The golf season is starting to hit its stride this week as the march to Augusta National begins in earnest. Less than 50 days out from the first major championship of the season, the world’s best players are preparing accordingly and doing their best to build up their games when the Masters kicks off on April 7.
Here’s what you should be watching this weekend.
PGA Tour
Northern Trust Open – Riviera Country Club, Pacific Palisades, Calif.
The last stop of the PGA Tour’s West Coast Swing is arguably the best. Riviera Country Club is only rivaled in course quality by last week’s host, Pebble Beach. However, when you take in the peripheral aspects of each tournament, this weekend’s Northern Trust Open is heads and shoulders above the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
A stacked field is teeing it up, including five of the top-eight players in the world. Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Bubba Watson, Justin Rose and Dustin Johnson headline the field.
TV Times: Saturday: Golf Channel, 1 – 2:30 p.m.; CBS, 3 – 6 p.m.
Sunday: Golf Channel, 1 – 2:30 p.m.; CBS, 3 – 6:30 p.m.
The European Tour
Maybank Championship Malaysia – Royal Selangor Golf Club, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Danny Willett, Louis Oosthuizen, Martin Kaymer, Thomas Pieters and Kiradech Aphibarnrat headline the field in Kuala Lumpur. The Euro Tour will be on its Asian Swing for the next five weeks (excluding the WGC Cadillac Championship at Doral) before a few weeks Stateside leading up to the Masters.
TV Times: Saturday: Golf Channel, 6 – 10 a.m.
Sunday: Golf Channel, 6 – 10 a.m.
The LPGA Tour
ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open – The Grange Golf Club, Grange, South Australia
World No. 1 Lydia Ko leads the LPGA Tour Down Under before its own version of the Asian Swing, hitting Thailand and Singapore before heading back to the U.S. in the middle of March.
TV Times: Saturday: Golf Channel, 11:30 p.m. – 2 a.m.
Sunday: Golf Channel, 11:30 p.m. – 2 a.m.
