Arnold Palmer Lydia Ko Scottie Scheffler Golf Joe Highsmith Dean Burmester Ludvig Aberg Rory McIlroy Xander Schauffele Rafael Campos Joaquin Niemann Patrick Reed Loren Roberts Viktor Hovland Heath Slocum Abraham Ancer Jackson Koivun David Puig David Duval Bailey Tardy Dustin Johnson Tiger Woods Justin Hastings Angel Yin Taylor Dickson Athlete injuries Hong Kong Puerto Rico China California Kirk Triplett A Lim Kim Sports Justin Leonard Ted Purdy Jordan Spieth Brice Garnett Justin Suh Briana Chacon Rickie Fowler Steve Stricker Jeeno Thitikul Hank Lebioda Min Woo Lee Mackenzie Hughes Ruoning Yin Lee Anne Pace John Parry Louis Dobbelaar Danny Willett Jason Dufner Dylan Naidoo Tony Finau Matt Every Golf Adelaide Charles Schwab Jon Rahm Ernie Els Adrian Meronk Thriston Lawrence Laurie Canter Robert Karlsson Joe Durant
# Scheffler and McIlroy lead a strong field at Bay Hill. LIV Golf resumes in Hong Kong

By The Associated Press  
March 4th, 2025 01:38 PM

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## PGA Tour

ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL

Site: Orlando, Florida.

Course: Bay Hill Club & Lodge. Yardage: 7,466. Par: 72.

Prize money: $20 million. Winner's share: $4 million.

Television: Thursday-Friday, 2-6 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 12:30-2:30 p.m. (Golf Channel), 2:30-6 p.m. (NBC).

Defending champion: Scottie Scheffler.

FedEx Cup leader: Ludvig Aberg.

Last week: Joe Highsmith won the Cognizant Classic.

Notes: This will be the first time the top 3 players in the world ranking — Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele and Rory McIlroy — compete in the same tournament since the Tour Championship. ... Schauffele has been out since The Sentry in the PGA Tour opener with a rib injury. ... The sponsor exemptions went to Rafael Campos, Mackenzie Hughes and Min Woo Lee. The tournament turned down requests by Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler. ... Scheffler has won at Bay Hill twice in the last three years. ... Bay Hill will have a 36-hole cut for the top 50 and ties. ... Auburn sophomore Jackson Koivun is in the field. He is two points away from a PGA Tour card through the PGA Tour University Accelerated program and can get his card with a top 10. ... Tiger Woods is an eight-time winner at Bay Hill as a pro. ... Woods, Matt Every and Loren Roberts are the only players to have won back-to-back at Bay Hill.

Next week: The Players Championship.

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

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## LIV Golf League

LIV GOLF HONG KONG

Site: Hong Kong.

Course: Hong Kong GC at Fanling. Yardage: 6,711. Par: 70.

Prize money: $20 million. Winner's share: $4 million.

Television: Friday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (FS2-Tape Delay); Saturday-Sunday, 12-5 a.m. (FS1).

Defending champion: Abraham Ancer.

Points leader: Adrian Meronk.

Last tournament: Joaquin Niemann won LIV Golf Adelaide.

Notes: This is the third LIV Golf event of the year, after events in Saudi Arabia and Australia. LIV will not play in the United States until a week before the Masters. ... Patrick Reed shot a 59 in the third round of the Hong Kong Open last year, though it did not count as an official Asian Tour record because of preferred lies. Reed is 49th in the LIV standings after two tournaments and has yet to win in the league since joining in 2022. ... Joaquin Niemann won the last LIV event. He received a special invitation to the Masters and is one of 12 players from LIV Golf who will be at Augusta National. ... Jon Rahm and David Puig are the only players with top 10s in both LIV events this year. ... Dustin Johnson now has gone eight consecutive LIV events since last recording a top-10 finish. ... The league will stay in Asia next week as it goes to Singapore for the third straight year.

Next week: LIV Golf Singapore.

Online: https://www.livgolf.com/

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## LPGA Tour

BLUE BAY LPGA

Site: Hainan Island, China.

Course: Jian Lake Blue Bay GC. Yardage: 6,712. Par: 72.

Prize money: $2.5 million. Winner's share: $300,000.

Television: Wednesday-Friday, 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday, 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. (Golf Channel).

Defending champion: Bailey Tardy.

Race to CME Globe leader: A Lim Kim.

Last week: Lydia Ko won the HSBC Women's World Championship.

Notes: This is the third and final stop on the LPGA's first Asia swing of the year, which is followed by a two-week break. ... By winning the HSBC Women's World Championship, Lydia Ko moved to No. 2 on the LPGA's career money list with $20,595,105. ... Blue Bay LPGA began in 2014. It resumed in 2024 after a five-year hiatus because of travel restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic. ... The field features only three of the top 10 in the world, led by Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand and Ruoning Yin of China. ... Angel Yin (Thailand) and Ko (Singapore) won the first two stops on the Asia swing. Neither are playing this week. ... Bailey Tardy set the tournament record at 19-under 269. Lee-Anne Pace was 16 under after 54 holes in 2014 when the tournament was shortened because of weather. ... Americans have seven players in the top 25, the most of any country.

Next tournament: Ford Championship on March 27-30.

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

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## PGA Tour

PUERTO RICO OPEN

Site: Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.

