Scottie Scheffler, Will Zalatoris headline field for the Houston Open 2024

The field in Houston is solid.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, coming off two straight victories at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Players Championship, headlines the field for the 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open at Memorial Park Golf Course in Houston. In three starts at this event, Scheffler has finished 32nd (2021), second (2022) and ninth (2023).

Joining him in the field are defending champion Tony Finau, world No. 4 Wyndham Clark – runner-up to Scheffler at the Players and Arnold Palmer – Will Zalatoris,  Jason Day and Jake Knapp.

Memorial Park Golf Course is a par-70 track measuring 7,412 yards.

The total purse is $9.1 million with $1.683 million going to the winner, plus 500 FedEx Cup points.

Here’s the full field for the Houston Open, one of two chances left to get a win and get into the 2024 Masters for golfers not already qualified.

Will Zalatoris and Sahith Theegala to team up at Zurich Classic 2024

This is a star-studded pairing.

Will Zalatoris and Sahith Theegala, two fan favorites and budding superstars on the PGA Tour, are set to team up for the 2024 Zurich Classic on April 25-28 at TPC Louisiana in New Orleans.

Theegala (ranked No. 14 in the Official World Golf Ranking) won the Fortinet Championship last September, while Zalatoris (No. 30) has finished inside the top two twice since returning to action after spending some time on the sidelines due to a back injury.

“Will has bounced back extremely well after missing nearly a full season from major back surgery,” said Steve Worthy, CEO of the Fore!Kids Foundation, producer of the tournament. “Meanwhile, Sahith is building off his first Tour victory last year with three top-10 finishes this season already, ”

At last week’s Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, Theegala tied for ninth while Zalatoris missed the cut.

In two starts at the Zurich Classic, Theegala missed the cut in 2022 and tied for 23rd in 2023. Zalatoris, on the other hand, has made just one start at TPC Louisiana, eventually tying for fourth alongside Davis Riley (one of this year’s defending champions).

Will Zalatoris on the Official World Golf Ranking’s viability: ‘It kind of is what it is’

“Once we get to the majors, it will be really fun to have us all back together.”

Will Zalatoris is slowly gaining his form back.

The 27-year-old made his return to the golf world in December at the Hero World Challenge after missing most of back year following back surgery. In his latest start at the Genesis Invitational, he finished T-2, and he has slowly been trending in the right direction in all four starts this year.

He has gone MC, T-34. T-13 and T-2. He heads into the Arnold Palmer Invitational with plenty of momentum to take on Bay Hill in Orlando, and the tournament means a bit more to him with his connections to The King.

“Even though I never got to meet (Arnold Palmer), the guy’s meant a lot to me personally and my career and led me to Wake Forest,” Zalatoris said. “And even though it’s been a lot of — the guy’s meant a lot to my career — I met my wife at Wake Forest. So it’s just kind of a fun week to come here and spend some time with Amy (Saunders) and the family.”

In three starts at the API, Zalatoris’ best finish is a T-10 in 2021, his debut at the event.

As far as finding his form, Zalatoris said he thinks his body is ahead of schedule, and he’s slowly seeing his speed come back.

But the most interesting thing he said Tuesday in his pre-tournament press conference was in regard to the Official World Golf Ranking. Zalatoris was asked about the competition on the PGA Tour this season since the average ranking of winners (not including Nick Dunlap) is 73.

“Yeah, the competition is obviously very stiff, there’s no question about it,” Zalatoris said. “We’ve had quite a few first-time winners on Tour this year. You’ve got some tenured guys that are contending week in, week out. The official World Golf Ranking is what it is right now.”

And quickly, a follow-up was asked after Zalatoris’ answer regarding the OWGR. How viable is the ranking system, which Tuesday made further headlines after LIV Golf withdrew its application for points.

“You know, it kind of is what it is,” Zalatoris said. “You see what Joaquin (Niemann)’s done this year, and he’s 73rd in the world. I’m not a guy who is on the policy board or involved with those rankings, but the guy’s played some really good golf. I think, you know, having to get a special exemption from Augusta, you know, it’s just, there’s some really good players, and there’s some guys that have gone around the world and played really good golf and I think that’s something that, once we get to the majors, it will be really fun to have us all back together. But, I know that that’s kind of the utopian goal for all of us right now is to have the best players in the world play week in, week out.”

