SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — All eyes in the golf world for the next few days will be trained on Marco Simone Golf Club in Italy, specifically the rowdy first hole at the Ryder Cup.

Meanwhile, construction has begun on another golf arena halfway around the world from Rome.

Crews have started the buildout on the 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale ahead of the 2024 WM Phoenix Open, set for Feb. 8-11.

The famous par-3 hole has become a bucket-list place for pro golfers and fans alike. The 150-yard hole is almost unrecognizable in its normal state.

Crews at the Stadium Course are also already building out the suites and grandstands along the par-4 17th hole as well.

All the golf world’s eyes will be on Marco Simone Golf & Country Club this week for the 2023 Ryder Cup. Before you get your first look at the course on television or online coverage, check out the following photos of each hole to see what the U.S. and European teams face.

Marco Simone opened in 1989 with a layout by David Mezzacane and Jim Fazio, but that course doesn’t exist anymore. The whole layout was renovated and rerouted in 2018-2020 by a team from European Golf Design led by Dave Sampson, with American architect Tom Fazio II serving as a consultant.

• Marco Simone yardage book

The current hilly layout – 155 feet of elevation change in all – was designed with the Ryder Cup in mind, with several drivable par 4s. It will play to a par of 71 with a yardage of 7,181 yards for the biennial team competition.

Michael Block, one of the stars of the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill, will have another chance to show off his wares on the PGA Tour next January.

The 47-year-old club pro forever became part of PGA Championship lore when he aced the 151-yard par-3 15th hole on Sunday with a 7-iron and finished in the top 20, earning a check of $288,000 for his efforts.

After his triumphant showing, Block made subsequent appearances at the Charles Schwab Challenge and RBC Canadian Open, but missed the cut in both events.

But by winning the PGA of Southern California’s section championship last week at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, Block has earned a berth in the American Express, which takes place at La Quinta.

According to a story from our network partner, the Palm Springs Desert Sun, Block closed strong in earning the berth.

Block started the third and final round one shot off the lead, then fired a 6-under 66 in the final round for a three-day total of 11-under 205, four shots better than runner-up Steve Saunders of Temecula Creek Golf Club.

The win, Block’s second consecutive section title and his fourth in seven years, earns Block a berth into the two non-invitational PGA Tour events played in the section, The American Express and the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego.

Block played in The American Express last January and shot a 7-under 65 in the first round at the Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West. Block eventually missed the 54-hole cut in the La Quinta event.

The 2023 PGA marked the fifth time Block had qualified for that event, while also playing in two U.S. Opens.

The top 10 players and ties from this year’s 54-hole event at Sherwood Country Club, advance to the PGA’s National Professional championship. The top 20 players from that event earn a berth into next year’s PGA Championship. No desert golfer finished in the top 10 and ties this year, with Geoff Dean of PGA West in La Quinta and Nate Williams of Hideaway Golf Club in La Quinta tying for 14th at 8-over, two shots out of a qualifying berth.

Block also found lightning in a bottle again when he traveled to Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville as part of a scouting trip for next year’s tournament.

He carded seven birdies and an eagle during the practice round, finishing his round at 9 under and tying the course record, a mark that was set by Jose Maria Olazabal at the 2000 PGA Championship.

Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome – site of the 2023 Ryder Cup between teams from the U.S. and Europe – originally was designed by David Mezzacane and Jim Fazio and opened in 1989.

The layout was completely renovated in 2018-2020 by a team of European Golf Design led by Dave Sampson in conjunction with Tom Fazio II, a leading American architect and the son of Jim Fazio – Tom Fazio worked for his dad on the original layout. The renovation included a complete rerouting of the hilly layout with the Ryder Cup in mind. With 155 feet of elevation change across the course, the holes were laid out to favor match play, with several drivable par 4s.

Marco Simone – a public-access layout with tee times available on the course’s website – will play to a par of 71 with the scorecard showing 7,181 yards. It’s likely the host European team will adjust yardages in attempt to benefit itself. The rough has been reported to be deep and thick heading into the Ryder Cup, putting an emphasis on accurate tee shots to relatively tight fairways.

Thanks to a yardage book provided by StrackaLine – the maker of detailed yardage books for thousands of courses around the world – we can see exactly the challenges the players face at the Ryder Cup. Check out the maps of each hole below.

Although a deadly fire wreaked havoc on Maui in July, killing nearly 100 people in what was the deadliest blaze on U.S. soil in a decade, the PGA Tour’s The Sentry — formally known as the Sentry Tournament of Champions — will go on as normal, according to a memo sent out by Tour officials on Thursday.

