Golf Glance: Tom Kim seeks rare 3-peat in Vegas; Champions enter playoffs

Field Level Media's Golf Glance provides weekly news and storylines from each of the major North American golf tours.

PGA TOUR

LAST TOURNAMENT: Black Desert Championship (Matt McCarty)

THIS WEEK: Shriners Children's Open, Las Vegas, Oct. 17-20

Course: TPC Summerlin (Par 71, 7,255 Yards)

Purse: $7M (Winner: $1.26M)

Defending Champion: Tom Kim (2022-23)

FedEx Cup Champion: Scottie Scheffler

HOW TO FOLLOW

TV: Thursday-Sunday: 5-8 p.m. ET (All times Golf Channel)

Streaming (ESPN+): Thursday-Friday: 9:45 a.m.-8 p.m. ET (Featured Groups)

X: @ShrinersOpen

NOTES: This is the fourth of eight events on the FedEx Cup Fall schedule, which finalizes the top 125 players who will retain exempt status for 2025. Nos. 126-150 after the fall will retain conditional status. Players who finished Nos. 51-70 in the FedEx Cup have secured their tour cards, but are competing for spots in the first two signature events after the season-opening The Sentry on Jan. 2-5. ... Kim is attempting to become the first player to win the same tournament three consecutive years since Steve Stricker won the John Deere Classic from 2009-11. ... Rickie Fowler makes his second start of the fall as he attempts to improve on his No. 111 place in the FedEx Cup Fall standings. He finished T4 in this event in 2018 but missed the cut in his most recent three appearances from 2020-22.

BEST BETS: Tom Kim (+1200 at DraftKings) understandably enters as the big pre-tournament favorite as the two-time defending champion. ... Canadian Taylor Pendrith (+2200) won earlier this season and finished the season T14 in the standings. ... Davis Thompson (+2500) won the John Deer Classic earlier this year, and tees it up for the first time since the BMW Championship. ... Stephan Jaeger (+3000) is coming off a runner-up in Utah and won the Houston Open earlier this year. ... Matt McCarty (+3500) is coming off his first PGA Tour victory in just his third career start. Including the Korn Ferry Tour, he has four wins in his past 10 starts. ... Maverick McNealy (+4000) is a Las Vegas resident with a two career runner-up finishes but is still seeking his maiden PGA Tour victory.

NEXT TOURNAMENT: Zozo Championship, Chiba, Japan, Oct. 24-27

LPGA TOUR

LAST TOURNAMENT: Buick LPGA Shanghai (Ruoning Yin)

THIS WEEK: BMW Ladies Championship, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea

Course: Seowon Hills at Seowon Valley Country Club (Par 72, 6,666 Yards)

Purse: $2.2M

Defending Champion: Minjee Lee

Race to the CME Globe leader: Nelly Korda

HOW TO FOLLOW

TV: Wednesday-Saturday: 11 p.m.-3 a.m. ET (Golf Channel)

X: @bmw_korea

NOTES: This is the second of the Tour's four-event fall Asia swing. It's the fifth playing of the event and the second year at Seowon Valley CC. ... World No. 1 Nelly Korda withdrew on Monday due to a neck injury and also pulled out of next week's event in Malaysia. ... Lee defeated Alison Lee with a birdie on the first playoff hole last year. ... This week's field includes 78 players -- 68 from the LPGA tour, eight tournament sponsor invites and Korean amateurs Hyojin Yang and Soomin Oh.

NEXT TOURNAMENT: Maybank Championship, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Oct. 24-27

PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS

LAST TOURNAMENT: SAS Championship (Jerry Kelly)

THIS WEEK: Dominion Energy Charity Classic, Richmond, Va., Oct. 18-20

Course: The Country Club of Virginia (Par 72, 7,025 Yards)

Purse: $2.3M (Winner: $350,000)

Defending Champion: Harrison Frazar

Charles Schwab Cup leader: Ernie Els

HOW TO FOLLOW

TV: Friday-Sunday, 2-5 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)

X: @SASChampionship

NOTES: This is the first event of the three-tournament playoffs and features a 69-player field. ... Els holds a lead of $103,745 over Stephen Ames for the top spot in the Charles Schwab Cup standings. ... Steve Stricker, who entered the playoffs ranked No. 5, and defending champion Frazar are not in this week's field.

NEXT TOURNAMENT: Simmons Bank Championship, Little Rock, Ark., Oct. 25-27

LIV GOLF LEAGUE

THIS WEEK: Season complete

2024 Champions: Individual: Jon Rahm; Team: Ripper GC

NEXT TOURNAMENT: LIV Golf Promotions, Abu Dhabi, Dec. 8-10