First Look at World Golf Championship and Puerto Rico Open
First, the World Golf Championship at the Concession:
On January 15, the PGA Tour announced that due to logistical challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship would be played at The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Florida
The newly-named World Golf Championships-Workday Championship at The Concession is the first World Golf Championship event of the season following the cancellation of the 2020 HSBC Champions
Defending champion Patrick Reed seeks his third tournament title at the third different venue but will compete against 48 of the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking in the field, tied for the most on Tour this season and most in any non-major since the 2019 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.
Daniel Berger has carded 26 consecutive scores of par or better, the longest active streak on the PGA Tour. Berger had a streak of 32 such rounds during the 2019-20 season, which was the eighth-longest streak on since 1983.
There are currently 73 players in the field.
THIS WEEK on the PGA TOUR: World Golf Championship
COURSE: The Concession, Bradenton, Florida
ARCHITECTS: Jack Nicklaus in Association with Tony Jacklin
YARDS/PAR: 7,474 yards/Par 72
PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $10,500,000/$1,820,000
DEFENDING Champion: Patrick Reed (2020 Leaderboard link from Mexico City)
PAST RESULTS: (link)
PAST CHAMPIONS of Event: link)
FEDEx CUP Winner Share for points: 550
SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedEXCup @WGCWorkday
TV COVERAGE: Thursday, February 25th: 1:00pm to 6:00pm (ET) on Golf Channel. Friday, February 26th: 1:00pm to 6:00pm ET on Golf Channel. Saturday, February 27th: 2:30pm to 3:00pm (ET) on Golf Channel and then 2:30pm to 6:00pm (ET) on NBC. Sunday, February 28th: 12:00 Noon to 2:30pm (ET) on Golf Channel and then 2:30pm to 6:00pm (ET) on NBC.
STREAMING: PGA Tour Live will offer streaming coverage of Featured Groups on Thursday and Friday from 11:00am to 6:00pm (ET); On Saturday (8:00am-2:30pm ET) and Sunday (8:00am-2:30pm ET) PGA Tour Live will stream Featured Groups. Featured Holes will be streamed only on Saturday (2:30pm to 6:00pm ET) and Sunday from 2:30pm to 6:00pm (ET).
PGA TOUR RADIO COVERAGE: Thursday, February 25 - Friday, February 26 - 12:00 noon to 6:00pm (ET); Saturday, February 27 (1:00pm to 6:00pm (ET)) and Sunday, February 28: (1:00pm to 6:00pm (ET)) on Sirius XM Satellite Radio. PGA Tour Radio is available on Sirius 208/XM 92) or online on PGATour.com.
TOURNAMENT SITE (link)
2021 WGC-Workday Championship Odds
(Odds by William Hill)
Dustin Johnson 13-2
Jon Rahm 10-1
Rory Mcilroy 16-1
Xander Schauffele 16-1
Justin Thomas 18-1
Patrick Cantlay 18-1
Tyrrell Hatton 20-1
Tony Finau 20-1
Bryson DeChambeau 20-1
Viktor Hovland 25-1
Brooks Koepka 28-1
Patrick Reed 28-1
Daniel Berger 30-1
Webb Simpson 30-1
Sungjae Im 35-1
Collin Morikawa 35-1
Scottie Scheffler 40-1
Tommy Fleetwood 40-1
Adam Scott 50-1
Hideki Matsuyama 50-1
Max Homa 50-1
Matthew Fitzpatrick 50-1
Joaquin Niemann 50-1
Cameron Smith 50-1
Jason Day 50-1
Justin Rose 60-1
Harris English 60-1
Will Zalatoris 60-1
Louis Oosthuizen 60-1
Victor Perez 70-1
Sergio Garcia 70-1
Ryan Palmer 80-1
Marc Leishman 80-1
Shane Lowry 80-1
Bubba Watson 80-1
Robert MacIntyre 80-1
Abraham Ancer 90-1
Jason Kokrak 90-1
Christiaan Bezuidenhout 90-1
Matthew Wolff 90-1
Carlos Ortiz 100-1
Kevin Kisner 100-1
Lee Westwood 100-1
Billy Horschel 100-1
Kevin Na 100-1
Predictions:
TL’s Wedge/Edge: On the World Golf Championship at the Concession, there’s not much history to review as last year’s tournament was in Mexico City. The world’s top golfers will all be in the field so World No. 1s and 2s are always tough to disregard. Digging in, we’ll be fading DJ and last week’s playoff loser, Tony Finau, and going with a fearsome foursome of Patrick Cantlay, Tyrrell Hatton, Sungjae Im and firing off one of the big boys with Bryson DeChambeau. If you need two alternates, be ready to insert - if needed - but the WGC is limited field with no cutline. We’ll back-up with a power duo of Webb Simpson and Brooks Koepka.
