The Mercury News

THIS WEEK’S GOLF TOURNAMENT­S

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PGA TOUR

CAREERBUIL­DER CHALLENGE

Site: La Quinta

Courses: Stadium Course at PGA West, Nicklaus Tournament Course at PGA West, La Quinta CC

Television: Today-Sunday, 1-5 p.m. (Golf Channel). Defending champion:

Hudson Swafford. Last week: Patton Kizzire won the Sony Open. FedEx Cup leader: Patton Kizzire.

Notes: Phil Mickelson makes his 2018 debut. He has not won since the 2013 British Open. … Jon Rahm at No. 3 is the highestran­ked player in the field. Rahm and Brian Harman are the only players from the top 20. … Kizzire is among 10 players who are in the first three tournament­s of the year. The group includes Kevin Kisner and Jason Dufner. … Swafford has had only three top 10s since his victory last year — Bay Hill, Houston Open and Bridgeston­e Invitation­al. … John Daly has received a sponsor’s exemption. He joins Lee Janzen and Mark Brooks as PGA Tour Champions members in the field. … Two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson is making his first start of the year. Watson has slipped to No. 93 in the world ranking and is nearly two years removed from his last victory. … Adam Hadwin shot a 59 last year, the second sub-60 score in tournament history. David Duval had a 59 in the final round when he won in 1999.

Next week: Farmers Insurance Open.

EUROPEAN TOUR

ABU DHABI HSBC CHAMPIONSH­IP

Site: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Course: Abu Dhabi GC.

Television: Today-Friday, 11 p.m.-5 a.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 1:30-5 a.m. (Golf Channel). Defending champion:

Tommy Fleetwood.

Last tournament: Chris Paisley won the BMW South African Open.

Notes: Rory McIlroy makes his season debut after coping with a rib injury most of last year. He hasn’t played since the British Masters and has slipped to No. 11 in the world ranking . ... Abu Dhabi and the Scottish Open had the strongest field so fall regular European Tour events last year. ... Dustin Johnson is playing for the second time. He was runner-up a year ago .... The field has three of the top 10 with Johnson, Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson. Also playing are Matt Ku char and Paul Casey . ... Bryson DeChambeau has received a sponsor’s exemption. ... Chris Di Marco won the inaugural Abu Dhabi Championsh­ip in 2006 . ... Rickie Fowler in 2016 is the only other American winner of the tournament . ... Casey and Martin Kaymer are two-time winners of the event. Next week: Omega Dubai Desert Classic.

PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS

MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CHAMPIONSH­IP AT HUALALAI

Site: Ka’upulehu-Kona, Hawaii. Course: Hualalai GC Television: Friday-Sunday, 4-7 p.m. (Golf Channel). Defending champion:

Bernhard Langer. Last tournament:

Kevin Sutherland won the Schwab Cup Championsh­ips.

Notes: The 44-man field is for winners from the last two seasons, senior major champions since 2013, eight special invitation­s based on PGA Tour victories and majors, and Hall of Fame members who played at least eight times on the PGA Tour Champions last year. … Langer is a threetime winner of the event. … Langer’s seven victories last year gave him 36 on the PGA Champions, nine short of the record held by Hale Irwin. … Jerry Kelly and Vijay Singh are in the field. Both played last week in the Sony Open. Kelly tied for 14th. Singh missed the cut. … Fred Couples and Tom Watson are in the field. Also playing is Peter Jacobsen.

Next tournament: Boca Raton Championsh­ip on Feb. 9-11.

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