In the discourse between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, plenty of conversation has revolved around world ranking points. Only four LIV players are ranked in the top 50, with three of those having won majors in the past two years. Niemann, who has won two of the first three LIV events of the year, is in two of the four majors (Masters and PGA Championship) in 2024 thanks to special exemptions and a third (Open Championship) thanks to a win on the DP World Tour.

However, Zalatoris wants the best players to play together every week again, even if he believes most of them still play for the PGA Tour.

“We’ll see what happens going forward,” Zalatoris said. “I don’t have the fix for it. I know some guys have voiced their opinions on it. I like staying out of that stuff. Right now, it’s in an interesting position, I’ll leave it at that.”

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Sizzling 62 at Riviera: Hideki Matsuyama smiling again after winning 2024 Genesis Invitational

The win is the ninth of Matsuyama’s PGA Tour career and first since the 2022 Sony Open in Hawaii.

Hideki Matsuyama is his own toughest critic.

The 31-year-old past Masters champion has developed a reputation for reacting as if he hated his shot more than hot sauce on ice cream only for the shot in question to be a thing of beauty.

Wearing his Sunday yellow golf shirt, even Matsuyama couldn’t resist cracking a smile as he struck irons on back-to-back holes on the back nine to within a foot to set up kick-in birdies and win the Genesis Invitational.

“It was 184 into the wind and I executed perfectly,” Matsuyama said through his agent, Ken Harai, who served as his interpreter, of his 6-iron at 15. “Happy with how I struck it.”

The Japanese star broke out of a five-way tie for the lead with three birdies in his final four holes to shoot bogey-free 9-under 62 at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California, the lowest final-round score in tournament history.

Matsuyama, who has battled a neck injury the last two years, won for the ninth time on the PGA Tour, breaking out of a tie with Korea’s K.J. Choi for the most wins by an Asian-born male golfer, signing for a 72-hole total of 17-under 267 to defeat Luke List and Will Zalatoris by three strokes.

“There were a lot of times where I felt, you know, I was never going to win again,” Matsuyama said.

He erased a six-shot overnight deficit by making three birdies to start both nines of his round. Matsuyama drained his longest putt of the tournament at the 12th hole, a 46-foot birdie, to reach 14 under and cut the deficit to one. Patrick Cantlay led after each of the first three days but faded on Sunday, shooting 72 and finished T-4. He played alongside Xander Schauffele (70), the best man at his wedding, whose birdie at the 10th hole was the first of the day for either of the competitors in the final group. Cantlay ended his string of nine straight pars at the 10th with a bogey to trail by two. He bounced back with a birdie at 11 but was upstaged by Schauffele, who holed a bunker shot for eagle. Both improved to 14 under and joined a five-way tie for the lead when List (68), who vaulted in front with six threes in his first seven holes, made bogey at 12. Zalatoris, who underwent a microdiscectomy on his back in April, reached 15 under with a birdie at 13 but it turned out to be his last of the day (69).

“I’ve got a lot of silver in my house so getting another second place doesn’t really sit that well, but obviously coming back from what I had to go through physically, you know, we’re in the right direction,” Zalatoris said. “Hats off to Hideki, that is just stellar playing.”

Matsuyama broke out of the pack with his third stretch of three birdies in a row. At 15, he flushed an iron from 189 yards to inside a foot for his seventh birdie of the day. At the par-3, 160-yard 16th hole, his tee shot looked like instant replay but it wasn’t – this time he stuffed his tee shot to 6 inches.

“I hit it maybe like five yards to the right of my target, but it became a good shot,” he explained. “All is good.”

Matsuyama, the critic, rated his ball striking for the rest of the round as more like he’d shot 75 than 62. He credited his putter and short game for his birdie barrage. Matsuyama chipped close at the par-5 17th for his final birdie of the day. His long-range birdie putt at the last to tie the course record burned the left edge of the cup.

Tiger Woods, who serves as tournament host at the Genesis Invitational, withdrew from the tournament after completing just six holes on Friday citing illness. He confirmed on Saturday via social media that he had the flu and missed the trophy presentation.

“A little disappointed that I wasn’t able to take a picture with Tiger today,” Matsuyama said.

He had been winless since the 2022 Sony Open in Hawaii, last recorded a top-10 finish nearly a year ago at the Players Championship in March, and had dropped out of the top 50 in the world a month ago. (He entered the week at No. 55.) Matsuyama’s injury dates to the 2022 Arnold Palmer Invitational and it caused him to withdraw most recently from the BMW Championship in August.

