- June 01, 2004
PGA TOUR
- If you are looking for a good reason for Phil Mickelson's improvement
over last season, you need not look much further than this: In 2003,
Mickelson was tied for 157th in distance from the pin on his approach
shots, averaging 43 feet from the hole. In 2004, he's first on TOUR
hitting his approaches only 30 feet, 8 inches from the cup.
- Who has made the most long putts on TOUR? If you said Patrick Sheehan,
go to the head of the class. Sheehan has made 22 putts this year from 25
feet and beyond.
- While the Memorial Tournament has always boasted a strong international
contingent of players, only four of the first 28 playings of the event
have produced winners from outside the U.S.?Australia's David Graham
(1980) and Greg Norman (1990 and 1995) and Fiji's Vijay Singh (1997).
- Scott Verplank misses his tee shots to the left the least of anyone on
TOUR, just 6 percent of the time (the TOUR average. is 13.8 percent).
Fred Funk misses right the least at only 6.5 percent (TOUR average is
15.5 percent).
- Prior to this year, Vaughn Taylor had played in two PGA TOUR events and
never made a cut. The 2003 Nationwide Tour graduate has faced challenges
in his rookie year on TOUR, but he held up quite well during his first
time contending at a PGA TOUR event. Taylor tied for fifth at last
week's FedEx St. Jude Classic, easily bettering his tie for 25th at the
Buick Invitational, his previous-best performance. The win, worth
$165,087, moved him inside the top 125 on the money list. He's 121st,
with $248,394 in earnings.
- A year ago, David Toms shot a final-round 64 at the Tournament Players
Club at Southwind to win the FedEx St. Jude Classic by three strokes,
holding off Nick Price, who fired a 9-under 62 the final day. Last week,
as Toms successfully defended his title near Memphis, he shot a
final-round 73 in heavy winds and still won by six.
- The PGA TOUR's Player of the Month for May is Steve Flesch. He won the
Bank of America Colonial and had one other top-five finish.
NATIONWIDE TOUR
- This week's Knoxville Open Presented by Food City is one of four
original Nationwide Tour events remaining on the schedule. This season,
Knoxville, Springfield, MO, Wichita, KS, and Boise, ID, will all
celebrate 15 years of Nationwide Tour competition.
- Only two lefthanders have ever won on the Nationwide Tour. Vic Wilk was
the first back in 1994 when he won the Knoxville Open. Recent PGA TOUR
winner Steve Flesch is the only other lefty to win on the circuit,
capturing the 1997 Nationwide Tour Championship.
- Franklin Langham has been on a tear lately, shooting in the 60s in 16 of
his last 19 rounds of golf. During that span he has a victory, a tie for
second and, most recently, a sixth-place showing last week at the SAS
Carolina Classic. In those 19 rounds, he is a combined 75-under par.
- For the seventh time in Nationwide Tour history, a four-man playoff
decided a tournament. At last week's SAS Carolina Classic, Chris
Anderson outlasted Brendan Jones on the eighth playoff hole. Paul Gow
and Jason Buha dropped out after the first extra hole. The next longest
four-man playoff in Tour history was also the first, when John Flannery
defeated Esteban Toledo, Tom Lehman and Rob Boldt in a four-hole playoff
at the 1991 Reno Open.
- Although Paul Gow dropped out of the four-player playoff with a bogey on
the first extra hole at last week's SAS Carolina Classic, it wasn't his
first Tour-related playoff. In 2001, Gow lost to Jeff Sluman at the B.C.
Open. That year Gow couldn't match Sluman's birdie on the second playoff
hole.
- Brendan Jones has this second-place thing down quite well this season.
Although he's still winless on the Nationwide Tour, Jones has been in
the hunt in three of his four starts this season. He tied for second at
the Jacob's Creek Open in his native Australia, followed by another tie
for second at the New Zealand Open. After missing the cut at the Henrico
County Open, Jones was back in the runner-up spot last week, losing in
an eight-hole playoff to Chris Anderson. In only four events -- and three
made cuts -- he is sixth on the money list with $153,925.
- The Nationwide Tour Player of the Month for May is Chris Anderson, the
winner at last week's SAS Carolina Classic. Besides his win, Anderson
also had a runner-up finish at the Chattanooga Classic.
CHAMPIONS TOUR
- The defending champ at this week's Farmers Charity Classic, Doug Tewell,
misses his tee shots left the least of anyone on the Champions Tour (5.3
percent). Morris Hatalsky misses right the least of anyone, also 5.3
percent of the time.
- This stat, courtesy of ShotLink, should come as no shock to anyone who
follows golf. Ben Crenshaw and Morris Hatalsky three-putt less than
anyone on the Champions Tour -- 1.3 percent of the time.
- In order to avoid a playoff with Jay Haas, Hale Irwin needed to birdie
the 72nd hole Monday at the Senior PGA Championship. When he did, it
gave him a one-stroke win and his fourth Senior PGA Championship title.
But this was the first time since Irwin's first victory in 1996 that
things were tense down the stretch. That year Irwin beat Isao Aoki by
two strokes. But in his subsequent wins in 1997 and 1998, he won by 12
strokes and seven strokes, respectively.
- Hale Irwin's win last week was also his first Senior PGA Championship
win on a course other than PGA National's Champions Course in Palm Beach
Gardens, FL.
- With a tie for 10th at the Senior PGA Championship, Jerry Pate turned in
his best performance since he joined the Tour. His previous-best showing
was a 17th-place finish at the MasterCard Classic in Mexico in March.
- John Harris also picked up his first Champions Tour top 10 at the Senior
PGA Championship. The Minnesota native finished ninth, his best
performance in 44 Champions Tour events.
- The Champions Tour's Player of the Month for May is D.A. Weibring. He
picked up a victory at the Allianz Championship and had two other top-10
finishes.
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