Golf at a Glance: PGA Tour in Houston; four battles for the Charles Schwab Cup title | Sportsxchange

Golf Glance from Field Level Media provides weekly news and stories from each of North America’s major golf tours.
LAST TOURNAMENT: World Wide Technology Championship in Mayakoba (Viktor Hovland)
THIS WEEK: Houston Open, Houston, November 11-14
Course: Memorial Park Golf Course (Par 70, 7,412 yards)
Grant: $ 7.5M (Winner: $ 1.35M)
Defending champion: Carlos Ortiz
FedEx Cup Leader: Sam Burns
TV: Thursday through Sunday, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET (Golf Channel).
PGA Tour Live: Thursday to Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. (featured groups)
NOTES: There are only two events left in the 2021 calendar year of the PGA Tour. … Brooks Koepka was involved in the $ 34 million redesign of Memorial Park Golf Course, which returned as a touring location in 2020 for the first time in nearly six decades. … Sponsor exemptions include Koepka’s brother, Chase, as well as Houston area residents MJ Daffue and Shawn Stefani. Arizona State Senior Cameron Sisk is also in the field as a sponsor exemption after winning the Maridoe Intercollegiate. … Ortiz became the first Mexican player to win the PGA Tour in 42 years last year, but will not defend his title after retiring on Tuesday with a shoulder injury. … The Houston Open sold 2,000 tickets a day last year as the first national event to allow spectators since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
BEST BETS: Burns (+1200 at DraftKings) won the Sanderson Farms Championship earlier this season and hasn’t finished lower than T21 in his last seven starts. … Originally from Texas, Scottie Scheffler (+ 1800) has just finished fourth in solo in Mexico. He finished T32 in this event last year. … Cameron Smith (+ 1800) has four top-10s in his last six events, including a T9 at the CJ Cup in his last start. … Sung-Jae Im (+2000) won two starts ago at the Kids’ Open Shriners and backed it up with a T9 at the CJ Cup. … Matthew Wolff (+2500) was the 36-hole point guard last week before posting a 74 on Saturday. He bounced back to close with a 64. … Brooks Koepka (+2800) just missed a cut as he tries to get out of a fit. He posted a T5 here last year and is the highest ranked player in the field at No.15.
NEXT WEEK: The RSM Classic, Sea Island, Georgia, November 18-21
LAST TOURNAMENT: BMW Ladies Championship (Jin Young Ko)
THIS WEEK: Pelican Women’s Championship, Belleair, Florida, November 11-14
Course: Pelican Golf Club (Par 70, 6,353 yards)
Grant: $ 1.75 M (Winner: $ 262,500)
Defending champion: Sei Young Kim
Race for the leader of the CME Globe: Ko
TV: Thursday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. (Golf Channel, delayed tape)
BROADCAST: Thursday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET; Saturday to Sunday, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. (NBC Sports App, golfchannel.com)
NOTES: Kim won the inaugural event by three strokes over Ally Ewing with a score of 14 under 266. … Nelly Korda leads the tour in 2021 ($ 1.975M) and on average (69.074) but was overtaken by KB in the Race for the CME Globe and Rolex Player of the Year rankings with only two events to go. … Ko leads the tour with four wins this year as she comes in with back-to-back wins and three in her last five events. … Lexi Thompson leads the Greens’ round in regulation with 78.4 percent.
NEXT WEEK: CME Group Championship, Naples, Florida, November 18-21
LAST TOURNAMENT: TimberTech Championship (Steven Alker)
THIS WEEK: Charles Schwab Cup Championship, Phoenix, Arizona, November 11-14
Course: Phoenix Country Club (Par 71, 6,853 yards)
Defending champion: Kevin Sutherland
Charles Schwab Cup leader: Bernhard Langer
TV: Thursday-Sunday, 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)
NOTES: The top 30 players in the leaderboard have qualified for the end of season event. However, only Langer, Jim Furyk, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Ernie Els stand a chance of winning the Charles Schwab Cup. With 880,000 points at stake, only Langer and Furyk can secure the title with a win this week. The other two should win with Langer finishing at least T6 or worse. Among various storylines, Langer can also claim the title with a solo second as long as Furyk doesn’t win.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: PNC Championship, Orlando, December 17-19