“Ever since that injury, I was worried every week that something bad might happen to my neck,” he said.

Matsuyama confirmed that his neck has been improving this year and he’s felt pain-free.

“I had this feeling of I can do something special maybe this year,” he said. “This week I played without any worries so that really helped too.”

 It helped him stand tallest on Sunday in the city of angels.

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Ace wins wheels for Will Zalatoris, Scottie Scheffler’s putter stays cold among 5 takeaways at the Genesis Invitational

Here are key things to know after the second round of the Genesis Invitaitonal.

Patrick Cantlay was asked if he prefers leading or chasing at a PGA Tour event.

“Oh, I’ll take leading, yeah, by as many as I can get,” he said.

Cantlay leads by five at the midway point of the Genesis Invitational in Pacific Palisades, California, the largest lead after 36 holes on the Tour since Brian Harman at the British Open in July and tied for the largest margin in Genesis Invitational tournament history (Sam Burns, 2021). The 31-year-old former UCLA Bruin followed up his opening-round 64 with a 6-under 65 on Friday to shoot 13-under 129 at Riviera Country Club.

Cantlay leads the field in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green (+4.471) and SG: Putting (+6.826). “It’s the best putting surfaces I’ve ever seen around this place,” said Cantlay, who ranks 125th in SG: Putting for the season, but is perfect on all 27 putts from inside 10 feet this week. “I like when the greens are really fast, they’re as fast as I’ve ever seen them and I’ve made a bunch.”

Cantlay will attempt to put an end to his track record as the 36-hole leader or co-leader in individual stroke-play events. This marks his eighth time leading at the halfway point of a Tour event and he’s winless in the seven prior times as the frontrunner (most recently at the 2021 RBC Heritage, where he lost in a playoff). According to stats guru Justin Ray, over the last 20 years, players who lead by five strokes through two rounds on Tour win 72 percent of the time. Cantlay is bidding for his first Tour title since the 2022 BMW Championship.

Here are four more things to know after the second round of the Genesis Invitational, including Tiger Woods’s early exit after six holes due to flu-like symptoms.

Golf equipment spotted at the 2024 Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club

Close-up photos of the golf equipment stars like Tiger Woods, Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth are using.

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. – This week the PGA Tour moved from the frat house atmosphere of TPC Scottsdale to one of the most posh venues on the schedule, Riviera Country Club. Instead of crowds booing bad shots in an arena-like setting, the Genesis Invitational is all about movie stars, a classic course and an ultra-elite field highlighted by Tiger Woods.

Golfweek’s David Dusek was in the practice areas and around the PGA Tour equipment vans this week with his camera and took plenty of close-up photos of the gear being used by the players who are looking to win the $4 million first-place check.

Genesis Invitational: Picks to win, odds | Tiger debuts ‘Sun Day Red’

10 of the best players at the Genesis Invitational over the last 5 seasons

These players love Riviera.

The PGA Tour’s third signature event of the year has arrived, and a loaded field is in Los Angeles for the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club.

Tiger Woods, who hasn’t played an official Tour event since the Masters, last teed it up at the PNC Championship in December. Before that, he placed 18th at the Hero World Challenge.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Viktor Hovland, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Max Homa and Justin Thomas are among the players who will join Woods.

Reigning champion Jon Rahm is unable to defend his title due to his move to LIV Golf.

Genesis: Picks to win, odds

Here are 10 of the best players at the Genesis Invitational over the past five seasons.

Will Zalatoris bought a broomstick putter online and now he’s a convert: ‘It’s just the best way’

He paid for it like a regular customer, but someone recognized the name on the order and comped him.

HONOLULU, Hawaii – Will Zalatoris put his seven-month layoff due to back surgery to good use – he found a putter he loves.

Add Zalatoris to the list of converts that have adopted a broomstick putter to their arsenal. He’s using the same L.A.B. putter popularized by Adam Scott and Lucas Glover, the Mezz.1 MAX.

“If I had known about this thing 10 years ago, I would have gone to it (then),” he said on Tuesday ahead of the Sony Open in Hawaii.

Zalatoris had a college teammate who used one and tinkered with his from time to time but never understood how to use it. But after being sidelined to repair his back he had several months to figure out the right weight, loft and shaft.

“I love it,” Zalatoris said. “You rock your shoulders and that’s it. It takes the hands out of it completely. I’ve always been very linear. It feels way more straight back-straight through as opposed to trying to work on an arc. It’s just the best way.”

Zalatoris said that putting wizard Brad Faxon suggested he try it as did a friend he plays with frequently at home in Dallas. So, he ordered an arm-lock model online and paid for it like a regular customer. Someone at L.A.B. recognized the name on the order, comped him, and sent him a couple broomsticks too. Even before he could start hitting shots again after his surgery, he would go out and watch the guys at his club play and used the broomstick putter on the greens.

“Shoot, dude, you need to putt with this,” they told him.

Will Zalatoris of the United States putts with a broomstick putter on the third green during the first round of the Hero World Challenge at Albany Golf Course on November 30, 2023, in Nassau, Bahamas. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

Zalatoris ranked No. 103 in Strokes Gained: Putting in 2021-22, his last full season before his injury, good enough for him to climb to No. 8 in the world (he’s No. 43 now) and notch his first Tour title at the 2022 FedEx St. Jude Invitational, but he’s had some struggles on the greens, especially with short putts, switching to the arm-lock style before he made his way on Tour.

He used the broomstick for all four rounds at the Hero World Challenge, his first foray back inside the ropes at the December unofficial event. He finished last in the field of 20, including an opening-round 81, comparing playing in the Bahamas to cramming for a test the night before an exam compared to feeling prepared for his new season to get underway on Thursday. It wasn’t his putting that held him back in the Bahamas.

“I knew it was going to be a lot of trial and error,” he said. “But it was really good to get one competitive rep under my belt.”

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Four months after brain surgery, Gary Woodland to play 2024 Sony Open in Hawaii

Woodland will be among the 144 golfers competing in the first full-field event of the new season.

Less than four months after surgery to remove tumors on his brain, Gary Woodland is set to return to action on the PGA Tour. Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis was first to report the news.

During a live report from the 2024 season opener, The Sentry, on Maui on Friday, Lewis said Woodland is entered in the Sony Open field in Honolulu, Jan. 11-14.

Woodland played in the 2023 Sony Open and missed the cut, but this time around will be a much bigger deal for the four-time Tour winner. Woodland last competed in the Wyndham Championship last August, where he tied for 27th.

Woodland, 39, posted on social media he had been trying to treat symptoms with medication but after consulting with specialists and his family he elected to have surgery.

Shortly after his surgery, the University of Kansas, where Woodland played college golf, renamed its facilities after him.

In November, he posted a video hitting practice balls, ending his message with “I look forward to seeing you all next year.”

Next year is here, and Woodland will be among the 144 golfers competing in the first full-field event of the new season.

Zalatoris also entered in Sony

On Friday afternoon, the PGA Tour released the full-field list, which also features Will Zalatoris. He finished last in the 20-man field at the Hero World Challenge a month ago. He missed most of last season after having back surgery in April, just days after withdrawing from the Masters ahead of the first round.

Here’s a look at the field for the 2024 Sony Open.

Schupak: What I want to see on the PGA Tour in 2024

Here’s to a 2024 where the only drama is on the course and not off it.

With the new year upon us, time to dream up some fun scenarios for the 2024 PGA Tour season. Some may be wishful thinking but I will happily settle for a handful.

I want to see Patrick Cantlay get a new hat deal – how about one of those giant hats – and for Will Zalatoris to figure out his short putting issues as well as Lucas Glover did this year. I want to see Tiger play more than just hit-n-giggle golf in December and avoid sending out a press release about another surgery. I want to see Adam Scott, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas back in the winner’s circle.

I want to see top pros support the smaller events – don’t just play the $20 million signature tournaments fellas – because as Sam Saunders put it, there are no bad tournaments. They’re all great and the people in the Quad Cities and San Antonio have been showing up year after year for 50+, 100+ years and deserve to see quality fields.

I want to see someone like Chesson Hadley take advantage of the dome-like conditions in Palm Desert, California, and shoot 57 at the American Express. How cool would it be to go up to Al Geiberger and Jim Furyk and introduce yourself as Mr. 57?

2023 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am
Justin Rose poses with the trophy on the 18th hole during the continuation of the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am golf tournament at Pebble Beach Golf Links. (Photo: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports)

I want to see the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am have some juice again. It had become Exhibit A for a tournament that was losing its stars other than Jordan Spieth, who is paid by the title sponsor to be there. I’m excited to see a reinvigorated field at one of the cathedrals of golf. I’ll take a star-studded field at Pebble over Ray Romano and Bill Murray every day.

