The PGA Tour heads to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, this week for the CIMB Classic. Here is the key information for the second event of the 2017-18 season.
Golf course: TPC Kuala Lumpur is the first TPC network facility to be located in Southeast Asia. It was known as Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club until August 2016. This event is being played on the facility’s West Course (7,005 yards, par 72).
Purse: The total purse is $7 million, with $1.26 million going to the winner.
TV schedule (all times Eastern): Golf Channel, Wednesday and Thursday, 10:30 p.m.-2:30 a.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 p.m.-3 a.m.
Live streaming: www.golfchannel.com/pgastream. Wednesday and Thursday, 10:30 p.m.-2:30 a.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 p.m.-3 a.m.
Notable tee times: (all times ET) 8:40 p.m. Wednesday, 9:40 p.m. Thursday: Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele, Gavin Kyle Green; 8:50 p.m. Wednesday, 9:50 p.m. Thursday: Brendan Steele, Jhonattan Vegas, Charl Schwartzel; 9:40 p.m. Wednesday, 8:30 p.m. Thursday: Paul Casey, Si Woo Kim, Davis Love III; 9:50 p.m. Wednesday, 8:40 p.m. Thursday: Hideki Matsuyama, Pat Perez, Branden Grace.
Defending champion: Justin Thomas is the two-time defending champion, having won in 2015 and ’16.
Notables in the field: Thomas, Casey, Matsuyama, Schwartzel
Key stats:
• TPC Kuala Lumpur is not a long course. The final three par-4s (the 14th, 16th, and 17th) all measure less than 360 yards. It ranked as the seventh-easiest course to par on the 2016-2017 PGA Tour (out of 50 courses) as the field averaged 70.30 (-1.70) per round.
• The East Course at TPC Kuala Lumpur has hosted the LPGA’s Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia in each of the last seven years and will host for the eighth consecutive time in two weeks (Oct. 26-29).
• This is the eighth CIMB Classic, which is co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour, Asian Tour and PGA of Malaysia.
• Ben Crane won the inaugural event in 2010 at The Mines Golf & Country Club by one stroke over Brian Davis. It was the first event in Southeast Asia to be co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour.
• The field features 78 players for a fifth consecutive year: 60 players from the 2016-2017 FedExCup points list, the top 10 players available from the 2017 Asian Tour Order of Merit and eight sponsor exemptions (two players from Malaysia and six PGA Tour members).
Stats and information provided by the Golf Channel editorial research unit
Source: Internet
