Good Wednesday morning, golf fans, as the PGA Tour heads to Houston.

1. Tiger wins the PIP again?

Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard…”Tiger Woods has won the PGA Tour’s Player Impact Program for the second consecutive year, according to Rory McIlroy in an interview with the Associated Press.”

• “Although Woods played just nine rounds in 2022, including his return at the Masters and The Open at St. Andrews, he remains the game’s top draw as defined by the Tour’s PIP, which measures a player’s popularity based on media mentions and broadcast exposure.”

• “Hey, I gave him a pretty good run,” said McIlroy, who told the AP he finished second on the PIP list.”

2. Korda out with back injury for rest of year

Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols…“Jessica Korda will not be competing in the final two events of the LPGA season. Korda announced on Instagram that a back injury put an end to her 2022.”

• “I’m beyond bummed,” Korda wrote. “I haven’t had the most luck when it comes to injuries in my career, nonetheless I’m going to keep on keeping on. Excited to be back next year for my 13th season on tour healthier and stronger.”

• “Korda will miss this week’s Pelican LPGA Championship in Belleair, Florida, where her sister Nelly is the defending champion. She’ll also miss the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, which boasts a $2 million winner’s check, the largest in tour history.”

3. Ferguson on Tour’s plan for replenishing the pipeline

The AP’s Doug Ferguson…”The PGA Tour board is expected to give final approval Monday to a plan in which the top college senior will get a PGA Tour card after the NCAAs in June. He could play as many as eight events, and if he doesn’t make the postseason, as many as seven more in the fall.”

• “This will be the first time a college player has a direct path to the PGA Tour, much like college stars going straight to the NFL or NBA.”

• “That’s just for seniors. The tour also is planning an “accelerated” university program for top underclassmen who earn enough points through performance (college, tour, elite amateur events), awards and the world amateur ranking.”

• “The idea is to create a path to the tour but keep the bar high enough to avoid getting someone who gets hot. Over the last decade or so, the tour figures players like Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and Sam Burns — all among the top 12 in the world — would have been eligible.”

• “The balancing act is providing the right amount of cards to college stars for a tour where it’s already tough to get into tournaments. A year ago, the tour had 201 members who played at least 15 times. The typical field in the summer is 156 players. And it’s about to get tighter in 2024.”

4. The hole-in-one whisperer

Golfweek’s Adam Woodard…”Not one, not two, but three holes-in-one were made in three consecutive days from Friday, Nov. 4 to Sunday, Nov. 6 at the club, and one man was there to witness all three. Dan Kelly aced the par-3 12th with a pitching wedge from 125 yards out on Sunday, and was also a player in both groups the previous two days, when Mike Abel aced the 165-yard par-3 3rd hole on Friday and Ken King aced the 12th on Saturday.”

5. Cabrera: Prison has done me good

Our Matt Vincenzi…”On Monday, former professional golfer Angel Cabrera was convicted again of assaulting an ex-partner.”

• “This is the second time that Cabrera has been convicted of assault on a former partner. The first came in 2021 when the two-time major winner was sentenced to serve two years in prison for the assault of Cecilia Torres and the stealing of her cell phone.”

• “Cabrera’s second charge came after another former partner, Micaela Escudero, stepped forward to bring allegations against Cabrera.”

• “The 52-year-old has been sentenced to another two years and four months to run concurrently with his first sentence.”

• “According to local press, when speaking during the trial, Cabrera said: Many say prison is bad, but it’s not the case, prison has done me good.”

6. Meet Taylor Montgomery

PGATour.com’s Sean Martin on the man who will be playing beside PGA TOUR Player of the Year Scottie Scheffler and four-time TOUR winner Sam Burns in a Featured Group at this week’s Cadence Bank Houston Open…”Getting off to a strong start is especially important for Korn Ferry Tour graduates. Not only does it decrease the stress about keeping their card and qualifying for the FedExCup Playoffs, but it also helps them get more starts as the season progresses. Montgomery couldn’t have hoped for a much better beginning to his rookie season. His worst finish in five starts this season? A tie for 15th. He started with a third-place finish at the Fortinet Championship thanks to a final-round 64. He also collected top-10s at the Sanderson Farms Championship (T9) and World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba (T10). His final-round scoring average of 65.6 is the best on TOUR among players who’ve played at least four Sundays (the next best is Harris English at 67.0) and includes his strong finish at Fortinet and a final-round 62 at THE CJ CUP in South Carolina, where he finished T13. Two years ago, Montgomery was a shuttle driver for celebrity guests at THE CJ CUP when it was held at Las Vegas’ Shadow Creek, where his father Monte is the general manager.”

• “…Long drives and strong putting are a recipe that has worked for Montgomery across tours. He led the Korn Ferry Tour in scoring average last season (68.4), was third in putting average and second in putts per round. His nine top-10 finishes were second only to Justin Suh. Montgomery finished the Korn Ferry Tour season by going T2-T3-T4-T9, giving him nine consecutive top-15 finishes across tours. He’s currently 65th in the Official World Golf Ranking after starting the year at No. 361.”

7. Foltz dreading LIV’s move to TV

Our Jason Daniels…”Former professional player, now LIV Golf commentator Jerry Foltz, has given his views on a tv deal for the rebel tour, as well as on factors that might change the format of the 14 planned 2023 events.

• Speaking on the Fore The People podcast, the former Golf Channel analyst discussed the possibility of having a permanent deal for the Greg-Norman-led tour.

• “LIV Golf will be on a TV partner in the United States before we have our next event. I am plenty comfortable saying that.”

• “I hate the fact that we will be because our product will then not be, I hope we sell it as a wholly owned property, and they broadcast it the way it is, but right now we do five hours of commercial-free golf and that is a big draw for the people who enjoy watching.”

• “We don’t move away for anything. We certainly don’t see a guy tap in and watch him walk off the green for 30 seconds and show a scorecard hole after hole.We do it completely different. It’s hard to re-train old minds like myself and Feherty to do it differently, but we’ve kind of caught on a little bit to it and hopefully do some more.”

8. Moliwood to captain at Hero Cup

Andrew Wright for Golf Monthly…”Tommy Fleetwood and Francesco Molinari have been named as playing captains for next year’s Hero Cup.”

• “The team match play competition will see Great Britain and Ireland take on Continental Europe at Abu Dhabi Golf Club from January 13-15, 2023, with Fleetwood and Molinari each selecting nine players for their teams.”

• “Selection will take into account performances on the DP World Tour Rankings while the contest itself will consist of one session of foursomes, one session of fourballs and one session of singles matches. All 20 players will take part in each session with members of the winning team earning $125,000 and those on the losing team each receiving $75,000.”

9. Houston Open photos

• Check out all of our galleries from Houston here.