I want to see an ace at 16 at the WM Phoenix Open during the day and Duran Duran, who is performing in February at the Bird’s Nest, at night. “Hungry Like the Wolf” and “Rio” and “Girls on Film?” Count me in.

I want to see the winner of the Genesis Invitational shake Tiger’s hand at the trophy ceremony and be eligible to defend his title in 2025. The last two winners have been Joaquin Niemann and Jon Rahm, who both bolted to LIV before the next tourney. Actually, the coolest too-good-to-be-true Hollywood would reject the script scenario would be Tiger winning at Riviera, his kryptonite and the course and tournament he’s played the most without winning, to claim his 83rd title and break a tie with Sam Snead for all-time career wins on Tour. The Internet would explode.

I want to see Rickie Fowler, who happily signs autographs like Arnold Palmer once did, slip into the King’s alpaca red sweater awarded to the champion of Palmer’s tournament in Orlando.

On the occasion of the 50th Players, I want to see the winner dive into the lake at 18 at TPC Sawgrass like Jerry Pate did in 1982. That should be the men’s version of Poppy’s Pond.

I want to see Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm in the final group on Sunday at the Masters. It wouldn’t suck if Tiger and Scottie Scheffler were in the next group and they were all tied for the lead as they hit the back nine.

My colleague Beth Ann Nichols said she’d like to see more co-ed teams at the Grant Thornton Invitational. I second that but I’m going to go one step further: let’s make the Zurich Classic of New Orleans an official co-ed team event. The team format breathed new life into this event but let’s go next level and get the women involved.

I don’t care if it is an existing tournament switching things up or a brand new one but the PGA Tour needs to bring back a match-play tournament ASAP. Not a good look for the Tour letting Austin fall off the calendar.

I want to see a first-time major winner at the PGA: Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay and Tony Finau are about due but I like Viktor Hovland to break through next.

I want to see Billy Horschel win the Memorial and go from first to worst back to first. That’s how you stamp that you’re back.

It doesn’t get much better than the U.S. Open being at Pinehurst No. 2. That’s the major I’m most looking forward to attending in ‘24. It’s Disney for golf geeks there. Here’s hoping Martin Kaymer, who a reader reminded me has one year left on his 10-year exemption for winning there at No. 2 in 2014, can re-find some of his magic from a decade ago, and some Cinderella story fills the Jason Gore role as the new Prince of Pinehurst.

I want to see Daniel Berger return from injury and win the Travelers Championship. Still can’t believe Jordan Spieth holed that bunker shot to beat him in a playoff. Or that it happened back in 2017.

2023 Genesis Scottish Open
Robert MacIntyre celebrates a par putt on the 13th green during Day Four of the Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club on July 16, 2023 in United Kingdom. (Photo by Octavio Passos/Getty Images)

I want to see the wind blow again on Sunday at the Genesis Scottish Open and this time native son Bobby Mac, who got pipped by Rory this year, win his national open.

I want to see Tommy Fleetwood win a PGA Tour title so I can stop writing that he hasn’t and he should go big or go home and win the British at Troon. Then we can start asking him if he’s ever going to win in the U.S.

I want to see some drama with gold medals on the line in Paris. Ooh la la, can you imagine how the Norwegian announcers will lose their minds if Viktor Hovland were to sink a winning putt at 18 at Le Golf National?

I want to see an amateur win on Tour for the first time since Phil Mickelson in 1991. Rocket Mortgage Classic, 3M Open or Barracuda Championship feel ripe for the taking by the likes of Gordon Sargent or Nick Dunlap.

I want to see a down-and-out pro, who barely broke 80 all season capture some last-minute magic and win the Wyndham Championship and qualify for the FedEx Cup like Jim Herman before him and Lucas Glover did in August.

And for the ultimate rags to riches story, I want to see a “mule” win the Tour Championship and FedEx Cup for the everyman.

Royal Montreal needs to be the site of an International Team victory. I want to see Nick Taylor, one year after becoming the first Canuck to win the RBC Canadian Open in forever, win the clinching point of the Presidents Cup in Montreal…and for Adam Hadwin to get leveled again by security while trying to celebrate with him.

But most of all, I want to see the best players compete against each other more often. If that doesn’t work out, let’s hope that powers-that-be at least can agree on a PGA Tour-LIV Ryder Cup-style competition. Here’s to a 2024 where the only drama is on the course and not off it.