'03 Slam will move to mid-December

Advertiser Staff

This year's PGA Grand Slam of Golf is set for Thanksgiving week (Nov. 25-27) at the Po'ipu Bay Resort Course. The next Grand Slam is beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Tiger Woods will try to win his fifth PGA Grand Slam in a row Nov. 26-27 at the Po'ipu Bay Resort on Kaua'i. Advertiser library photo • Nov. 21, 2002

The 36-hole stroke-play tournament brings together the winners of the year's four majors. Tiger Woods, winner of this year's Masters and U.S. Open, will seek his fifth Slam victory. His competition will be PGA champion Rich Beem and alternates Justin Leonard and Davis Love III.

Leonard and Love qualified via the major champions points list after Woods won two majors and Ernie Els withdrew because of a scheduling conflict and the birth of his second child.

• Mercedes expands: Phil Tataurangi became the 15th first-time winner on the PGA Tour this year after shooting a final-round 62 to win the Invensys Classic in Las Vegas last week.

He became the 35th player to qualify for the winners-only Mercedes Championships, Jan. 9-12, at the Kapalua Plantation Course.

"We have 35 players, which is the largest field we've ever had in the Mercedes Championships," said Gary Planos, Kapalua Resort's vice president of resort operations. "And there are still four more (PGA) tournaments to go."

The 2003 field includes Tiger Woods, who has won five times this year, British Open champion Ernie Els, PGA champion Rich Beem, defending champion Sergio Garcia and previous Mercedes winners Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk.

More international players have won this year than any year in the PGA Tour's history. So far a dozen foreign golfers have qualified.

First prize at the tournament is $1 million, along with a Tiffany Trophy and Mercedes-Benz SL500.

A season pass is available at an advance price of $50 through Dec. 23. Tickets are available by calling Ticketmaster toll-free at 877-804-0472 or by visiting pgatour.com or ticketmaster.com. For additional tournament information, call 669-2440 on Maui.

• Ka'anapali chips in: Ka'anapali's North and South courses are offering $10 discounts on green fees for the rest of the month to golfers who bring at least one item of non-perishable food. A bag of canned or boxed groceries is "highly encouraged."

The special is good any time of day except "super twilight" rate time. This "Drive for Maui" is being held in conjunction with the Maui Food Bank.

Ka'anapali has recently renovated its practice green and reopened its teaching facility. For more information, call 661-3691on Maui.

SHORT PUTTS: The 40 players in the Ko'olau Challenge raised $1,000 for Special Olympics Hawai'i. The tournament was sponsored by Auntie Pasto's, Dixie Grill and Eddies.