The First Look: Tour set for inaugural stop at Austin Championship presented by Compliance Solutions

And here we go.

The PGA Tour returns to Austin, Texas, for the first time since 2023, and the Hill Country will play host to the penultimate event of the FedExCup Fall.

There are plenty of notables teeing it up this week with plenty to play for as the FedExCup Fall standings near their final form.

Here’s everything else you need to know about the Austin Championship presented by Compliance Solutions.

FIELD NOTES: Plenty of players know that this is crunch time, with almost 80% of the field who teed it up at the World Wide Technology Championship last week also heading to Austin to try to keep chipping away at the most important spots in the FedExCup standings. … Teenage sensation Blades Brown is back in action after breaking through for his first PGA Tour title Sunday in Los Cabos, in the process becoming the youngest PGA Tour winner in the modern era. … Brown is joined by a handful of other young superstars in Texas, including Jackson Koivun, a member of the winning Presidents Cup team. … Southern Methodist University alum Austin Smotherman – who continues to live in nearby Dallas – is in the field. Smotherman has won both his starts so far this fall, the Bank of Utah Championship and the Butterfield Bermuda Championship. Smotherman is the highest-ranked golfer in the Official World Golf Ranking in the field (No. 51). … In all, four former University of Texas players are set to tee it up close to their old campus – Pierceson Coody and Doug Ghim, along with sponsor invites Christiaan Maas and Tommy Morrison. …This is the penultimate week of the 2026 PGA Tour season, which means the race is on for the top 100 spots in the FedExCup Fall and full 2027 status is nearing its conclusion. Chandler Phillips currently occupies the No. 100 spot while Kevin Yu sits at No. 99 and Chris Kirk at No. 102.

SPONSOR EXEMPTIONS: Eighteen-year-old Miles Russell is back in action on the Tour after also teeing it up in Bermuda this fall. Russell has made three of four cuts on Tour this season while continuing to perform as one of the top amateur golfers – and top juniors – in the world. … Maas, who finished No. 2 in the PGA Tour University Ranking this year, played 10 events on the Korn Ferry Tour and notched one top-10 finish. This will be his PGA Tour debut. … Fellow Longhorn Morrison is also in the field. Morrison finished No. 6 in the 2026 PGA Tour University Ranking and burst onto the scene on the Korn Ferry Tour this summer. He turned professional in June and then had five straight top-10 finishes, including a runner-up at The Blue Championship, a victory at the Evans Scholars Invitational and a playoff loss at the Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank and Intermountain Health en route to finishing No. 10 on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List. … Austin, Texas, native Cole Sherwood is also TourBound for next season on the back of one win and six top-10 finishes in 2026 on the Korn Ferry Tour. Sherwood captured the Colonial Life Charity Classic in May.

SIGNATURE EVENT STORYLINES: The Austin Championship is the penultimate event of the FedExCup Fall. Players are already set to jockey for position in the standings as Nos. 51-60 in the FedExCup Fall standings will make up the Aon Next 10 for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational. … After his playoff loss in Mexico, Ben James moved into the No. 53 spot from No. 62 and has all but assured himself a place in the field of the two Signature Events to start next season. … Michael Kim, who finished one shot out of the playoff after a dazzling 63-64 weekend at El Cardonal at Diamante, moved up 10 spots in the standings from No. 65 to No. 55. … The rest of the Nos. 51-60 contingent remained, with Corey Conners (from No. 58 to No. 62) and Jordan Spieth (from No. 59 to No. 63) as the two who got bumped out.

FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points.

COURSE: Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa (Fazio Canyons Course) is a par 72 that stretches to 7,451 yards. Fazio Canyons was renovated in 2022 in anticipation of PGA Tour-level competition. … It’s Tom Fazio’s second design at Omni Barton Creek, opening in 1999, and it was named by Golfweek as the top course in the state in 2002. … The restoration began as just a bunker project but grew into a seven-month effort led by Fazio and his team, which opened back up in October 2022. A second-shot golf course, players will need to navigate threatening water hazards, angular tree lines and decent length.

72-HOLE RECORD: N/A (inaugural event)

18-HOLE RECORD: N/A (inaugural event)

How to follow (all times ET)

Television:

• Thursday-Sunday: 2-5 p.m., Golf Channel

PGA TOUR LIVE on ESPN App:

• Thursday-Friday: 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m.

PGA Tour Radio on SiriusXM and free at PGATour.com/liveaudio:

• Thursday-Sunday: 11 a.m.-5 p.m.