McIlroy leads a strong field at Wentworth for European flagship and PGA Tour starts fall series

BMW PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

Site: Virginia Water, England.

Course: Wentworth GC (West). Yardage: 7,267. Par: 72.

Prize money: $9 million. Winner's share: $1.5 million.

Television: Thursday-Friday, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 7 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (Golf Channel).

Defending champion: Alex Noren.

Race to Dubai leader: Patrick Reed.

Last week: Shane Lowry won the Amgen Irish Open.

Notes: The flagship event of the European tour has one of its strongest fields, including three of the four major champions this year in Rory McIlroy, Aaron Rai and Ryan Fox. ... The American contingent in the field includes 2025 U.S. Open champion J.J. Spaun, Ryan Gerard, Alex Smalley, Bud Cauley and Brooks Koepka. ... Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton are among eight LIV Golf player in the field. ... The winner gets a one-year exemption to the U.S. Open and a three-year exemption to the British Open. ... Thirteen of the 30 players at the Tour Championship are playing in the BMW PGA Championship. ... Nick Faldo is a four-time winner of Europe's flagship event, the most of any other player. ... The tournament has been played at Wentworth every year since 1984. It previously used to rotate around the U.K. ... Billy Horschel, who has won two of the last five times, is playing the new PGA Tour event in North Carolina this week to help secure his card for next year.

Next week: FedEx French Open.

Online: https://www.europeantour.com/dpworld-tour/

BILTMORE CHAMPIONSHIP ASHEVILLE

Site: Asheville, North Carolina.

Course: The Cliffs at Walnut Grove. Yardage: 7,249. Par: 71.

Prize money: $5 million. Winner's share: $900,000.

Television: Thursday-Friday, 3-6 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 1-4 p.m. (Golf Channel).

Defending champion: New tournament.

FedEx Cup champion: Scottie Scheffler.

Last tournament: Scottie Scheffler won the Tour Championship.

Notes: This starts the FedEx Cup Fall, where most players who finished outside the top 70 in the FedEx Cup try to make sure they are top 100 to retain full cards for 2027. ... This is a new tournament, the first PGA Tour stop in Asheville since 1942. ... Five players in next week's Presidents Cup, three from each team, are playing the tournament. That includes Jackson Koivun, a captain's pick, who hasn't played since Aug. 16. Corey Conners and Ryo Hisatsune are among those from the International team. ... Kevin Kisner, who works in the NBC booth, is playing for the second time this year and the first since missing the cut at Colonial at the end of May. ... J.T. Poston played college golf at Western Carolina, about an hour away from Asheville. ... Blades Brown is in the field. The 19-year-old who turned pro in high school is No. 11 on the Korn Ferry Tour points list and has special temporary membership on the PGA Tour.

Next week: Presidents Cup.

Online: https://www.pgatour.com/

PURE INSURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP

Site: Pebble Beach, California.

Course: Spyglass Hill GC (Yardage: 7,000. Par: 72) and Pebble Beach GL (Yardage: 6,828. Par: 72).

Prize money: $2.4 million. Winner's share: $360,000.

Television: Friday-Sunday, 6-9 p.m. (Golf Channel).

Defending champion: Doug Barron.

Charles Schwab Cup leader: Stewart Cink.

Last week: Zach Johnson won the Sanford International.

Notes: The tournament pairs PGA Tour Champions players with juniors of The First Tee program from chapters across the country. ... Zach Johnson and Stewart Cink each have five wins this season. ... Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill are the courses used for the tournament, just like the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on the PGA Tour. ... Vaughn Taylor and Vijay Singh are the only players in the field who won the PGA Tour event at Pebble Beach. Singh has been runner-up at Pebble in the PGA Tour Champions event. ... Steven Alker is coming off three straight victories, one of them on the Legends Tour in Europe. ... The tournament has been part of the PGA Tour Champions schedule since 2004. ... The sponsor exemptions went to Darren Fichardt of South Africa and Notah Begay III, who last month received the prestigious Payne Stewart Award. ... John Cook and Hale Irwin are the only players to win at Pebble Beach on the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions.

Next tournament: Jefferson Lehigh Valley Classic on Oct. 2-4.

Online: https://www.pgatour.com/pgatour-champions/

NATIONWIDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL CHAMPIONSHIP

Site: Columbus, Ohio.

Course: The Ohio State University GC (Scarlet). Yardage: 7,445. Par: 71.

Prize money: $1 million. Winner's share: $180,000.

Television: Thursday-Friday, 1-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3-4 p.m. (Golf Channel mobile); Saturday-Sunday, 3-4 p.m. (Golf Channel mobile), 4-6 p.m. (Golf Channel).

Previous winner: John VanDerLaan.

Points leader: Ross Steelman.

Last week: Alvaro Ortiz won the Simmons Bank Open.

Next tournament: Compliance Solutions Championship on Oct. 1-4.

Online: https://www.pgatour.com/korn-ferry-tour/

Last week: Europe won the Solheim Cup.

Next week: Walmart NW Arkansas Championship.

Race to CME Globe leader: Nelly Korda.

Online: https://www.lpga.com/

Epson Tour: Murphy USA El Dorado Shootout, Mystic Creek GC, El Dorado, Arkansas. Previous winner: Erica Shepherd. Online: https://www.epsontour.com/

Asian Tour: Yeangder Tournament Players Championship, Linkou International Golf and CC, Linkou, Taiwan. Defending champion: Kazuki Higa. Online: https://asiantour.com/

Japan Golf Tour: ANA Open, Sapporo GC (Wattsu), Hokkaido, Japan. Defending champion: Takumi Kanaya. Online: https://www.jgto.org/en/

Ladies European Tour: La Sella Open, La Sella Golf Resort, Denia, Spain. Television: Thursday-Sunday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. (Golf Channel mobile). Defending champion: Anna Huang. Online: https://ladieseuropeantour.com/

Challenge Tour: Portugal Open, PGA Aroeira 1, Lisbon, Portugal. Previous winner: J.C. Ritchie. Online: https://www.europeantour.com/hotelplanner-tour/

PGA Tour Americas: ATB Classic, Blackhawk GC, Edmonton, Alberta. Previous winner: Michael Brennan. Online: https://www.pgatour.com/americas

Legends Tour: European Legends Cup, Fontanals GC, Girona, Spain. Defending champion: Scott Hend. Online: https://legendstour.com/

Japan LPGA: Sumitomo Life Vitality Ladies Tokai Classic, Shin Minami Aichi CC (Mihama), Aichi, Japan. Defending champion: Sora Kamiya. Online: https://www.lpga.or.jp/en/

Korea LPGA: Hana Financial Group Championship, The Heaven CC, Ansan, South Korea. Defending champion: Dayeon Lee. Online: https://klpga.co.kr/

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