Even though football is headlining sports pages, there is a lot of golf to be played this weekend around the world.
Phil Mickelson will headline the field in Malaysia at the CIMB Classic on the PGA Tour. The LPGA visits the home of Yani Tseng in Taiwan. Rory McIlroy will play in the first event of the Race to Dubai Final Series in China at the BMW Masters on the European Tour. The Champions Tour season is winding down in San Antonio with the AT&T Championship.
With just one event left in the 2013 season before the Charles Schwab Championship, Champions Tour players are looking to improve their ranking in the Charles Schwab Cup standings. Only the top-30 after this week will be invited to the Charles Schwab Championship at Harding Park in San Francisco.
The AT&T Championship is played over the par-72, 7,400 yard TPC San Antonio Golf Course. Bernhard Langer has been playing well of late, finishing inside the top-10 in 10 of his last 11 starts. He has earned over $2 million this season with four third-place finishes, three runners-up and two wins.
Langer trails Kenny Perry by 494 points in the Charles Schwab Cup race and will be looking to narrow that margin even more with a high finish in San Antonio.
The LPGA Tour stays in Asia with the Sunrise LPGA Taiwan Championship. World No. 2 Suzann Pettersen will defend her title at the Sunrise Golf and Country Club.
Inbee Park finished second to Pettersen last year in Taiwan and will looking for her first win since the U.S. Women’s Open in June.
Lexi Thompson won two weeks ago in Malaysia, Michelle Wie had her best finish this year last week in Korea and Yani Tseng will try to recover the form that helped her win five majors and become No. 1 in the world.
The European Tour is in Shanghai, China for the inaugural event of the Race to Dubai Final Series. The four tournaments held at the end the European Tour season offer a FedEx Cup playoff-like feel and only the top-60 in the Race to Dubai rankings will qualify for the DP World Championship.
The four tournaments in the Race to Dubai offer a total purse of $31 million plus an additional $7.5 million bonus pool will be distributed among the top-15 finishers after the DP World Championship.
Rory McIlroy experienced a number of changes that seems to have affected his play in 2013. He will headline the field in Shanghai and needs a strong finish to his year.
FedEx Cup Cup winner, Henrik Stenson is leading the Race to Dubai and trying to become the first golfer to win both the FedEx Cup and Race to Dubai in the same year. Graeme McDowell, Justin Rose and Richard Sterne are nipping at his heels and will be trying to spoil Stenson’s double dip.
This is the first season the CIMB Classic will enjoy full FedEx Cup status on the PGA Tour. Nick Watney shot a final round 61 last year in Malaysia and will defend at the CIMB Classic.
Phil Mickelson, Keegan Bradley, Graham DeLaet, Brendon DeJonge, Sergio Garcia, Ernie Els and Hideki Matsuyama will all be in the field this week and trying to bank the $1.26 million first-place check.
The CIMB Classic will be played on the par-72, 6,647 yard Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club.
The leaves are falling in the United States, but golf is just heating up in other parts of the world. There will be plenty of action for every golf fan this weekend.