The event will be the first of the new 2024 calendar-year based PGA Tour schedule. It’s held annually at Kapalua Resort’s Plantation course, about 15 miles north of the village of Lahaina, which was the hardest hit by the fires. High winds and low humidity likely contributed to the fires, but officials know little else.

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan has been working with the governor of Hawaii to ensure the event will not only be played, but will help with recovery efforts in the area. Some residents died in their cars, while others jumped into the ocean or tried to run for safety. The Aug. 8 blaze reduced much of the historic town to ash.

Kapalua Golf reopened its Bay Course Sept. 20 and will reopen the Plantation Course on Oct. 18.

A memo went out to PGA Tour players who had qualified for the event from Tyler Dennis, the chief competitions officer:

“It’s been six weeks since the Maui Wildfire Disaster severely impacted the island and its people. Given the continued relief and recovery efforts, I wanted to provide an update on The Sentry, which is scheduled to kick off the 2024 FedExCup Regular Season in January.

“Working in cooperation with state, county and community officials, the PGA TOUR is committed to playing The Sentry in 2024 at The Plantation Course at Kapalua. Hawaii Governor Josh Green has been emphatic in his support of our event and others, recently stating, ‘This decision [to allow visitors and events to return to Maui] is meant to bring hope for recovery to the families and businesses on Maui that have been so deeply affected in every way by the disaster. People from Hawaii and around the world can resume travel to this special place and help it begin to recover economically.’

“There is no other organization in sport which rallies around those in need like the PGA TOUR. Given the overwhelming support for playing the tournament, the TOUR and The Sentry are currently working on plans to further raise awareness and assist with fundraising and community service to Maui in a thoughtful and respectful manner.

“You should expect to hear from The Sentry Executive Director Max Novena and his team in the coming days. They anticipate opening the Accommodations Portal to secure hotel reservations very soon and are available to assist you in any capacity leading up to the first Signature Event of the 2024 season.

“Your participation and support of The Sentry will allow the TOUR to help showcase the ongoing recovery efforts in Lahaina and Maui, while inspiring our fans around the world.”

Burned cars and homes are seen in Lahaina, Hawaii, on Aug. 18. At least 114 people died in the Aug. 8 fire, making it the deadliest U.S. wildfire of the past century.

More than 1,800 homes and structures were leveled and the death toll surpassed the fatalities of Northern California’s Camp Fire in 2018. That blaze killed 85 and destroyed the town of Paradise.

Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization, a non-profit based in Waimea on Hawaii Island, said the increasing fires are threatening humans, infrastructure, water quality, agricultural production and natural resources.

“Hawaii has a wildfire problem,” the organization states on its website. “Each year, about 0.5 percent of Hawaii’s total land area burns each year, equal to or greater than the proportion burned of any other U.S. state. Over 98 percent of wildfires are human-caused. Human ignitions coupled with an increasing amount of nonnative, fire-prone grasses and shrubs and a warming, drying climate have greatly increased the wildfire problem.”

USA Today contributed reporting to this story.

Gary Woodland, who had surgery Monday to remove tumors in his brain, will have his name grace the golf complex at his alma mater.

The University of Kansas made the announcement Wednesday to rename its complex of golf practice facilities in west Lawrence after the former Jayhawk, winner of the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.

The Kansas Board of Regents signed off on the request from KU. Woodland’s name will be on the “conglomeration of practice holes, driving range and putting facilities that the men and women’s golf teams use as the Gary Woodland Golf Complex. The facilities are located at the privately owned country club The Jayhawk Club north of Clinton Parkway and Crossgate Drive in west Lawrence,” according to the KU website.

Woodland, who grew up in Topeka and has a home in Lawrence, graduated from KU in 2007 and has four PGA Tour victories.

“He has been incredibly supportive of the golf program,” Chancellor Douglas Girod said.

Woodland decided on the brain surgery after other treatment methods had not been effective.

“After a long surgery today, the majority of the tumor has been removed and he is currently resting,” the PGA Tour reported on its website earlier this week.

There was good reason why U.S. Ryder Cup member Jordan Spieth skipped Team USA’s scouting trip to Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome, Sept. 8-10. Spieth’s wife, Annie, was expecting the couple’s second child, and while trying to win the biennial match on European soil for the first time in 30 years is kind of a big deal to Spieth, no self-respecting father-to-be would want to be on the other side of the planet and risk missing the birth of their bundle of joy.

Good thing the three-time major winner didn’t make the trip otherwise he may have struggled getting back to Dallas, where he calls home, in time to be there to witness the birth of daughter Sophie on Sept. 12. (Sophie Spieth has a nice ring to it.)

She joins big brother Sammy, who was born on Nov. 14, 2021.

Jordan, 30, posted an announcement on social media that was short on details – no mention of weight or height – and included a photo of his daughter sucking on a pacifier in his arms. Congrats to the Spieths, who now can fill out their own foursome, and welcome, Jordan, to being a #GirlDad.

Welcome, Sophie
9/12/23 pic.twitter.com/C7YlZwtjAm

— Jordan Spieth (@JordanSpieth) September 19, 2023

Good news for fans of Maui golf.

Kapalua Golf will reopen its Bay Course on Wednesday, Sept. 20 and its Plantation Course on Wednesday, Oct. 18. Both golf courses have been closed since the Maui wildfires on Aug. 8. Located in West Maui, the golf courses and facilities at Kapalua Golf were spared from the fires, which devastated Lahaina, about 10 miles away.

“Our team truly appreciates the outpouring of support from around the globe over the past six weeks,” said Kapalua Golf & Tennis General Manager Alex Nakajima. “Our staff was deeply impacted by the fires, with nearly a third losing their homes and possessions. As associates and the community work to heal, we continue to support them; welcoming back team members to work as they are ready. As we continue the recovery process, we are reopening our two golf courses for Kamaʻāina (local residents) on island and for those planning their return to Maui. As millions discovered during the pandemic, a round of golf can be good medicine for the mind, body and soul.”

Kapalua Golf’s Plantation Course and Bay Course are open to resort guests and daily-fee play. Arnold Palmer designed The Bay Course first, in 1975, which is more forgiving than the Plantation, a Coore-Crenshaw design that the duo built in 1991 and renovated in 2019. The Sentry, the longtime PGA Tour stop, is played annually at the Plantation Course, which ranks No. 17 in Golfweek’s Best Resort Courses list, in early January. The reopening of the course is an encouraging sign that the tournament can be staged there. In late August, Commissioner Jay Monahan addressed whether the tournament would be able to be held in its normal slot as the first event of the New Year.

A surfer rides a wave as Matt Fitzpatrick lines up his putt on the 11th hole during the final round of the Sentry Tournament of Champions golf tournament at Kapalua Resort – The Plantation Course. (Photo: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports)

“We hope to be a source of inspiration for the great people of Maui and Lahaina by the time that we get to Maui in January,” he said. “I think at this point there’s so many unknowns, and we want to be respectful of the challenges. We want to help be a part of the revitalization. There are a lot of considerations. We’re committed, you know, if it makes — if we’re allowed to, if we’re invited, if we’re embraced, given all that needs to be accomplished, we will be there 100 percent. But I think at this point right now that’s outside of our hands.”

For more information on Kapalua Golf and for tee times, visit www.GolfAtKapalua.com or call 1-877-KAPALUA.

Former U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland underwent surgery on Monday to remove tumors in his brain.

“After a long surgery today, the majority of the tumor has been removed and he is currently resting,” according to a social media post under Woodland’s handle.

Woodland, 39, previously posted that he was diagnosed a few months ago and had been trying to treat symptoms with medication. But after consulting with specialists and his family. Woodland decided that surgery to remove the legion was his best option.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, brain lesions are damaged areas of the brain tissue that can occur due to injury or medical conditions. A stroke is an example of a type of brain lesion. They can disrupt how your brain functions and cause weakness, sensory disruption and confusion.

pic.twitter.com/p54pQBDj6W

— Gary Woodland (@GaryWoodland) September 18, 2023

Woodland, a four-time winner on the PGA Tour, last competed at the Wyndham Championship, the final regular season FedEx Cup event, on Aug. 6, where he tied for 27th. For the first time in a decade Woodland failed to finish inside the top 70 and did not qualify for the season-ending FedEx Cup Playoffs.

“At this time, the family requests space and privacy to be together,” Woodland’s social media post included. “Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers as he gets started on the road to recovery.”

It pays to play well on the PGA Tour. Just ask this week’s winner, Sahith Theegala.

In the first of seven FedEx Cup Fall events, Theegala, the 25-year-old second-year Tour pro from California, captured the 2023 Fortinet Championship at Silverado Resort’s North Course to win for the first time on the PGA Tour. Theegala finished at 21 under in Napa, California.

The victory earned Theegala $1.512 million.

Rookie S.H. Kim finished solo second and takes home $915,600. Justin Thomas finished solo fifth and earned $344,400.

Check out how much money each PGA Tour player earned this week at the 2023 Fortinet Championship at Silverado Resort’s North Course.

Fortinet Championship prize money