Big names primed to top leaderboards this PGA Tour, LIV and LPGA week

The Masters — the first major championship of the men’s professional golf season — is only 35 days away, and it can’t get here soon enough.

The start of the 2024 PGA Tour season has been plagued by inclement weather and littered with not-so-familiar names at the top of leaderboards. Sure, the winners were some of the game’s rising stars and played better than everyone else, but Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Viktor Hovland are the golfers who bring eyeballs to TV sets on Sundays.

Will a superstar finally lift a trophy on Sunday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational — the fourth signature event of the season with a massive purse and limited field?

The LIV Golf League heads to Hong Kong for the first time, and Joaquin Niemann will try to win in a different time zone. He has already won in Australia, Mexico and Saudi Arabia since December. He’s arguably the most popular golfer on the planet and might have his sights set on winning a green jacket in Augusta, Georgia, in April.

Here’s what to watch in professional golf this week, including the LPGA Tour returning to China for the first time in six years.

What’s next on the PGA Tour

Arnold Palmer Invitational

When: Thursday-Sunday

Where: Bay Hill Club & Lodge, Orlando, Florida

Defending champion: Kurt Kitayama

Purse: $20 million ($4 million to winner)

Puerto Rico Open

When: Thursday-Sunday

Where: Grand Reserve Country Club, Rio Grande, Puerto Rico

Defending champion: Nico Echavarria

Purse: $4 million

Another first-timer?

There have already been four first-time winners in nine PGA Tour events this season: Nick Dunlap (American Express), Matthieu Pavon (Farmers Insurance Open), Jake…