Tampa Bay event moves to late April date, LPGA goes to Asia
By The Associated PressApril 27, 2021 GMT
PGA TOUR
Prize money: $6.9 million. Winner’s share: $1,242,000.
Television: Thursday-Friday, 2-6 p.m. EDT (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 1-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3-6 p.m. (CBS).
Defending champion: Paul Casey (2019).
FedEx Cup leader: Bryson DeChambeau.
Last week: Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
Notes: The Valspar Championship was built, dressed and next in line on the schedule when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down golf for three months last year. ... The tournament had been part of the Florida swing in March since 2007. It is expected to return to March next year. ... Dustin Johnson returns to the tournament. He was in the final group the last time in 2019 but failed to make a birdie in his final round of 74. ... Paul Casey will be going for his third straight victory at Innisbrook. ... Johnson, Justin Thomas, Tyrrell Hatton and Patrick Reed give the tournament four of the top 10 players in the world. ... Phil Mickelson has chosen to play the Valspar Championship instead of a PGA Tour Champions event this week in Houston. Mickelson has not played at Innisbrook since 2003 and 2004, and both times he missed the cut. ... Johnson has gone five consecutive tournaments without a top 10, dating to a tie for eighth in the Genesis Invitational. ... Rafa Cabrera Bello is in the field after playing last week in Spain on the European Tour. ... Three of the four players who have finished runner-up to Casey the last two times are in the field: Reed, Louis Oosthuizen and Jason Kokrak. That other was Tiger Woods in 2018.