This week, the PGA Tour will kick off the fourth leg of four "Florida Swings" – the Wasper Championship. The tournament was played at the Innsbruck Resort Golf Club (Copper Spotted Snake Course) in Palm Harbor.
Five of the world's top ten players joined this week's squad: Colin Morikawa (world no. 2), Victor Hovland (no. 3 in the world), Justin Thomas (no. 8 in the world), Zander Sheophile (no. 9 in the world), Dustin Johnson (no. 10 in the world). Defending champion Sam Boones (world seventeenth) will defend his honor at the PGA Tour's premier win. Pan Zhengchun is also in this week's lineup.
The total prize money for the tournament is a record $7.8 million, and the winner will earn $1.404 million and 500 FedEx Cup points.
(2022 Valspar Championship Preview)
Boones is back in the first place
Can the title be defended?
(Tournament defending champion Sam Boones with friends and family)
"It was a wonderful day!" Defending champion Sam Boones recalls his first PGA Tour win, "I fantasized countless times when I was ten or eleven years old. Through hard training and hope, I finally let my dream shine into reality. ”
"I have so many people to thank, they give silently behind the scenes, I owe them so much! After saving the ball in the bunker on the 18th hole, I started to choke up a little at the thought of winning the championship. The 25-year-old Boones eventually beat Keegan Bradley by three strokes to claim the first PGA Tour win.
(Defending champion swing: Sam Boones)
Boones made three appearances at the Bronze Spotted Snake Stadium and advanced to the top. In last week's PGA Tour's flagship players' tournament, Boones came to a tie for the lead after playing 36 holes, but unfortunately he played average in the final round (76, +4) and finished T26. He has won his second PGA Tour title at Sanderson Farm this season.
If he wins his PGA Tour third title this week, Boones will be the second player in tournament history to defend his title (the first Paul Casey to achieve this in 2018 and 2019 did not play this week).
Favorite player to win the championship
1. Victor Hovland (3rd in the world)
(Hovland in the Players Tournament)
Hoveland has scored five top 10s in his last six games (including a win and a T2) and is in hot form. Last week, he finished T9 in a star-studded players' tournament.
Hoveland scored four rounds of under-70 in his debut at the Bronze Snake Stadium last year to finish with a T3. This week he is expected to hit his fourth PGA Tour title.
2. Colin Morikawa (World No. 2)
(Morikawa in the Players Tournament)
Colin Morikawa struggled to play in last week's Players Tournament, delivering only +4 in two rounds and failing to qualify. But not qualifying for the first time this season also gave Morikawa more time to rest and adjust, allowing him to make his Debut at the Wisper Championship this week.
Morikawa has finished in the top 10 four times this season, with his best result being T2 at the Genesis Invitational, can he make his debut this week?
3. Dustin Johnson (10th in the world)
(DJ in the Players Tournament)
Dustin Johnson didn't get a lot of attention during the first four days of the Players Tournament, but he scored a tie-break 18-hole record 63 (-9, swallowing only a bogey) in the final round of the final day to improve his ranking to T9.
Dj declared his determination to return to the "champions circle" with his actions, and he achieved the T6 at the 2019 Valspar Championship. This week, he topped the list of title-winning favourites predicted by the caddies.
The "snake nest" is dangerous, do not hit the grass to scare the snake
Innsbruck Resort Golf Club (Copper Snake Course), 7340 yards, par 71
(Fun prank: How do players who meet real "snakes" react in the "snake den"?) ）
True to its name, the Bronze Snake Stadium is Innsbruck's second course, and its most distinctive feature is the 16th-18th hole known as the "Snake's Nest". The players will face two difficult par four holes and a 200-yard "sinister" par 3 (17th hole).
("Snake Nest Warning")
Designed by Larry Packard and opened in the 1970s, the tree-lined Bronze Spotted Snake Stadium has long been one of the tour players' favorites. But as Cowy Hunt, the resident professional coach who is intimately familiar with the stadium, puts it: "The 'snake nest' is a huge threat to every leader." ”
In order to win here, the players must play well in all technical aspects in order to successfully escape the "snake nest".
Race 72 hole record: 266, Vijay Singer (2004)
Race record on 18 holes: 61, Padregg Harrington (1st Round 2012)
Focus players' first round departure time
March 17-18, Beijing time
20:13 Dustin Johnson/Baba Watson/Jenson Day
20:24 Victor Hovland/Abraham Anser/Colin Morikawa
20:57 Phan Jeong-chun/Ryan Bram/Chez Rivi
01:25 Zander Sheophile/Sam Boones/Gary Woodland
The Golf Channel will record this week's game for you, so tune in!