Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - PGA TOUR - ZURICH CLASSIC OF NEW ORLEANS, TPC Louisiana, Avondale, Louisiana - The PGA Tour heads to Louisiana this week for the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
Seung-yul Noh carded 65s in the first and third rounds last year, then hung on to win by two strokes over Andrew Svoboda and Robert Streb. The win was the first on the PGA Tour for Noh.
Noh has already made 12 starts on tour this season, but has struggled. His best finish was a tie for 11th at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. Noh has missed five cuts and has just one other top-25 finish, a tie for 22nd at the Northern Trust Open.
The 33-year-old Korean returns to defend his title against a field that includes four of the top-20 players in the world. World No. 5 Jason Day and No. 6 Dustin Johnson are the headliners among that group.
Seven of the last 10 winners have been first-time winners. The last repeat winner was Carlos Franco (1999 and 2000).
This event offers players a chance to qualify for the Players Championship. Anyone in the top-10 on the FedExCup points list and inside the top-50 in the world rankings after this tournament will qualify to play at TPC Sawgrass.
Golf Channel will have coverage of the first two rounds and early coverage on Saturday and Sunday before handing off to CBS.
The PGA Tour moves west next week for the WGC-Cadillac Championship, where Day is the defending champion. He won the title last year in Arizona, but this year's event shifts to TPC Harding Park in San Francisco.
EUROPEAN TOUR
VOLVO CHINA OPEN, Tomson Pudong Golf Club, Shanghai, China - The European Tour remains in China this week for the Volvo China Open, where Alexander Levy returns to defend his title.
Levy fired a course-record, 10-under 62 in the second round last year and cruised to a 4-stroke win. The win for Levy was his first on tour and he returns looking to become the first back-to-back winner in event history.
Last years's event was at Genzon Golf Club in Shenzhen, which hosted last week's Shenzhen International. This year, the tournament shifts to Tomson Shanghai Pudong Golf Club, which hosted an Asian Tour event from 2004-08.
The two playoff combatants from last week, Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Hao-tong Li are both in the field this week.
Levy is one of six past champions competing this week. Joining him in the field are Nicolas Colsaerts, Scott Strange, Damien McGrane, Stephen Dodd and Lian-Wei Zhang.
Golf Channel will have coverage of all four rounds.
The European Tour is in the United States next week for the WGC-Cadillac Championship.
LPGA TOUR
SWINGING SKIRTS LPGA CLASSIC, Lake Merced Golf Club, San Francisco, California - The LPGA Tour returns to California for the second playing of the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic.
Lydia Ko birdied the 72nd hole last year to beat Stacy Lewis by one stroke. The win for Ko was her third on the LPGA Tour, but first as a professional. She had won the Women's Canadian Open twice as an amateur.
Ko and Lewis return to action this week after skipping last week's LOTTE Championship.
With this victory last year, Ko jumped to No. 2 in the world rankings. She has since moved to No. 1. Those two are among a strong field that includes the top-19 players in this week's world rankings.
Golf Channel has live coverage all four days.
Lewis is slated to defend her title next week at the Volunteers of America North Texas Shootout. Lewis cruised to a 6-stroke win last year thanks to a final-round 64.
CHAMPIONS TOUR
BASS PRO SHOPS LEGENDS OF GOLF AT BIG CEDAR LODGE, Top of the Rock and Buffalo Ridge Courses, Ridgedale, Missouri - The Champions Tour is in Missouri this week for the event that helped spawn the creation of the tour.
For the second year in a row, the Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf will be at Big Cedar Lodge. Buffalo Ridge, an 18-hole, par-71 course, will host the first two rounds, while the final round will be played on the 9-hole Top of the Rock course, which is played twice in the final round. The Top of the Rock is the first par-3 course used in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event.
The 2-man team competition uses the alternate-shot format
Fred Funk and Jeff Sluman closed with a 6-under 48 last year to beat Peter Jacobsen and Jay Haas by one stroke. Funk shared second place at this event in 2013, while Sluman won the title that year with Brad Faxon.
This year's field includes three teams who were college teammates - John Cook and Joey Sindelar at Ohio State, Lee Janzen and Rocco Mediate at Florida Southern, and Corey Pavin and Duffy Waldorf at UCLA.
Golf Channel will have coverage of all three rounds.
The Champions Tour moves to Texas next week for the Insperity Championship, where Bernhard Langer beat Fred Couples by one shot last year.
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