Champions Tour Notes
Final Round Notebook
by Dave Senko - PGA Tour Staff
2nd Round
So far in 2008, only five of 13 events have been won by the second or third-roun leader/co-leader on the Champions Tour.
In its brief history, The Principal Charity Classic has seen its second-round leader enjoy great success with five of seven second-round leaders/co-leaders going on to win. Jim Thorpe (2001), Don Pooley (2003), D.A. Weibring (2004), Gil Morgan (2006) and Jay Haas (2007) were 36-hole leaders who were victorious. Bob Gilder (2002) and Tom Jenkins (2005) each came from two strokes off the pace Sunday to win.
For the second time in the last four Champions Tour events, Nick Price will begin Sunday’s final round with the lead. Price held a two-stroke advantage at the FedEx Kinko’s Classic near Austin earlier this month. He eventually finished T2, one stroke behind Denis Watson.
Here are second-round leader Nick Price’s statistics thru two rounds.
Fairways Hit – 20 of 28 (71.4%/T52)
Greens in Regulation – 29 of 36 (80.6%/T3)
Putts Per Round – 29.0/T24
Driving Distance – 284.0/T17
Nick Price is seeking his first victory since the 2002 MasterCard Colonial, a stretch of six years, 13 days.
Nick Price, Bob Gilder and Mark O’Meara shared honors for the day’s low round, 5-under-par 66s.
Mark O’Meara’s 5-under-par 66 was instrumental in his move from T47 on Friday to T8 after two rounds and Gilder’s 66 moved him up from a T57 on Friday to a T13.
Lonnie Nielsen, who is currently T2, is bidding to become the first player to win an event in his native state since Scott Simpson won the 2006 Wal-Mart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach.
A total of 18 players will begin the final round within three shots of second-round leader Nick Price. Among those chasing Price is 2007 champion Jay Haas (T8/two strokes behind).
Andy Bean leads all players with 12 birdies, two more than Mike Hulbert. Bobby Wadkins and Kirk Hanefeld have each made just one bogey in the event.
The winner of this year’s Principal Charity Classic will receive 259 points in the season-long Charles Schwab Cup race. Through last week’s Senior PGA Championship, Bernhard Langer leads the race with 1,413 points, but Jay Haas closed the gap with his victory in Rochester and double points to just one point and now has 1,412 points. Scott Hoch is third with 1,026 points followed by Denis Watson and Tom Watson with 669 and 633 points, respectively.
Hole No. 17 (4.346/+.346) was the most difficult on Friday, but No. 12 took the honors on Saturday. The field averaged 4.410 (+.410) on No. 12, while No. 17 averaged 4.256 (+.256). There were just four birdies on No. 12 and five on No. 17 on Saturday. However, 26 golfers made a bogey on No. 12 and there were also five triples. No. 17 saw 19 bogeys and three triples. The easiest hole was No. 9 once again.
The scoring average was 71.179 on Saturday, just a shade lower than Friday’s average of 71.231. A total of 35 players finished below par, one more than on Friday.
Andy Bean, David Eger, and Mike Hulbert are the only players with a pair of rounds in the 60s.
Kirk Hanefeld, who is currently T2, earned a berth in this week’s field via open qualifying. He could be in line for his best showing in 26 starts on the Champions Tour. Hanefeld was T3 after two rounds at this tournament in 2006 before a final-round 72 left him T6, his best finish ever. The last open qualifier to win an event was Pete Oakley at the 2004 Senior British Open.
Defending champion Jay Haas could become the third back-to-back winner on the Champions Tour this year, joining Scott Hoch and Tom Watson with that distinction. He is T8.
Walter Hall withdrew following Saturday’s second round with a wrist injury.
1st Round Notes
It was a good first day for one of the local favorites Lonnie Nielsen. The former Iowa Hawkeye star and native of Belle Plaine, IA, opened with a 5-under-par 66 and shares the lead with R.W. Eaks. His 66 matched his low round in the event (2nd round, 2006).
Des Moines native Tom Purtzer shot a 4-under-par 67 and is T3.
Nielsen and Purtzer were not the only Hawkeye natives to enjoy productive first rounds. West Branch native Dave Rummells, another former Iowa Hawkeye golfer, is currently T9 after shooting a 2-under-par 69. Rummells is making just his second start on the Champions Tour. He finished T20 at the Regions Charity Classic in his last start.
