This week, three of the four major professional golf courses are in Asia, making it difficult for American fans to watch.
The PGA Tour holds the ZOZO Championship in Japan with a strong field led by Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele. Justin Thomas is there, making his final start before becoming a father in late November. Hideki Matsuyama and Max Homa also play there, and Joel Dahmen just withdrew from last week's Shriners Children's Open. Like Dahmen, 2019 U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland received sponsor offers this week, so he is participating in the limited-field event with just 78 players.
Heading directly west, across the Sea of Japan, Tom Kim and Bung Hun An return to their native South Korea to compete in the DP World Tour's Genesis Championship. It's a big week for the circuit officially known as the European Tour. Thereafter, the top 70 players in the Dubai Race standings will qualify for the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship from November 7 to 10. From there, the top 50 players advance to next week's DP World Tour Championship in Dubai. Sitting just outside the threshold is young Danish phenom Nicolai Højgaard, who will try to break into the top 70 this week at Jack Nicklaus Golf Links in South Korea. Hoygaard comes into Asia ranked 78th, so solid results should put him on the right side of the bubble. He also won the DP World Tour title a year ago, so he will certainly be motivated to try and defend his title again. For him, it would be disappointing if he fell short.
Then, some 2,800 miles southwest, the LPGA will return to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for the second Maybank Championship. A year ago, Celine Boutier beat Jeeno Thitikul in a nine-hole playoff, the Frenchwoman's fourth win of the season. Since then, she has never won an official LGPA event, although she returned to Malaysia to defend her title. Other notable players in the field include Lilia Vu, Brooke Henderson and Hannah Green, who just won her third event of the season at the BMW Women's Championship in South Korea.
Finally, the PGA Tour winner will travel to Arkansas for the Simmons Bank Championship, an event in which the top 54 players in the Charles Schwab Cup standings qualify. The top 36 players from Little Rock will advance to the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, which will be held Nov. 7-10 at Phoenix Country Club. The best players over 50 are in action this week, including Ernie Els, Padraig Harrington and Rocco Mediate.
The full TV schedule is below.
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Golf on TV October 24-27:
PGA TOUR: ZOZO Championship
Wednesday, October 23rd: 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. ET (Golf Channel)
Thursday, October 24: 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. ET (Golf Channel)
Friday, October 25: 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. ET (Golf Channel)
Saturday, October 26: 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. ET (Golf Channel)
LPGA: Maybank Malaysia Championship
Wednesday, October 23rd: 9:30 pm-2:30 am ET (NBC Sports App)
Thursday, October 24: 9:30 pm-2:30 am ET (NBC Sports App)
Friday, October 25: 9:30 pm-2:30 am ET (NBC Sports App)
Saturday, October 26: 9:30 pm-2:30 am ET (NBC Sports App)
DP World Tour: Genesis Championship in Korea
Wednesday, October 23rd: 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. ET (NBC Sports App)
Thursday, October 24: 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. ET (NBC Sports App)
Friday, October 25th: 11:30 p.m. to 4 a.m. ET (NBC Sports App)
Saturday, October 26: 10:30 PM to 3:30 AM ET (NBC Sports App)
PGA Tour Championship: Simmons Bank Championship
Friday, October 25: 3-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)
Saturday, October 26: 3-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)
Sunday, October 27: 3-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)
Jack Milko is the golf staff writer for SB Nation's Playing Through. Be sure to check it out @_PlayingThrough Get more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jackmilko as well as.
