Golfers may not be able to fit inside of a pressure cooker, but they can attempt to earn PGA Tour cards at Victoria National, and that’s close enough. This week’s lineup includes golf in Portland and Switzerland, but the Korn Ferry Tour Championship will take center stage.

(Preview image credit: Evan Schiller golfshots.com)

Hold on tight

It’s the end of the road for the Korn Ferry Tour this week as players head from Boise to southern Indiana for the Korn Ferry Tour Championship. At the end of the weekend, the top 25 players from the Korn Ferry Tour Finals standings will earn PGA Tour cards, but there is plenty of golf to play before then. Korn Ferry Tour Championship Tee Times

According to our friends over at Data Golf, 12 of the 25 available PGA Tour cards have already been locked up through the first two events of the KFT Finals. These players include Viktor Hovland, Beau Hossler, Kramer Hickok, and Brandon Hagy. Two others, Justin Harding and Grayson Murray, are also virtually guaranteed cards this week. That leaves 11 spots up for grabs at Victoria National. 

Storylines

I’ll take the Faz, extra Faz – Victoria National has played host to a Korn Ferry Tour event since 2012, but this year will be the first Korn Ferry Tour Championship at the club. The golf course has been the most difficult on tour over the past four years and has one of the most diabolical finishes in the country. If you’re interested in graphic scenes of heartbreak, we highly suggest tuning in this weekend.

Potluck – Fresh off his first season on the PGA Tour, Curtis Luck is looking to get back to the big tour next year. The young Australian currently sits 15th in the Finals 25 and basically just needs to make the cut to earn his card.

Let’s try this again – Justin Lower was seven feet away from a PGA Tour card last season at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship. A missed putt on his 72nd hole left him on the KFT, but he is back with a chance again this year. A two-way tie for 12th place would earn him a PGA Tour card.

The Shrimp returns – Like Luck, José de Jesús Rodríguez was a rookie on the PGA Tour last season. At 37 years old, he struggled during his first season on the big tour, but can earn his way back this weekend. He won at Victoria National in 2018 and enters the week 20th in the KFT Finals 25.

It’s a quick flight from Atlanta to Zurich

The restructuring of the 2019 PGA Tour schedule led the European Tour to adjust its events, but the Euros are about to go on a stretch of great golf across the pond. The Omega European Masters kicks off in Switzerland this weekend, and headlining the event is none other than Rory McIlroy. Fresh off his victory at the Tour Championship, Rory hopped on a jet and is set to headline the field with Matthew Fitzpatrick, Eddie Pepperell, Alex Norén, and Lee Westwood. Tee Times

Quick Hooks

The LPGA Tour heads to Portland for its last event prior to the Solheim Cup. Alex Marina looks to defend her title as she returns to the site of her only professional victory. Tee Times

Tiger Woods had surgery… again. The 15-time major champion released a statement on Tuesday announcing he had a minor procedure to repair cartilage in his left knee. The statement says he expects to be practicing in a couple weeks, so no need to be concerned. 

The Latest

The Rainbow Road of the Korn Ferry Tour – Will Knights acknowledges that Victoria National Golf Club is too difficult for the average golfer, but he argues that it will make a compelling venue for the Korn Ferry Tour Championship. He may or may not use an elaborate Mario Kart analogy to make his point.

Eclectic 18 UK – Hole No. 7, Rye – Jaeger Kovich discusses what makes this do-or-die par 3 a must-play. 

How to survive a flood: Soule Park – When a massive rainstorm devastated the California coast, many thought Soule Park Golf Course’s days were numbered. Garrett Morrison dives into how a lot of hard work and ingenuity helped reinvigorate a course marked for dead.

Shotgun Start: The Korn Ferry shuffle and Tiger’s questionable post-surgery schedule

The PGA Tour may take a break this week but the Shotgun Start does not. This Wednesday episode runs through the schedule for the week, hitting on some premo events on the LPGA and Euro Tour before crowning the last tournament of the Korn Ferry Tour season as the event of the week. We cover which bubble boys we’re watching this week and also relay some data that shows just how extremely volatile it is this year in the positioning for the remaining PGA Tour cards. We also re-visit Stevie Fountains and discuss his prospects at Victoria National, a course which should create carnage under the most pressurized circumstances. A Champions Tour discussion leads the proposition that a PGA Tour event be held in Calgary and also confusion over who out there is actually in a Champions Tour fantasy league. The U.S. Senior Amateur events for both men and women are given their due as we run through some of the day jobs and backgrounds of the quarter finalists. A debate over how the best in the game should set their fall schedule provokes an Andy take on how we pronounce the word schedule. Then we wrap with the news of Tiger’s knee surgery and some questions about all the travel he has coming up in the final quarter of the year. Listen on iTunes, Stitcher, or Spotify.

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