If you’d like a long shot, go with Louis Oosthuizen at 60-1.
You Are Correct, Sir: Tournament winner, Max Homa, was among my “4-some” last week!
Expert Picks: (link)
Quick Look/Key Information:
Last Week’s Final Leaderboard from The Genesis Invitational (link)
Tee Times - (link)
With the first tee time at 10:58am, we’ll target a 10am early PGA Tour Brunch for Thursday and Friday. Note: The Puerto Rico Open tees-it-up earlier (6:00am (ET)/7am (local)).
What They’re Saying:
Tiger “Lucky to be Alive” (LA Times)
Tiger Woods in Car Crash (ESPN)
Tiger Woods Hospitalized; Multiple Leg Injuries (Golf Channel)
The Concession Should be Test for Tour Pros (Golf Digest)
Campos Feels at Home (PGATourCom)
#SportsBiz, Sporting Gambling Info and Golf Industry News
Power Rankings for WGC (PGATourCom)
Power Rankings for Puerto Rico (PGATourCom)
Action Net Guide to the WGC (Action Network)
CBS Sports Odds and Predictions (CBS Sports HQ)
Kirk Triplett Forms Partnership with D2C (Sports Media Report)
Tournament Notes on the 2021 Puerto Rico Open:
The winner of the Puerto Rico Open earns 300 FedExCup points, a two-year exemption to the PGA Tour and an invitation to THE PLAYERS Championship (if not previously eligible) and other select events.
The 2021 Puerto Rico Open is the 13th playing of the event (one-year hiatus in 2018 to host charity pro-am). Puerto Rico’s Rafael Campos seeks a third top-10 finish in his 12th Puerto Rico Open start.
The Top-10 from 2020-21 Korn Ferry Tour points list are eligible to compete and eight of the 10 are currently in the field.
Last year’s champion, then-rookie Viktor Hovland, is competing at the WGC. A year ago, on the strength of an 8-under (64) in round three, Hovland earned his first PGA Tour victory a year ago in his 17th career start at age 22 years, 5 months, 5 days. Hovland, a native of Oslo, became the first PGA Tour winner ever from Norway.
Josh Teater returns after finishing solo-second to Hovland last year.
THIS WEEK on the PGA TOUR: The Puerto Rico Open
COURSE: Grand Reserve Country Club, Rio Grande, Puerto Rico
ARCHITECT: Tom Kite
YARDS/PAR: 7,506 yards/Par 72
PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $3,000,000/$540,000
DEFENDING Champion: Viktor Hovland (2020 Leaderboard link)
PAST RESULTS: (link)
PAST CHAMPIONS of Event: (link)
FEDEx CUP Points Awarded/Winners Share: 1,756/300
SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedEXCup @PuertoRicoOpen
TV COVERAGE: Thursday, February 25: 10:00am to 1:00pm (ET) on Golf Channel. Friday, February 26: 10:00am to 1:00pm ET on Golf Channel. Saturday, February 27: 2:30pm to 5:00pm (ET) on Golf Channel. Sunday, February 28: 2:30pm to 5:30pm (ET) on Golf Channel.
STREAMING: Will be covering WGC.
