Reporter Kwon Hyuk-joon = Scotty Scheffler (USA), Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland), and Jon Rahm (Spain) face off once again in the PGA Tour’s ‘Special Tournament’ held for two consecutive weeks. . As the gap between the 1st and 3rd places in the world rankings narrowed, this tournament also drew attention from around the world.
The US Professional Golf (PGA) Tour Genesis Invitational (total prize money of 20 million dollars) will be held at Riviera Country Club (par 71) in Pacific Palisades, near Los Angeles, California, for four days from the 17th (Korean time).
This tournament is a ‘special tournament’ held for two weeks in a row following the WM Phoenix Open held last week. The total prize money already jumped to 12 million dollars last year, but this year, as it was included in the PGA Tour’s prize money increase policy, its status has risen even higher.
Most of the ‘top rankers’ gather as the prize money increases greatly. Based on the entry list, 23 out of the top 25 players in the world rankings and 40 out of 50 players will participate in this tournament.
Among them, what is attracting attention is the clash of the ‘Big 3’. Following last week’s Phoenix Open, they will compete against each other for the second week in a row.
Schaeffler, who won two consecutive Phoenix Open titles, overtook McIlroy and recaptured the world number one in four months. 3rd place Jon Rahm (Spain) also narrowed the gap with McIlroy by fighting for 3rd place alone in the same tournament.
Looking at the ranking points, Schaeffler scored 9.1809 points, the only one that exceeded 9 points, McIlroy scored 8.6708 points, and Ram scored 8.3629 points. It is a slight difference that the ranking can fluctuate again depending on the results of this tournament. 먹튀검증
All three are on good pace for 2023. Schaeffler, who had been sluggish for a while, regained his momentum by winning the Phoenix Open, the “promised land,” and McIlroy tied for 32nd at the Phoenix Open, but won the DP World Tour Dubai Desert Classic last month, his first appearance in the new year.
Ram also won the Sentry Tournament of Champions and American Express this year, and continued his good sense at the Phoenix Open, which Schaeffler won.
In the final round, if the ‘Big 3’ play in the championship group, there will be no more exciting scene for golf fans.
There is another spectating point in this tournament. ‘Golf Emperor’ Tiger Woods (USA) will make his first sortie in 2023. It is the first time Woods has participated in an official tournament in seven months since the Open Championship in July last year. It is the first time in 2 years and 4 months since the Jojo Championship in October 2020 that it is not a major competition but a regular competition.
This event was significant as Woods made his PGA Tour debut in 1992 when he was 16 years old. However, in 2020, after participating in this competition, he was hit by bad news of being in a car accident.
Woods couldn’t play properly for two years after the accident. Even at the PNC Championship, an event competition he competed with his son Charlie in December of last year, he was also in a state of mobility problems, such as moving in a cart.
Attention is focusing on whether Woods will be able to meet the expectations of golf fans in this tournament, where he has to travel by foot rather than by cart. Woods has never won this event, and his best results are runner-up twice in 1998 and 1999.
Korean players are Im Seong-jae (25, CJ Logistics), Kim Joo-hyung (21, Nike Golf), Kim Si-woo (28, CJ Logistics), Lee Gyeong-hoon (32, CJ Logistics), Kim Seong-hyun (25, Shinhan Financial Group), Kim Young-soo (34 ·PNS Holdings) and 6 people. Among them, Im Seong-jae and Kim Si-woo, who have a good sense recently, are noteworthy.
The performance of Kim Young-soo, who won the Korea Professional Golf (KPGA) Korean Tour Grand Prize and prize money last year, is also of interest. After his debut, Kim Young-soo was ‘unrelated’ for more than 10 years, but he made a ‘life reversal’ by sweeping 2 wins including the Genesis Championship last year.