- October 09, 2002
PGA TOUR
- Only one player has won the Invensys Classic at Las Vegas more than
once -- Jim Furyk, who has three wins to his credit. In eight starts in Las
Vegas, Furyk is 154-under-par, making 205 birdies and seven eagles over
that span. In addition to his wins in 1995, 1998 and 1999, Furyk also T5
in 1994.
- David Duval's first-round 64 last week at the Michelob Championship
at Kingsmill was his lowest score of the season and his best since a
third-round 63 at the 2001 TOUR Championship.
- Corey Pavin's T6 last week at the Michelob Championship was his
best finish since a T5 at the 1999 MCI Classic.
- With his victory last week, Charles Howell III became the 14th
first-time winner on the PGA TOUR in 2002. That ties the mark set in 1991
for the most first-time winners in a season.
- South African Tim Clark made a significant jump on the money list
last week going from 141st to 124th thanks to his T6 at the Michelob
Championship. The $119,788 payday boosted his earnings to $481,279 and
into the Top 125 with only four weeks left in the season.
- Tom Lehman tied the PGA TOUR record for opening 36-hole score at
the 2001 Invensys Classic at Las Vegas with his 63-62--125 start. The
opening salvo also set a TOUR mark for most strokes under-par (19) in the
opening two rounds. He eventually finished in a T2, just one stroke behind
Bob Estes.
SENIOR PGA TOUR
- Bruce Fleisher's streak of consecutive rounds at par or better
ended last week in Hawaii at 27 after his opening-round effort of 73. He
came up five rounds shy of tying Larry Nelson's SENIOR TOUR record of 32
set in 2000.
- If recent history is any indication, look out for Sammy Rachels
this week. He's the defending champ at the Napa Valley Championship
presented by Beringer Vineyards and the last two tournaments on the SENIOR
TOUR have been won by defending champs -- Bruce Lietzke at the SAS
Championship and Hale Irwin at the Turtle Bay Championship.
- Hale Irwin's fourth win at the Turtle Bay Championship makes him
only the second SENIOR TOUR player to win an event four times. Jack
Nicklaus has won The Countrywide Tradition four times as well. It was also
his fourth win of the year and marked the fifth time in his career he has
won at least four times in a season. Lee Trevino is the only other player
to accomplish the feat even three times.
- More on Irwin: His win last week was his record 36th on the SENIOR
TOUR and it also was his 86th career Top-3 finish in only 181 starts
(47.5%). The 86 Top-3s is also a record by a wide margin with Chi Chi
Rodriguez and Bob Charles tied for second on the list with 74.
BUY.COM TOUR
- The Bayonet Course at Seaside, CA proved to be as tough as usual
last week during the Bank of America Monterey Peninsula Classic. The
toughest course on TOUR in 2001, it is the toughest again this year with
three events remaining after playing to a stroke average of 75.421. Only
three players broke par for the week.
- Roland Thatcher of The Woodlands experienced the pain of making a triple bogey on
the final hole of the 2001 PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament when a par would
have earned him a PGA TOUR card. In fact, his second shot on the par-4
finishing hole ended up on the clubhouse roof at the Bear Lakes CC. Last
week, though, Thatcher emerged from a year-long struggle since that painful
finish to win his first BUY.COM TOUR event. In doing so, Thatcher moved
from 112th on the money list all the way to 33rd.
- The Whirlwind GC, site of this week's Gila River Golf Classic at
Wild Horse Pass Resort, is the only Native American-owned course utilized
in competition on any of the three TOURS.
|
