- April 08, 2003
PGA TOUR
- John Daly has won the last eight (and 11 of the last 12) Driving Distance titles on the PGA TOUR. He may have a few challengers to his crown this year. James McLean currently leads with a 307.9-yard average, just ahead of Daly's 307.8 and Phil Mickelson's 307.3.
- Ben Crane became the 16th player currently in his 20s to own a PGA TOUR victory after winning the BellSouth Classic last week. He's also the 60th former Nationwide Tour player to win on the PGA TOUR (127 wins overall) and the 41st player to win on both the PGA TOUR and Nationwide Tour.
- More on Crane: His final-round 63 was just one stroke off the low final-round score for a first-time winner. Since 1970, only three first-time winners have shot better final-round scores -- Phil Tataurangi (62, 2002 Las Vegas Invitational); Mac O'Grady (62, 1986 Greater Hartford
Open) and Ron Streck (62, 1978 Valero Texas Open).
- Paul Lawrie, the 1999 British Open champ, finished in a T9 last week in Atlanta for his best U.S. finish since he recorded a T5 at the 2000 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship.
- Hank Kuehne's T3 last week at the BellSouth Classic was worth $208,000 to the sponsor exemption. That's more than he had won in his previous 23 starts on the PGA TOUR.
- While he has not yet posted a victory this season, Chris DiMarco leads the TOUR at 89-under par for the year.
- Ernie Els has shot scores of 67 or better in 17 of his 28 rounds this year on the PGA TOUR and the European Tour. He's 9 of 12 on the TOUR and 8 of 16 in Europe.
- An early candidate for most improved player might be South African Brenden Pappas. In his rookie season of 2002, Pappas earned just $83,519 after making six cuts in 25 starts. This year, Pappas has made 7 of 9 cuts and is 33rd on the money list with $444,412. His T9 last week in Atlanta was his second Top-10 finish of the young season.
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