Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - PGA TOUR - WORLD CHALLENGE, Sherwood Country Club, Thousand Oaks, California - The PGA Tour returns this week with the World Challenge at Sherwood Country Club.
This tournament, which is hosted by the Tiger Woods Foundation, consists of an 18-player field battling for a $3.5 million purse.
Among those joining Woods in the field this year will be defending champion Graeme McDowell, Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter. Dustin Johnson, Jason Day, Jason Dufner, Matt Kuchar, Hunter Mahan, Brandt Snedeker, Zach Johnson, Bubba Watson, Jim Furyk, Keegan Bradley, Steve Stricker, Bill Haas and Jordan Spieth.
Mahan is the lowest ranked player in the field at 30th.
This is an unofficial event, but it does count towards the world rankings.
Last year, McDowell poured in a birdie putt on Sunday's 18th hole to seal his second win at this event in three years. He also won this title in 2010, when he beat Woods in a playoff.
Golf Channel will have full television coverage of the first two rounds and early on the weekend before handing off to NBC for the afternoon.
The PGA Tour heads to Florida next week for the Franklin Templeton Shootout, where Sean O'Hair and Kenny Perry teamed to win the title last year.
EUROPEAN TOUR
NEDBANK GOLF CHALLENGE, Gary Player Country Club, Sun City, South Africa - Part of the European Tour remains in South Africa for the third straight week this week for the Nedbank Golf Challenge.
Martin Kaymer carded a 3-under 69 to hang on for the title at this event last year and defeat Charl Schwartzel by two strokes.
Kaymer will return to defend his title this year against a strong 30-man field.
Among those competing at this event will be Henrik Stenson, who is making his first appearance of the 2013-14 season. Stenson, who recently became the first-ever golfer to win the Race to Dubai and PGA Tour's FedExCup title in the same season, was supposed to make his season debut at the South African Open Championship two weeks ago, but was forced to withdrawal with a wrist injury.
Also expected to join the 2008 champion in the field this week are world No. 5 Justin Rose and 15th-ranked Luke Donald. This will be the first year the event will count towards the Race to Dubai rankings.
Golf Channel will have television coverage of this event.
EUROPEAN TOUR
HONG KONG OPEN, Hong Kong Golf Club, Fanling, Hong Kong - Also on the slate this week for the European Tour is the Hong Kong Open, where Miguel Angel Jimenez will defend his title.
Jimenez closed with a 5-under 65 last year to edge Fredrik Andersson Hed by a single stroke and become the oldest winner in the history of the European Tour.
It was Jimenez's third career victory at this event, having also won the title in 2005 and 2008.
The field will also include former European Tour winners Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Jbe Kruger and Gaganjeet Bhullar.
Golf Channel will have television coverage of this event.
The European Tour regroups next week for the Nelson Mandela Championship, where Scott Jamieson parred both playoff holes to defeat Steve Webster and Eduardo de la Riva last season. That event was trimmed to just 36 holes after the first two days were washed out by rain.
LPGA TOUR
FINAL QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT, LPGA International, Daytona Beach, Florida - One hundred and fifty-four hopefuls will gather in Daytona Beach this week for the LPGA Tour's Final Q-School Tournament.
The 90-hole tournament will make a cut to the low 70 players at the end of 72 holes and the top 20 players at the end of the final round will earn their tour cards for next season.
Among the field will be Tiger Woods' niece, Cheyenne Woods, as well as Venice regional qualifying tournament winner Amy Anderson, and China's youngest professional golfer Xiyu Lin.
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