Charles Howell III among 29 LIV players at Hong Kong Open with Masters spot to the winner

This wasn't quite a tradition unlike any other, but Charles Howell III rarely got through the early part of the year on the PGA Tour without being asked about the Masters. He grew up in Augusta, Georgia, and no other tournament meant more to him.

Now the big change is the calendar and the scenery. Plus, there's no guarantee anyone at the Hong Kong Open this week will even ask Howell about what's at stake.

Winning the Hong Kong Open comes with an invitation to the Masters (and the British Open). Howell is part of a field with a heavy influx of LIV Golf players, particularly those who are not already secure for Augusta National or Royal Birkdale.

What stands out about Howell is he has not played anywhere but LIV Golf since he joined the Saudi-funded league in July 2022 after playing the John Deere Classic, the last of his 607 starts on the PGA Tour as a professional.

Two other chances remain for LIV players after this week, the Australian Open the first week of December and the South African Open the last week in February.

The Hong Kong Open has 33 players who competed on LIV this year, 29 of them the entire season. The field includes everyone from Talor Gooch and Paul Casey to Graeme McDowell and Harold Varner III. Gooch has not played outside of LIV Golf in three years.

Patrick Reed and Charl Schwartzel are the only players already in the field for the Masters as past champions.

The Spanish Open and Japan Open in recent weeks were the first of the six national opens Augusta National identified for awarding spots. There might be another reason Howell chose Hong Kong to play.

After some two decades of mainly playing at home, Howell took his wife and two children on a five-week tour of Asia. He played PGA Tour events in South Korea, Japan and Shanghai and explored Hong Kong and Thailand.

Howell once recalled being in Hong Kong as 20,000 people involved in pro-democracy protests were in the streets. The trip ended with his kids seeing elephants in Thailand. He called that a “once-in-a-lifetime” trip to for his family.

The letter from Michael Brennan was among 30 in front of the committee at the Bank of Utah Championship that decides on unrestricted sponsor exemptions.

Brennan had asked for one a year ago for Black Desert and was turned down, having only turned pro that summer and registered four top 10s on the PGA Tour Americas. It went to Max McGreevy. He stood out this year for obvious reasons. Brennan had won three times on the PGA Tour Americas to easily get to the Korn Ferry Tour, the next level.

It was clear even before Brennan won that this exemption was going to someone who appreciated it.

Brennan twice went into the tournament office to meet the staff and thank them for the invitation. He went back a second day in case he missed anyone. And this was before he took a three-shot lead into the final round and converted it into a four-shot win in his first PGA Tour start as a pro.

“He came into the office several times, as did his mom and dad,” said John Coolbaugh, the tournament director. “Just to say, ‘Thank you.’ We were more than happy to help with his launching point.”

This was quite the launch.

Brennan, 23, now bypasses the Korn Ferry Tour and has a PGA Tour card through 2027. And with his fourth win in a span of 77 days, Brennan moves to No. 43 in the world ranking. If he can stay in the top 50 by the end of the year, he’ll be in the Masters.

Billy Horschel missed five months recovery from surgery on his right hip, returning to a missed cut at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth (as defending champion) and then finishing 19 shots behind in Japan.

In the opening round of the Bank of Utah Championship, he had all sorts of problems in the lava rock and rang up a quadruple-bogey 8. He also had a double bogey Friday and was 3-over par through 22 holes.

And then he shot 32 on the back Friday to make the cut, had a 66-66 weekend and closed with five birdies in his last six holes to tie for 11th.

“Nice to see my game starting to show life,” Horschel said in a social media post. “Still work to do but we are getting closer.”

After being 4 over thru 11 holes and 3 over thru 22 holes, not a bad week after all of that. Nice to see my game starting to show life. Still work to do but we are getting closer.

The PGA Tour Champions is adding two tournaments, in Portugal and Pennsylvania, to a 2026 schedule that will have 28 events with a total prize fund that tops $69 million.

There’s also a few tweaks along the way.

The Mitsubishi Electric Classic at the TPC Sugarloaf outside Atlanta will use the Stableford scoring system instead of stroke play. The Stifel Classic in St. Louis will replace Richmond, Virginia, as the opening Charles Schwab Cup playoff event.

Ernie Els will be the tournament host of the Portugal Invitational, which will be a week after the Senior British Open. The Jefferson Lehigh Valley Classic in Allentown, Pennsylvania, will be the first week in October.

The five majors start with the Senior PGA championship, which goes to Concession Golf Club in Florida for the next three years. That will be played April 16-19, one week after the Masters. The Regions Tradition is two weeks later, but no longer the same week as the PGA Championship as it was this year.

The final three majors — the U.S. Senior Open at Scioto in Ohio, the Kaulig Companies Championship at Firestone and the Senior British Open at Gleneagles — will be in a four-week span starting July 1.

Phil Mickelson has a presence under the PGA Tour umbrella again, at least by name. Under a four-year extension for ATB Financial as title sponsor of a PGA Tour Americas event, the ATB Classic will rotate between Mickelson National in Calgary and Blackhawk in Edmonton. ... Rory McIlroy plans to start 2026 at the Dubai Invitational on the European Tour. He was runner-up in the event when it was last held in 2024. ... ... Michael Brennan was the 15th player to get his first PGA Tour victory this year. ... The indoor TGL league in Florida will have Tuesday matches the week of The American Express and Farmers Insurance Open next January.

Rico Hoey played 19 consecutive par 5s with birdie or better from the fourth hole of the first round in Japan through the ninth hole of the final round in Utah. It's the longest such streak on the PGA Tour since ShotLink began in 2003.

“It’s a brotherhood out here. It’s not even that — it’s the wives and everyone that gets along. It’s great now to know that I will see them again.” — Jordan Gumberg after holing out from 58 yards for eagle on his final hole to retain his European Tour card for 2026.

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf