The PGA Tour makes their annual return to Southwest Florida this weekend. Tiburon will host the event for the 21st consecutive year. The event moved to Naples for the 2001 event, and has found a home. This is one of just a handful of team events on the Tour schedule. This is regularly the smallest field of any event on tour all season. There are Ryder Cup members, President’s Cup participants, former world #1’s, and even a pair of LPGA players in the field of 24. here’s the 2022 QBE Shootout preview.
This Year’s Field
Lexi Thompson and Nelly Korda are the LPGA players in the field. Korda ranks #2 in the world while Thompson is 7th in the OWGR. Max Homa, who is also the top ranked male player in the field, partners with Kevin Kisner. Former World #1 Jason Day pairs with Florida Gator Billy Horschel. This year’s field is one of the better in recent memory. Matt Kuchar and Harris English are the oldest duo in the field. Corey Conners and K.H. Lee are one of the top-ranked pairs in the field. Cameron Young makes his first appearance in the tournament partnering with Steve Stricker. This year’s field is one of the strongest ever.
Three Formats
There are three formats over three rounds. Round 1 is a scramble, Round 2 is modified alternate shot, and the final round is 4-ball. In a scramble each player plays the same shot and they take the best shot. In modified alternate shot both players hit a tee shot and they alternate shots until the ball is in the hole. The 4-ball format is where everybody plays their own ball and the team takes the better score. Historically a majority of the scoring happens in the opening round and the final round. Teams can make up a ton of ground of Saturday. The day where you see the most volatility on the leaderboard. Lets look at the teams in our QBE Shootout preview.
Max Homa and Kevin Kisner
(Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)
This is your pre-tournament favorite. Homa and Kisner were both on the victorious President’s Cup squad. Max Homa is the highest ranked male in the field at #16 in OWGR.
Harris English and Matt Kuchar
(Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)
This has been a team at the QBE for the last 2 editions with some success. They won the event in 2020, and finished T-3 in 2021.
Billy Horschel and Jason Day
(Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images)
Billy Horschel has experience in this tournament. This will be his 10th straight year teeing it up in Naples. He finished last year in 2nd. But that was with Sam Burns. Jason Day, once ranked #1 in the world, has dropped to 112th. It’s Jason’s 4th time in the QBE. He won the event in 2014 with Cameron Tringale.
Brian Harman and Sepp Straka
(Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)
Brian Harman is making his 5th appearance at this event. He won it in 2018 with Patton Kizzire. This will be Sepp Straka’s first appearance at Tiburon.
Corey Conners and K.H. Lee
(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
Corey Conners is ranked #33 in the OWGR and K.H. Lee is #37, making them one of the best duos in this year’s field. Both players are making their second appearance at Tiburon. Conners finished T-6 while Lee finished last in the 2019 tournament.
Steve Stricker and Cameron Young
(Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
Stricker and young have a combined 12 TOUR victories. Unfortunately for Young, all of those belong to Steve Stricker. Young had a great 2021/2022 campaign with 7 top-5 finishes on tour, including a solo 2nd in The Open at St. Andrews.
Nelly Korda and Denny McCarthy
(Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Nelly Korda has plenty of experience on this course. She has played in the last 6 LPGA Tour Championships held at Tiburon. This is her first time teeing it up with the men. This will be Denny McCarthy’s first appearance at the QBE Shootout.
Tom Hoge and Sahith Theegala
(Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)
Hoge and Theegala will look to build off the best season’s of their professional careers. World ranked 36 and 44 respectively, this group is a dark horse to win the tournament. Sahith Theegala is one of the games up and coming stars.
Trey Mullinax and Scott Stallings
(Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
Scott Stallings has played in this event one time previously. That was all the way back in 2011 when he finished 6 strokes back of the winners while paired with Kenny Perry. Mullinax is making his tournament debut. These two have played in a team event together. They missed the cut in last year’s Zurich Classic- another team event.
Lexi Thompson and Maverick McNealy
(Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Lexi Thompson has played in this event 5 times previously. Add that to the 12 appearances for the LPGA Tour Championship, and Lexi has 17 appearances at Tiburon. She hasn’t fared well in this tournament previously, but the results are improving.
Charley Hoffman and Ryan Palmer
(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
Ryan Palmer won the Zurich Classic in 2019 when paired with Jon Rahm. Charley Hoffman has the last solo win on tour in this group, coming in 2016. This is one of the older groups, but maybe it gives them the experience to navigate a tricky layout.
Keith Mitchell and J.J. Spaun
(Photo by Mike Mulholland/Getty Images)
Both guys are making their tournament debuts, so there is not a lot of history to look at. But both guys are in their prime, ranked in the top-100, and have a Tour win. They’re a dark horse, but if things fall their way they could be in come the back 9 on Sunday.
