This Week In Golf: Jessica Korda's Return, Five PGA Tour Cards On The Line, SPOTY Nominations Expected And New Tiger Woods-Inspired TGL Hole

This Week In Golf: Our weekly look at the biggest stories in professional golf, tournament previews and other key details you need to know.

After a big week in the sport, which included the Australian Open, Nedbank Golf Challenge and Hero World Challenge, there is again an awful lot to be decided in the game this weekend.

We've got the return of the mixed Grant Thornton Invitational on the PGA and LPGA Tours as well as PGA Tour Q-School and the Alfred Dunhill Championship on the DP World Tour.

As well as the action to come, a handful of key stories have already played out since Monday morning.

With a busy week in the sport, it can be easy to lose track of the biggest storylines so here we've picked out some of the most interesting narratives from across the world of professional golf this week.

Grant Thornton Invitational

The event is back for the third year after wins from Jason Day and Lydia Ko in 2023 and then Jake Knapp and Patty Tavatanakit last time out.

The three-day tournament features scramble, foursomes and modified four-ball formats for each round, with 16 teams battling it out for the prize.

We've already seen Daniel Berger withdraw this week, with the Floridian replaced by recent PGA Tour winner Michael Brennan, who will partner World No.5 Charley Hull.

Jessica Korda returns after two-and-a-half-years out, having become a mother for the first time, and the all-FSU duo of Luke Clanton and Lottie Woad looks an exciting partnership.

The Grant Thornton Invitational takes place at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida and runs from Friday to Sunday.

PGA Tour Q-School

The PGA Tour is running it's qualifying school, officially known as PGA Tour Q-School presented by Korn Ferry, this week from Thursday to Sunday, where five cards will be on the line at TPC Sawgrass’ Valley Course and Sawgrass Country Club.

Golf Channel will be airing eight-hours of coverage this weekend.

This is the final stage, with the preliminaries, first and second rounds taking place earlier this fall.

Just five cards are up for grabs, meaning if there is a tie for fifth-place there will be a tense playoff for the last card.

Notables in the 176-man field include Doug Ghim, Adam Hadwin, Lanton Griffin, Camilo Villegas, Cameron Champ, Luke List, Ryo Ishikawa, Alejandro Tosti, Andrew Putnam, Sam Ryder and many other recognizable names.

Former LIV Golf players, albeit back in 2022, Travis Smyth and Turk Pettit are also competing.

While there are five golden memberships to play for, status for 2026 will also be decided for the top 40 and other finishers as per the guidelines:

• Top 5: PGA Tour membership for the 2026 season
• Next 40 Finishers and Ties: Korn Ferry Tour membership for the 2026 season, with the first 25 finishers and ties being subject to the third reshuffle (occurs after 14th event), and any remaining finishers being subject to the second reshuffle (occurs after 10th event)
• All Remaining Finishers: Conditional membership for the 2026 Korn Ferry Tour season and subject to the reshuffle (first reshuffle occurs after sixth event); membership on PGA Tour Americas for the 2026 season and subject to the reshuffle (first reshuffle occurs after sixth event)

Alfred Dunhill Championship

The DP World Tour remains in South Africa this week with the Opening Swing continuing at the Alfred Dunhill Championship, which takes place at Royal Johannesburg after previously being held at Leopard Creek.

Shaun Norris defends the title, with LIV Golfers Louis Oosthuizen, Dean Burmester and Branden Grace also in the field.

This is the penultimate event of 2025 on the DP World Tour, with next week's Mauritius Open drawing a close to the calendar year.

SPOTY Nominations expected

Rory McIlroy is currently favorite for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award, with the official shortlist expected later this week.

McIlroy, who completed the career grand slam in winning The Masters this year as well being part of Europe's away Ryder Cup victory, is edging out Lando Norris and Chloe Kelly in the odds.

Ryder Cup Team Europe is also expected to be nominated for the Team of the Year crown.

Asian Tour finale

The 10th Saudi Open takes place this week at a new venue, Dirab Golf & Country Club, just outside of Riyadh to bring a close to the 2025 Asian Tour campaign

John Catlin defends his title while Kazuki Higa and Scott Vincent, who recently earned a LIV Golf card, will battle it out for the Order of Merit title.

Higa, the highest-ranked player in the field, is favorite to lift the crown after back-to-back wins in September, and needs just to make the cut as long as Vincent finishes outside the top-four.

New Tiger Woods-inspired TGL hole

The TGL returns on December 28 and there will be a very cool new hole on show.

The simulator league is often criticized for its realistic holes but this new one - Stinger - is anything but, which is exactly what the league should showcase, right?

The 414 yard par 4 features a 'natural' rock formation guarding the fairway, with players needing to hit a stinger no higher than 50ft to advance. Competitors could also hit a high draw over and around it, but let's hope they get their 2-irons out for this one.

'Mini twigs' - what else to know:

• The 2025 Australian Open was officially the best attended golf event in Australian history with 112,698 fans on-site at Royal Melbourne
• Viktor Hovland, Shane Lowry and Dustin Johnson have been added to the Dubai Desert Classic field, joining the previously announced defending champion Tyrrell Hatton, Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood
• The Golf Channel has obtained what a potential 2028 PGA Tour schedule could look like - starting after the Super Bowl and ending before Labor Day
• Sports Business Journal's Josh Carpenter cited sources indicating "there's a chance Brooks Koepka may not play on LIV Golf in 2026"
• PGA and DP World Tour player Michael Kim posted an interactive video of his 2025 flying schedule, and it featured over 68,000 miles travelled and more than 250 days away from home