Course: Grand Reserve GC. Yardage: 7,506. Par: 72.

Prize money: $4 million. Winner's share: $720,000.

Television: Thursday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 2:30-5 p.m. (Golf Channel).

Defending champion: Brice Garnett.

FedEx Cup leader: Ludvig Aberg.

Last week: Joe Highsmith won the Cognizant Classic.

Notes: Rafael Campos is not playing his national open after receiving a sponsor exemption to play the Arnold Palmer Invitational this week. ... The winner gets a spot in The Players Championship next week, the PGA Championship and The Sentry next year at Kapalua. Winning does not come with a Masters exemption. ... Justin Hastings of the Cayman Islands received a sponsor exemption. He is going to the Masters as the Latin America Amateur champion. ... Former PGA champion Jason Dufner received a sponsor exemption. He joins former Masters winner Danny Willett as the only major champions in the field. ... The tournament dates to 1956. It has been part of the PGA Tour schedule since 2008. ... Past champions include Tony Finau and Viktor Hovland, who won their first PGA Tour titles in the Puerto Rico Open.

Next week: The Players Championship.

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

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## European Tour and Sunshine Tour

JOBURG OPEN

Site: Johannesburg.

Course: Houghton GC. Yardage: 7,227. Par: 72.

Prize money: 20.5 million rand ($1.12 million). Winner's share: 3.4 million rand ($186,000).

Television: Thursday-Friday, 6-10 a.m. (Golf Channel), 10-11 a.m. (NBC Sports app); Saturday, 5:30-10 a.m. (Golf Channel); Sunday, 5:30-10:30 a.m. (Golf Channel).

Previous winner: Dean Burmester.

Race to Dubai leader: Laurie Canter.

Last week: Dylan Naidoo won the Investec South African Open Championship.

Notes: Dean Burmester won the Joburg Open for his second straight win in South Africa. He is not back to defend because LIV Golf has an event in Hong Kong this week. ... The tournament is co-sanctioned with the Sunshine Tour for the second straight week. ... This wraps up the European tour's three-week swing through the African continent, starting in Kenya. It is expected to return late in the year to the Nedbank Challenge when a new wraparound season begins. ... Calum Tarren is the only player taking the exemption from finishing between Nos. 126 and 200 on the FedEx Cup last year. ... John Parry of England is the only player from the top 100 in the world ranking in the field. ... Thriston Lawrence won in 2021 over 36 holes when the tournament was cut short because of COVID-19 related travel restrictions between Britain and South Africa. ... The tournament dates to 2007.

Next tournament: Porsche Singapore Classic on March 20-23.

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

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## PGA Tour Champions

COLOGUARD CLASSIC

Site: Tucson, Arizona.

Course: La Paloma CC. Yardage: 6,856. Par: 71.

Prize money: $2.2 million. Winner's share: $330,000.

Television: Friday, 5-7 p.m. (NBC Sports app); 7-9 p.m. (Golf Channel-Tape Delay); Saturday, 5-7 p.m. (Golf Channel); Sunday, 5-8 p.m. (Golf Channel).

Defending champion: Joe Durant.

Charles Schwab Cup leader: Ernie Els.

Last tournament: Justin Leonard won the Chubb Classic.

Notes: This is the start of three tournaments in a four-week stretch in the West, to be followed by events in California. ... Paloma Country Club is hosting the tournament for the second straight year after having started in 2015 on the Catalina course at Tucson National. ... Robert Karlsson, a runner-up at the Cologuard Classic two years ago, received one of the two sponsor exemptions. The other went to Ted Purdy. ... The Tucson Open was part of the PGA Tour schedule from 1945 through 2006. Among those in the field who won the Tucson Open are David Duval, Kirk Triplett and Heath Slocum. ... Steve Stricker is in the field. The only other tournament he has played this year was a tie for 19th in the season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship on the Big Island of Hawaii. ... In the 10 years of the tournament, no one has won it more than once.

Next tournament: Hoag Classic on March 20-23.

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

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## Korn Ferry Tour

ASTARA CHILE CLASSIC

Site: Santiago, Chile.

Course: Prince of Wales CC. Yardage: 6,929. Par: 72.

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

Previous winner: Taylor Dickson.

Points leader: Hank Lebioda.

Last week: Justin Suh won the Visa Argentina Open.

Next tournament: Club Car Championship on April 3-6.

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

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## Other tours

Epson Tour: Atlantic Beach Classic, Atlantic Beach, Florida. Defending champion: Briana Chacon. Online: https://www.epsontour.com/

PGA Tour of Australasia: New Zealand PGA Championship, Hasting GC, Bridge Pa, New Zealand. Defending champion: Louis Dobbelaar. Online: https://pga.org.au/

Ladies European Tour: Australian WPGA Championship, Sanctuary Cove Golf and CC, Hope Island, Australia. Defending champion: New event. Television: Friday-Saturday, 7 p.m. to midnight (NBC Sports app). Online: https://ladieseuropeantour.com/

Royal & Ancient: Women's Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship, Hoiana Shores GC, Quang Nam, Vietnam. Previous winner: Wu Chun-wei. Television: Thursday-Friday, 2-5 a.m. (NBC Sports app); Friday-Saturday, 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. (NBC Sports app). Online: https://www.randa.org/

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf