PGA Tour’s Procore Championship brings Ryder Cup excitement

Procore Championship at Silverado Resort being used as a Ryder Cup warm-up

By Jim Bebbington

This weekend’s PGA Tour event, the Procore Championship, features an unusually stacked field and also is featuring a group of competitors deep with Colorado ties.

This is the first PGA Tour event of the fall season. The Tour concludes with the FedEx championship in mid-August, partly because it wants to avoid having its events slaughtered in TV ratings battles by the start of NFL football.

But the fall season is it’s own unique experience. The top pros usually skip almost all of it. Mid-field pros use it as a way to solidify their standings for the top tournaments of next season. And other players get a chance to take their shots.

But this weekend is different.

Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley asked the U.S. team players to show up for the Procore, and nearly the entire U.S. Ryder Cup team did. They are using the event as a tune-up for the Ryder Cup at New York’s Bethpage Black Golf Course Sept. 26 to 28. The only exception is team member Xander Schauffele, who is skipping it to be with his wife and newborn baby. Even Ryder Cup stalwart Bryson DeChambeau, who plays on the LIV circuit and is not in the Procore field, is reportedly in town to take part in some team events off the course.

The tournament organizers could not be more accommodating.  Members of the U.S. team played together in Tuesday’s practice rounds and are paired together for the first two rounds, beginning Thursday.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by PGA TOUR (@pgatour)

The European team is using the DP World Tour’s BMW PGA Championship this weekend, at the Wentworth Course near London, in a very similar way.

It doesn’t hurt that the Procore Championship is played at the Silverado Resort in California’s Napa Valley. The resort is a destination favorite in the fall and players and their families can take advantage of the region’s popular tourism spots.

Colorado players are also out in force. Denver native and PGA Tour veteran Mark Hubbard is in the field, making his first Tour start in a month since missing the FedEx Cup playoffs. Colorado Open champion Jim Knous made the field through the Monday qualifier. Former DP World Tour pro Gunner Wiebe, who grew up in Denver, received a sponsors exemption to play this weekend. The field also includes CSU golf alumni Martin Laird, as is C.U. golf alumni Jeremy Paul.

Jim Bebbington is the Director of Content at Colorado AvidGolfer and can be reached at [email protected]

Colorado AvidGolfer Magazine is the state’s leading resource for golf and the lifestyle that surrounds it, publishing eight issues annually and proudly delivering daily content via coloradoavidgolfer.com.

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram