the first time. In March, he fired a final-round 62 to share second place at The Honda Classic.
Last year at the Old White TPC, Scott Stallings beat Bob Estes and Bill Haas in a playoff. Stallings closed with a 69, while Estes had a 64 and Haas a 67 in the final round.
Stallings birdied the final hole of regulation and the first playoff hole to earn his first PGA Tour title.
Much like Congressional last weekend, The Old White TPC suffered damage from a line of severe storms late Friday night. There were nearly 80 trees damaged, but everything should be cleaned up in time for the event on Thursday.
Golf Channel has the first two rounds, then CBS takes over on the weekend.
Next week is the final tune up for the season's third major. Last year, Steve Stricker won the John Deere Classic for the third straight year thanks to 25- foot birdie putt on the final hole.
LPGA TOUR
U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP, Blackwolf Run (Championship Course), Kohler, Wisconsin - For the first time in five years, there was a playoff to determine the U.S. Women's Open champion last year.
The playoff was the first with the 3-hole aggregate scoring instead of an 18- hole extra session.
So Yeon Ryu posted 2-under 69, while Hee Kyung Seo closed with a 3-under 68 as the duo finished at 3-under-par 281.
They started the playoff on the 16th and both players made par. The par-5 17th was the big turning point. Ryu drained an 8-footer for birdie, while Seo stumbled to a bogey after her drive ended under a lip of a fairway bunker.
Seo 2-putted for par at the 18th, but Ryu ran in a 4-footer for birdie to win by three.
Ryu earned her first LPGA Tour title and was the third-youngest winner ever.
Karrie Webb is the last back-to-back winner when she won in 2000-01.
This week's host course -- Blackwolf Run -- hosted the 1998 U.S. Women's Open. That year, Se Ri Pak needed 20 playoff holes to defeat amateur Jenny Chuasiriporn.
Chuasiriporn, who drained had a 40-footer for birdie on the final hole to force the playoff, led by four shots after five holes, but Pak squared things by the 12th.
The 20-year-olds both shot 73 in the extra session. On the 19th hole, they both bogeyed the par-4 18th.
Then on No. 10, Pak rolled in a 15-footer for birdie to become the youngest- ever winner of this championship.
ESPN2 has coverage the first two days, while NBC takes over on the weekend.
After two weeks off, the LPGA Tour heads overseas to the Evian Masters, which will become a major championship next year. Ai Miyazato won in France by two strokes last year.
EUROPEAN TOUR
ALSTOM OPEN DE FRANCE, Le Golf National, Paris, France - Thomas Levet closed with a 1-under 70 on Sunday last year to win the Open de France by one stroke.
Levet matched the second-best round of the day as the final round was played in tough conditions. There was one sub-70 round, while five others shot 80 or worse.
Levet joined fellow Frenchman Jean-Francois Remesy as recent winners of their national title. Remesy won in 2004 and 2005.
Mark Foster and James Morrison shared the lead entering the final round, but Foster closed with a 74 to share second. Morrison faltered to a 7-over 78 to tumble into a share of seventh.
Le Golf National will host the Ryder Cup in 2018 and there are several players in the running for this year's team in the field this week.
World No. 3 Lee Westwood headlines that group. Also in the mix for this year's Ryder Cup team and playing this week are Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell, Justin Rose, Peter Hanson and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano.
The field includes 13 of the top 50 in the world and eight former major champions.
Golf Channel will broadcast all four rounds.
The European Tour will be in Scotland next week for the Scottish Open. World No. 1 Luke Donald won the tournament by four strokes last year. The event was shortened to 54 holes after rain and lightning rendered the course unplayable on Saturday.
CHAMPIONS TOUR
NATURE VALLEY FIRST TEE OPEN AT PEBBLE BEACH, Pebble Beach Golf Links & Del Monte Golf Course, Monterey Peninsula, California - The Champions Tour heads to California this week for the Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach.
The players will rotate over Pebble Beach and Del Monte Golf Course for the first two rounds as they play alongside amateurs from the First Tee program.
It's had to figure out who has more fun this at this event, the Champions Tour players for meeting the youngsters or the kids that get to play golf with legends.
Jeff Sluman won by two strokes over three players last year to win this title for the third time in four years. It was also his fourth Champions Tour win, but Sluman is winless since.
Sluman has four top-10 finishes in 12 starts this year, with a share of third in Mississippi being his best finish.
Golf Channel has coverage of all three rounds.
The next two events for the Champions Tour are majors. First up is the U.S. Senior Open at Indianwood Golf & Country Club, where Olin Browne will defend his title next week. Two weeks after that, the tour will be in Scotland for the Senior British Open Championship at Turnberry.
CANADIAN TOUR
DAKOTA DUNES CASINO OPEN, Dakota Dunes, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada - Joe Panzeri returns to Saskatoon this week to defend his title at the Dakota Dunes Casino Open.
Panzeri opened with three rounds in the 60s, then closed with a 2-under 70 to win by one stroke over Hugo Leon. Panzeri is coming off back-to-back top-10 finishes and is eighth on the tour's money list.
The top-10 players on that money list are all in the field this week.
The Canadian Tour heads to Winnipeg next week, where Tom Hoge is expected to defend his title at the Canadian Tour Players Cup.
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