PGA TOUR RADIO COVERAGE: Will be covering WGC
TOURNAMENT SITE (link)
TEE TIMES (link)
Field Update from Puerto Rico:
Luke List OUT / Charlie Beljan IN
Scott Harrington OUT / John Rollins IN
Chris Stroud OUT / Smylie Kaufman IN
Hank Lebioda OUT / Robert Allenby IN
Charlie Wi OUT / Will Mackenzie IN
Kevin Tway OUT / Jason Bohn IN
K.H. Lee OUT / Heath Slocum IN
Alex Cejka OUT / Jonathan Kaye IN
2021 Puerto Rico Open Odds:
Odds by William Hill
Thomas Pieters: 14-1
Emiliano Grillo: 16-1
Matt Wallace: 16-1
Branden Grace: 18-1
Ian Poulter: 18-1
Byeong Hun An: 22-1
Andrew Putnam: 25-1
K.H. Lee: 25-1
Brandon Wu: 28-1
Patrick Rodgers: 28-1
Tom Lewis: 28-1
Justin Suh: 33-1
Greyson Sigg: 33-1
Jhonattan Vegas: 35-1
Lucas Glover: 35-1
Ollie Schniderjans: 35-1
Will Gordon: 40-1
Vaughn Taylor: 50-1
Taylor Pendrith: 50-1
Lee Hodges: 50-1
Davis Riley: 50-1
Joseph Bramlett: 50-1
Sam Ryder: 50-1
Adam Schenk: 50-1
Roger Sloan: 55-1
Padraig Harrington: 60-1
Joohyung Kim: 60-1
Brandon Hagy: 60-1
Stephan Jaeger: 60-1
Cameron Percy: 60-1
Kramer Hickok: 60-1
Josh Teater: 60-1
Anirban Lahiri: 66-1
Aaron Baddeley: 66-1
Ted Potter Jr.: 66-1
Bronson Burgoon: 66-1
Kiradech Aphibarnrat: 66-1
Tim Wilkinson: 66-1
Kris Ventura: 66-1
Scott Brown: 70-1
Peter Uihlein: 70-1
Beau Hossler: 80-1
Chase Seiffert: 80-1
Brice Garnett: 80-1
Xinjun Zhang: 80-1
Ben Martin: 80-1
Shawn Stefani: 100-1
Wes Roach: 100-1
Rob Oppenheim: 100-1
Vincent Whaley: 100-1
J.J. Spaun: 100-1
David Hearn: 100-1
Guillermo Pereira: 100-1
Sebastian Cappelen: 125-1
Michael Gellerman: 125-1
Grayson Murray: 125-1
David Lingmerth: 125-1
Seamus Power: 125-1
Roberto Castro: 125-1
Paul Barjon: 125-1
Alex Cejka: 125-1
Zack Sucher: 150-1
Rafael Campos: 150-1
Carson Young: 150-1
Nick Watney: 150-1
Bill Haas: 150-1
Mark Anderson: 150-1
Rhein Gibson: 150-1
Satoshi Kodaira: 150-1
Fabian Gomez: 150-1
Johnson Wagner: 150-1
Chris Baker: 150-1
D.J. Trahan: 150-1
Matt Every: 150-1
Ben Taylor: 150-1
Sangmoon Bae: 150-1
Jonathan Byrd: 150-1
George McNeill: 200-1
Stephen Stallings: 200-1
Ryan Brehm: 200-1
Ryan Blaum: 200-1
Chris Couch: 200-1
Bryson Nimmer: 200-1
Michael Gligic: 200-1
Andres Romero: 200-1
Ricky Barnes: 200-1
Michael Kim: 250-1
Tommy Gainey III: 250-1
Dominic Bozzelli: 250-1
J.J. Henry: 250-1
Nelson Ledesma: 250-1
Martin Trainer: 250-1
Robert Garrigus: 250-1
Hunter Mahan: 250-1
Arjun Atwal: 300-1
John Senden: 300-1
Greg Chalmers: 300-1
Smylie Kaufman: 300-1
Carl Pettersson: 300-1
D.A. Points: 300-1
Daniel Chopra: 350-1
Derek Ernst: 400-1
Parker McLachlin: 400-1
Bo Van Pelt: 400-1
Ian Holt: 400-1
Mark Hensby: 500-1
Marcos Montenegro: 500-1
John Merrick: 500-1
Jason Bohn: 500-1
Robert Allenby: 500-1
Will Cannon: 500-1
John Rollins: 500-1
Dicky Pride: 500-1
Brendon De Jonge: 500-1
Chris Nido: 500-1
Roberto Nieves: 500-1
Eric Axley: 500-1
Charlie Beljan: 500-1
David Duval: 500-1
Ted Purdy: 500-1
Marcelo Rizo: 500-1
Tyler Collet: 500-1
Sebastian Saavedra: 1,000-1
Edward Figueroa: 1,000-1
Richard S. Johnson: 1,000-1
Carlos Franco: 1,000-1
Omar Uresti: 1,000-1
Predictions:
TL’s Wedge Edge: Chalk! You gotta like Thomas Pieters coming off the impressive play on the European Tour, a T-10 at Saudi while Emiliano Grillo is getting lots of love because of his third place finish a year ago. I like 2013 PR champion Scott Brown and will also toss Ian Poulter into the mix.
Mike Wallace (55th) is the highest ranked golfer at Rio Grand and Greyson Sigg has been hot on the Korn Ferry Tour, and is possible Top 10 finisher.
Experts Picks: (link)
On This Day in Golf History:
February 24, 2008 - Brian Gay shot a one-under par (69) to win the first PGA Tour title of his career with a two-stroke victory over Steve Marino at the Mayakoba Classic in Mexico. Gay shot a (62) in the third round of the tournament to take a five-shot lead into the final round. (Courtesy of Randy Walker), Author of On This Day in Golf History, available via Amazon.com and by clicking HERE
