Quicken Loans National preview

The PGA Tour heads to Virginia this week for the Quicken Loans National. Justin Rose will defend his title at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club.

Lowdown: The PGA Tour heads to Virginia this week for the Quicken Loans National. Justin Rose will defend his title at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club.

With players looking ahead to next week’s WGC – Bridgestone Invitational and the USPGA Championship the week after that, many of the world’s best are using this tournament as preparation.

Justin Rose will tee it up again, as will Players and Scottish Open champion Rickie Fowler. Jimmy Walker is in the field so too are British players Stephen Gallacher and Andy Sullivan.

Justin Rose vs Sergio Garcia swing sequences:

Tiger Woods is looking to bounce back from missing the cut in The Open Championship in this, a tournament that he will host. He’s twice been champion before.

With just four weeks left of the regular PGA Tour season, this is an important time for players looking to make it into the top 125 on the FedEx Cup points list and qualify for the first playoff event – The Barclays.

This event was known as the AT&T National between 2007 and 2013. The first instalment was won by K.J. Choi of South Korea and, since then, the champions have been Anthony Kim, Tiger Woods (in 2009 and 2012,) Justin Rose, Nick Watney and Bill Haas.

Last season, Justin Rose won the event for a second time. He came through a playoff against Shawn Stefani to join Tiger Woods as the only multiple champions in this tournament.

The tournament has moved later in the schedule this year because of there being one fewer week between the US Open and The Open. It may move again next year because of the Olympics.

The course at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club is set on the shores of Lake Manassas. It opened for play in 1991 and has played host to The Presidents Cup on four occasions.

The weather forecast for the week is for some pretty warm weather. It could be rather muggy out there and that will add to the challenge.

Venue: Robert Trent Jones GC, Gainesville, Virginia Date: Jul 30 – Aug 2 Course stats: par 71, 6,409 yards Purse: $6,700,000 Winner: $1,206,000 Defending Champion: Justin Rose (-4)

TV Coverage: Thursday 30 – Sky Sports 4 from 7.30pm Friday 31 – Sky Sports 4 from 7.30pm Saturday 1 – Sky Sports 4 from 6pm Sunday 2 – Sky Sports 4 from 6pm

Player watch:

Justin Rose – He’s defending the title (he won last year at Congressional) and is looking for a third victory in this event. He was tied sixth in The Open Championship.

Rickie Fowler – Solid performance in St Andrews and the winner at Gullane the week before, Fowler is a threat in any tournament he enters and, if he gets his putting boots on, he could well be the winner this week.

Johnson Wagner – One of the PGA Tour’s form players, Wagner has been tied fifth, tied 10th and tied 18th in his last three starts.

Key Hole: 18th – a testing par 4 that requires two precise shots. The green sits right on the edge of Lake Manassas and any approach that strays to the left could end up wet.