Posted at 12:30 a.m., Monday, January 14, 2008
Golf: 4 top stars to compete at MasterCard event
Advertiser Staff
Four of golf's most talented players — Ben Crenshaw, Curtis Strange, Lee Trevino and Lanny Wadkins — received special exemptions to compete in the season-opening 2008 MasterCard Championship at Hualalai on the island of Hawaii.The tournament is the first of 29 official Champions Tour events for 2008 and will be held Friday to Sunday at Hualalai Golf Course in Ka'upulehu-Kona, Hawaii.
The foursome joins a field of eligible players featuring winners of Champions Tour major championships in the last five years.
Crenshaw will return for this year's Championship for the third straight year. A World Golf Hall of Fame member since 2002, Crenshaw has 19 PGA Tour titles, including the 1984 and 1995 Masters.
Strange, who was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame this past year, will make his second appearance. The winner of back-to-back U.S. Opens (1988-89) has logged a total of 17 PGA Tour victories in his career.
Trevino will compete at Hualalai for the 14th year. The three-time Champions Tour player of the year's best finish at the event was a runner-up in the 2000 Championship with three other players. Trevino has won six majors on the PGA Tour and four on the Champions Tour, bringing his combined total career victories to 58. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1981.
Wadkins, back for the fifth time, is recovering from back problems that limited his 2007 season to just five starts. His best finish at Hualalai came in 2002 when he finished tied for ninth. The 1977 PGA Championship winner has a total of 21 PGA Tour victories and one Champions Tour title.
The sponsor invitation category was created in 2002 and allows up to four exemptions to be granted to players who have a minimum of 30 combined PGA TOUR/Champions Tour victories or players with a minimum of 15 career victories who also have a minimum of one major championship victory.
The addition of Crenshaw, Strange, Trevino and Wadkins brings the field to 42.
Topping the list of eligible players is defending champion and World Golf Hall of Fame member, Hale Irwin, who earned his eighth victory in Hawaii. He also won in 1997.
Irwin has collected an unprecedented 45 Champions Tour titles since making his debut in 1995, and has a total of 20 PGA TOUR career victories, including three U.S Opens (1974, 79, 90).
Eight of the 42 MasterCard Championship at Hualalai qualifiers are first-time Champions Tour winners and first-time qualifiers. They are John Cook, R.W. Eaks, Keith Fergus, Scott Hoch, Bernhard Langer, Lonnie Nielsen, Denis Watson and Mark Wiebe.
