With the first major championships of 2019 in the rearview mirror, the busiest section of the golf schedule has arrived. Across the next 15 weeks, there will be a combined seven men’s and women’s majors, as well as a full slate of USGA championships, beginning this weekend with the U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball at Timuquana Country Club in Jacksonville, Fla.
The action certainly hasn’t slowed after an unforgettable Masters. Just up the road in Hilton Head, S.C., C.T. Pan, of Chinese Taipei, registered his first PGA Tour victory by one stroke over Matt Kuchar in the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links on Sunday. On Saturday, Brooke Henderson held off 2009 U.S. Women’s Open champion Eun-Hee Ji, reigning Women’s Open champion Ariya Jutanugarn and 2012 U.S. Girls’ Junior champion Minjee Lee in the Lotte Championship in Hawaii. Henderson’s eighth career win matched Sandra Post for the most LPGA Tour victories by a Canadian.
More excitement is on the horizon, with the PGA Tour holding its two-man team event (Zurich Classic) in Louisiana, the LPGA Tour in Los Angeles and the USGA in the Sunshine State. Here are three things to know as we enter this exciting stretch.
Ready, Set, Team
The U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship begins Saturday with 64 two-player sides playing two rounds of stroke play attempting to earn one of 32 spots in the match-play draw. Competitors hail from 29 states and nine countries, and range in age from 12 to 58. The field includes eight USGA champions, including defending Women’s Amateur Four-Ball champions Ellen Secor and Katrina Prendergast.
In the professional ranks, 80 sides will tee it up on Thursday in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans at TPC Louisiana, in Avondale, the only official team event on the PGA Tour schedule. The 72-hole event includes two rounds each of four-ball and foursomes (alternate shot), with a cut to the low 36 sides and ties after two rounds.
How do these formats work under the Rules of Golf? Check out the four-ball and foursomes sections of the Rules of Golf for more, and be sure to watch this video from the inaugural U.S. Amateur Four-Ball in 2015, which delves further into four-ball situations: