Wednesday, February 21, 2018

Golf on TV: Fowler Defends at The Honda Classic Alongside Thomas, Garcia & Woods

Eight of the Top-10 in the World Convene at Honda LPGA Thailand
European Tour Staging Commercial Bank Qatar Masters

(ORLANDO, Fla.) – The PGA TOUR shifts to Florida this week for The Honda Classic, as Rickie Fowler defends his 2017 title alongside Justin Thomas, Sergio Garcia and Tiger Woods. Golf Channel will carry four hours of early-round live tournament coverage from 2-6 p.m. ET on Thursday-Friday, along with lead-in coverage on Saturday-Sunday from 1-2:45 p.m. ET.

Eight of the top-10 in the world will convene at the Honda LPGA Thailand, including each of the top-five players in the world, with coverage airing live (late) overnight Wednesday-Saturday.

The European Tour stages the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters this week, with Race to Dubai leader Shubhankar Sharma leading the field.

The R&A and Asia-Pacific Golf Federation are partnering to put on the inaugural Women’s Amateur Asia Pacific, with third and final round coverage streaming live from 11 p.m.-2 a.m. on Friday-Saturday on Golf Channel Digital. The winner will receive exemptions into the ANA Inspiration and RICOH Women’s British Open later this year, along with a spot in next week’s HSBC Women’s World Championship.

PGA TOUR
The Honda Classic
Dates: Feb. 22-25
Venue: PGA National Resort & Spa (Champion Course), Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

Tournament Airtimes on Golf Channel (Eastern)
Thursday 2-6 p.m. (Live) / 7-11 p.m. (Replay)
Friday 2-6 p.m. (Live) / 7-11 p.m. (Replay)
Saturday 1-2:45 p.m. (Live) / 7-11:30 p.m. (Replay)
Sunday 1-2:45 p.m. (Live) / 7-11:30 p.m. (Replay)

Golf Central Pre and Post Round Coverage on Golf Channel (Eastern):
Thursday 1-2 p.m. / 6-7 p.m. (Live)
Friday 1-2 p.m. / 6-7 p.m. (Live)
Saturday Noon-1 p.m. / 6-7 p.m. (Live)
Sunday Noon-1 p.m. / 6-7 p.m. (Live)

Broadcast Notes:
Player news conferences airing Wednesday at Noon ET: Tomorrow at Noon ET, Golf Channel will air a special news conference show from The Honda Classic featuring media interview sessions with Tiger Woods, Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler.

Final opportunity to qualify for WGC-Mexico: For those not yet eligible, the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking and the top-10 in the FedExCup standings at week’s end will qualify for next week’s WGC-Mexico Championship.

Fowler defends: Rickie Fowler finished four shots clear of Morgan Hoffmann and Gary Woodland to claim his fourth PGA TOUR win.

Headlining the field: Justin Thomas, Sergio Garcia, Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler, Tiger Woods, Tommy Fleetwood, Adam Scott, Patrick Reed, Patton Kizzire, Jim Furyk and Jimmy Walker.

Golf Channel Broadcast Team
- Play by Play: Bob Papa
- Analyst: Nick Faldo
- Tower: Curt Byrum / Trevor Immelman
- On-Course: Phil Blackmar
- Interviews: Steve Burkowski

LPGA TOUR 
Honda LPGA Thailand
Dates: Feb. 22-25
Venue: Siam Country Club Pattaya (Old Course), Chonburi, Thailand

Tournament Airtimes on Golf Channel (Eastern)
Thursday 1-5 a.m. (Live) / 11 a.m.-1 p.m. (Replay)
Friday 1-5 a.m. (Live) / 11 a.m.-1 p.m. (Replay)
Saturday 1-5 a.m. (Live) / 3-6 p.m. (Replay)            
Sunday 1-5 a.m. (Live) / 3-6 p.m. (Replay)

Broadcast Notes:
Strong field features eight of the top-10 in the world: The field features eight of the current top-10 players in the world, including each of the top-5: Shanshan Feng (No. 1), Sung Hyun Park (No. 2), So Yeon Ryu (No. 3), Lexi Thompson (No. 4) and Anna Nordqvist (No. 5).

Yang defends: Amy Yang finished five shots ahead of So Yeon Ryu to earn her third LPGA win.

Headlining the field: Shanshan Feng, Sung Hyun Park, So Yeon Ryu, Lexi Thompson, Anna Nordqvist, In Gee Chun, Ariya Jutanugarn, Cristie Kerr, Lydia Ko, Sei Young Kim and Brooke Henderson.

EUROPEAN TOUR 
Commercial Bank Qatar Masters
Dates: Feb. 22-25
Venue: Doha Golf Club, Doha, Qatar

Tournament Airtimes on Golf Channel (Eastern)
Thursday 5-9 a.m. (Tape delay) / 2:30-4:30 a.m. (Streaming on Golf Channel Digital)
Friday 5-9 a.m. (Tape delay) / 2:30-4:30 a.m. (Streaming on Golf Channel Digital)
Saturday 5-8:30 a.m. (Live)
Sunday 5-8:30 a.m. (Live)

Broadcast Notes:
Wang defends: Jeunghun Wang birdied the first playoff hole to win his third European Tour event.

Headlining the field: Shubhankar Sharma, Thongchai Jaidee, Thorbjorn Olesen, Hideto Tanihara, Nicolas Colsaerts, Mikko Ilonen, George Coetzee and David Horsey.

Golf Channel Broadcast Team
- Host: Mike Ritz
- Play by Play: Dougie Donnelly
- Analyst: Tony Johnstone / Ken Brown
- On-Course: Jay Townsend

THE R&A 
Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific
Dates: Feb. 21-24
Venue: Sentosa Golf Club (New Tanjong Course), Sentosa Island, Singapore

Tournament Airtimes on Golf Channel (Eastern)
Friday 11 p.m.-2 a.m. (Third Round, Streaming on Golf Channel Digital)
(Airing on Golf Channel Tuesday, February 27 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. ET)
Saturday 11 p.m.-2 a.m. (Final Round, Streaming on Golf Channel Digital)
(Airing on Golf Channel Wednesday, February 28 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. ET)

Broadcast Notes:
Inaugural event: This is the inaugural edition of the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific which has been developed by The R&A and the Asia-Pacific Golf Federation. The field includes seven of the top-50 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking.

Format: 83 players from 18 countries will compete in 72 holes of stroke play, with the winner receiving exemptions into the 2018 ANA Inspiration and RICOH Women’s British Open later this year. She’ll also be invited to compete in next week’s HSBC Women’s World Championship.

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