R.W. Eaks, who shares the lead with Lonnie Nielsen, has played very well at the Glen Oaks Country Club. He was T10 in his first visit in 2002 and T2 a year ago. He also competed in 2006, but withdrew after five holes in the final round due to a back injury
Two long-time PGA TOUR performers made their Champions Tour debuts on Friday. Clarence Rose, the winner of the 1996 Sprint International, is currently T7, while John Morse, the 1995 United Airlines Hawaiian Open champion, is T9. Both open qualified this week.
Defending champion Jay Haas shot a 1-under-par 70 and is currently T20. Haas is coming off a victory at the Senior PGA Championship last week.
The start of play was delayed for one hour, 40 minutes to allow club staff to prepare the course after the Des Moines area received just over a half an inch of rain overnight.
Hole No. 17 was the most difficult on Friday with an average score of 4.346 (+.346). There were just two birdies. Andy Bean made the first and John Morse the second. There were 22 bogeys, two doubles and a quadruple bogey. The easiest hole was No. 9 at 4.513 (-.487).
With lift, clean and place rules in effect, the field averaged 71.231 for the day, an improvement over last year’s opening round average of 72.200. A total of 34 players had sub-par rounds compared to 23 in 2007.
Kirk Hanefeld and Dave Rummells posted bogey-free rounds on Friday.
Bruce Lietzke’s run of 12 straight sub-par rounds in this event ended when he shot a 77 on Friday.
Second-round play will start at 10:20 a.m. on Saturday with players going off both the No. 1 and No. 10 tees.
Wednesday, May 28
CHARLES SCHWAB CUP: The Charles Schwab Cup kicked off its eighth year season in January at the MasterCard Championship at Hualalai. The Charles Schwab Cup, designed to recognize the Champions Tour’s leading player, is a season-long bonus-points competition. Players receive points for top-10 finishes at all 29 official events based on each week’s money distribution, with $1,000 earned being the equivalent of one Charles Schwab Cup point (points are doubled at the five major championships during the year as well as the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship). The program offers $2.1 million in tax-deferred annuity payouts to the five leading finishers, with the winner receiving a $1-million annuity. Loren Roberts won his first Charles Schwab Cup last year, finishing 165 points in front of Jay Haas, the 2006 winner. Through the Senior PGA Championship, Bernhard Langer continues to lead with 1,413 points, but Jay Haas closed the gap with his victory and double points at the Senior PGA Championship and now has 1,412 points. Scott Hoch is third with 1,026 points followed by Denis Watson and Tom Watson with 669 and 633 points, respectively.
NEW FACES DOT DES MOINES LINEUP: As the Champions Tour continues to evolve, several new players will make their first appearances in this year’s Principal Charity Classic. Among the first-timers in the field are: World Golf Hall of Fame member Nick Price, Joey Sindelar, Scott Hoch, John Cook, Mark O’Meara, Jeff Sluman, Fulton Allem, Dave Rummels, Phil Blackmar, Mike Hulbert and Mark Wiebe.
MAJOR CHAMPIONS SET TO COMPETE: This year’s field also includes nine former major championship winners on the PGA TOUR. This list includes Hale Irwin, Tom Kite, Larry Nelson, Mark O’Meara, Nick Price, Scott Simpson, Jeff Sluman, Craig Stadler, and Fuzzy Zoeller.
COMPETITION HAS BEEN KEEN THIS YEAR: Through the first 13 events, nine of those have been decided by either a playoff or by just one stroke. So far, only five of 13 second-round/third-round leaders has held on to win the event in which they led going into the final round.
NEWCOMERS ESTABLISHING THEIR CREDENTIALS: With the Champions Tour season more than one third over, several new faces have quickly established their credentials on the Tour. World Golf Hall of Famer Bernhard Langer, who joined the Tour in late August last year, leads the money race, with $1,251,128 and owns two victories and eight top-10 finishes in 11 events this year. Scott Hoch, a rookie in 2007, also owns a pair of wins and is third in earnings with $1,054,305. Mark Wiebe has two wins to his credit since turning 50 last September and is seventh on the money charts, while John Cook owns seven top-10 finishes in 12 starts this year and is eighth on the money list. He joined the Champions Tour in late 2007.
