Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - PGA TOUR - PGA CHAMPIONSHIP, Valhalla Golf Club, Louisville, Kentucky - The final major of the season, the PGA Championship, kicks off this week at Valhalla.
Jason Dufner won the title last year at Oak Hill as he rallied past Jim Furyk in the final round to claim the crown. The win was Dufner's first in a major championship.
Three years ago at the 2011 PGA, Dufner lost to Keegan Bradley in a playoff at Atlanta Athletic Club. Dufner has struggled since winning the title. His best finish was at Colonial, where he lost a playoff to Adam Scott. Dufner has barely cracked the top 10 since then.
Dufner shared 19th at the Memorial, but missed the cut twice and finished outside the top 50 in his other two starts.
While Dufner is scuffling, the championship will be without Dustin Johnson, who is taking time off to battle some personal challenges. His withdrawal cost the PGA the chance to be the first major to ever have every player in the top 100 in the world ranking in the field.
Four-time champion Tiger Woods is also a question mark with a bad back, which he injured in Akron last weekend. Woods has until Thursday morning to decide whether or not he will play.
Rory McIlroy is the clear favorite entering the year's last major. He has won his last two starts, both by two strokes over Sergio Garcia. Rickie Fowler also ended two back at Hoylake, and that gave Fowler his third straight top-10 finish in a major this season. He is the only player that has done that in 2014.
TNT has lengthy coverage the first two days, and early coverage on the weekend before handing things off to CBS.
Next week, the PGA Tour heads to North Carolina for the final regular season event, the Wyndham Championship, where Patrick Reed beat Jordan Spieth in a playoff last year. Meanwhile, the European Tour has a new event, the Made in Denmark.
LPGA TOUR
MEIJER LPGA CLASSIC, Blythefield Country Club, Belmont, Michigan - The LPGA is in Michigan this week for a new event, the Meijer LPGA Classic. This marks the first time the LPGA will be in Michigan since 2000.
There is a strong field that includes nine of the top 10 players in the world rankings. Furthermore, 17 of the 32 players that competed in the International Crown will also be at Blythefield Country Club.
The last LPGA event in Michigan was the Oldsmobile Classic in 2000.
Golf Channel will have coverage all four days.
The LPGA Tour heads to New York next week for the fourth major of the season, the Wegmans LPGA Championship. Inbee Park beat Catriona Matthew in a playoff last year to win her third straight major championship.
WEB.COM TOUR
PRICE CUTTER CHARITY CHAMPIONSHIP, Highland Springs Country Club, Springfield, Missouri - The Web.com Tour is in Missouri this week for the Price Cutter Charity Championship.
Andrew Svoboda shot 64 in the first round, and again in the final round en route to winning by three strokes. The win was his first on tour.
Svoboda has moved to the PGA Tour this year. He missed the cut in seven of his first nine starts, but later finished second at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and shared sixth at the St. Jude Classic.
Jarrod Lyle will make his second start since finishing his second battle with leukemia. Thanks to four rounds in the 60s, he shared 11th at the Midwest Classic a couple weeks back.
There will be no television coverage of this event.
The Web.com Tour will be in Tennessee next week for the News Sentinel Open, where Peter Malnati closed 66-65 last year to come from behind and win for the first time in the tour.
PGA TOUR CANADA
FORCES AND FAMILIES OPEN, Hylands Golf Club, Ottawa, Ontario - The PGA Tour Canada moves to Ottawa this week for the Forces and Families Open, which is a new event on tour.
The event will have the top six players from the Order of Merit -- Joel Dahmen, Timothy Madigan, Brock Mackenzie, Matt Harmon, Josh Persons and Wes Homan -- in the field.
Those six have combined to win the season's first seven events, as Dahmen has claimed two titles.
The PGA Tour Canada remains in Ontario next week for the Great Waterway Classic. Hugo Leon held off Brandon Harkins to win that title last year. Harkins fired a 10-under 62 in the final round to end one back.
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