After a full week off, the 2017-18 PGA Tour season is ready to begin at the Safeway Open in Napa, Calif. This is the first of 49 FedExCup events on the schedule.
Golf course: The North Course at Silverado Resort & Spa was opened in 1955 and originally designed by Ben Harmon and John Dawson. It was redesigned by Robert Trent Jones, Jr. (1967) and Johnny Miller (2011). The course will play as a par 72 at 7,203 yards.
Purse: $6.2 million
TV schedule (All times Eastern): Thursday-Sunday, 5:30-8:30 p.m., on Golf Channel
Live streaming: Thursday-Sunday, 5:30-8:30 p.m., at golfchannel.com
Notable tee times (pairings adjusted after each round): 10:50 a.m. Thursday, 3:40 p.m. Friday: Brendan Steele, Zach Johnson, Chesson Hadley; 11:30 a.m. Thursday, 4:20 p.m. Friday: John Daly, Jamie Sadlowski, Cameron Champ (a); 3:40 p.m. Thursday, 10:50 a.m. Friday: Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, Webb Simpson. Click here for full tee times.
Defending champion: Brendan Steele defeated Patton Kizzire by one stroke, at 18 under, to earn his second career PGA Tour win and his first since the 2011 Valero Texas Open.
Notables in the field: Mickelson, fresh off his sucessful Presidents Cup performance is in attendance, alongside International team member Emiliano Grillo. Sangmoon Bae, making his first PGA Tour start since serving in the South Korean military for 21 months, Daly, Tony Finau, Johnson, Maverick McNealy (professional debut), Ryan Moore and Sam Saunders are scheduled to compete.
Key stats:
• Mickelson finished T-8 in the tournament last season, one of five top-10 finishes on Tour
• Kevin Na has finished T-3, 2nd and 7th in his last three Safeway Open starts
• The North Course ranked as the sixth-toughest fairways to hit on Tour last season
• Bae won two times on Tour before beginning his military stint, including this event in 2014
• Bae’s last Tour start was the 2015 Tour Championship; he competed in an Asian Tour event upon his return last month
• McNealy won 11 times at Stanford University, tying Tiger Woods and Patrick Rodgers for the school record
• McNealy’s 70.13 scoring average was bested Rodgers (70.31) and Woods (70.96)
(Notes courtesy Golf Channel editorial research department)
Source: Internet
