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Mr. Koepka Goes to Washington
Tournament Previews for LIV in Washington DC, PGA tour at Colonial, LPGA Match Play at Shadow Creek and more
Jack Middlebrook
May 24, 2023
Top 100 preview
For a week after a major, a surprising number of top 100 Men’s players are active, with 65 in total. 46 are at the Charles Schwab Challenge on the PGA Tour, 13 at LIV DC, and 7 at the KLM Open on the Euro Tour.
On the women’s side, 62 of the top 100 are playing this week. 36 are in the LPGA Match Play event, 13 are in the Korean LPGA E1 Charity Open, 12 in the Japan LPGA Resort Trust, and 1 in the Belgian Open on the Ladies European Tour.
Purses
LIV DC
Charles Schwab Challenge
KLM Open
LPGA Match-Play
Resort Trust Ladies
Visit Knoxville Open
E1 Charity Open
Gate Way To The Open Mizuno Open
Belgian Ladies Open
Colombia Classic
KitKat Group Pro-Am
LIV Golf - LIV DC
The week after the PGA Championship, LIV golf hosts its seventh event of the year in Washington DC at the Trump National course. The field features last week’s winner Brooks Koepka and other top 10 finishers, Bryson Dechambeau and Cameron Smith.
The top 3 leaders in the season-long points race are Talor Gooch, Brooks Koepka, and Cameron Smith.
Dustin Johnson’s 4 Aces lead the points standings on the team side with the South African Stinger team and the Range Goats chasing.
The DC event runs Friday through Sunday with 1:15 pm ET shotgun start.
PGA Tour - Charles Schwab Challenge
The PGA Tour heads to Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, for the Charles Schwab Challenge. While the tournament is not an elevated event, the field is still stronger, featuring World Number 1 Scottie Scheffler, last week’s runner-up Viktor Hovland, and Max Homa.
It appears Jordan Spieth’s wrist is good enough to give it a go at Colonial. He made the cut last week at the PGA Championship and finished T29.
Sam Burns is the defending champ. His recent form hasn’t been great, with his last two starts being Missed Cuts, but he won the WGC Match Play in March and has two other top 10s in 2023.
Both Scheffler and Finau had top-five finishes last year at Colonial.
Other notables in the field:
Last week’s PGA Championship breakout star, Michael Block, is playing on a sponsor’s exemption.
Min Woo Lee and Ryan Fox earned special temporary memberships after last week’s results and are in the field at Colonial.
DP World Tour - KLM Open
This week, the European tour is in the Netherlands for the Dutch Open at Bernardus Golf. Bernardus, a Kyle Phillips-designed course in Cromvoirt, has been the host for the past two years.
The defending champion is Victor Perez, who won in a playoff over Ryan Fox. Perez looks to bolster his position in the European Ryder Cup standings.
Joost Luiten is the top Dutch player in the field and has twice won the Dutch Open (2013 & 2016). Other Dutch golfers in the field include Wil Besseling, Darius Van Driel, and Daan Huizing.
LPGA - LPGA Match-Play
64 ladies are in the field for the LPGA Match Play event in Las Vegas. While the field is missing some top LPGA stars, such as Nelly Korda and Jin Young Ko, the match-play format makes for an exciting change. The 64 women are divided into 16 groups; each player has three matches over the first three days. The winner of each group moves on to the knockout bracket with a finals match on Sunday to crown the champion.
The host course is Shadow Creek in Las Vegas - a Tom Fazio-designed course that was the site of the 2018 Match between Tiger and Phil.
Lilia Vu is the favorite heading into the week. She finished third in last year’s match play and looks to be a good fit this week at Shadow Creek. The number 4 player in the world has been on quite the run in 2023 - She won the first major of 2023 and the LPGA Honda event in Thailand earlier in the year.
Danielle Kang is the local favorite as she plays out of Las Vegas, and Shadow Creek is one of her home courses.
Korean Eun-Hee Ji is the defending champion and is again in the field this year.