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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, May 19, 2009

This week's top golf events


Associated Press

Times Eastern

PGA TOUR

Byron Nelson Championship

Site: Irving, Texas.

Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.

Course: TPC Four Seasons Resort Las Colinas (7,166 yards, par 70).

Purse: $6.5 million. Winner's share: $1,152,000.

Television: Golf Channel (Thursday-Friday, 3-6 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 1-2:30 p.m., 9:30-11:30 p.m.) and CBS (Saturday-Sunday, 3-6 p.m.).

Last year: Australia's Adam Scott won the last of six PGA Tour titles, topping Ryan Moore with a 48-foot birdie putt on the third hole of a playoff.

Last week: Zach Johnson successfully defended his Texas Open title, beating James Driscoll in San Antonio with a 10-foot birdie on the first hole of a playoff. Johnson, the FedEx Cup points leader, also won the Sony Open in Hawaii in January.

Notes: Phil Mickelson, the 1996 winner, is coming off a 55th-place tie in The Players Championship. He won this year at Riviera and Doral. ... Scott has dropped from third to 32 in the world ranking in the last year. ... Scott Verplank won his hometown event in 2007. ... Nelson died in September 2006 at 94. He won a record 11 consecutive events in 1945. ... England's Ian Poulter is skipping the European tour's Wentworth stop to play in the event. ... The Colonial is next week in Fort Worth, followed by the Memorial in Dublin, Ohio.

On the Net: http://www.pgatour.com

CHAMPIONS TOUR

Senior PGA Championship

Site: Beachwood, Ohio.

Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.

Course: Canterbury Golf Club (6,895 yards, par 70).

Purse: TBA ($2 million in 2008). Winner's share: TBA ($360,000 in 2008).

Television: Golf Channel (Thursday, noon-3 p.m.; Friday, 12:30-3:30 a.m., noon-3 p.m.; Saturday, midnight-3 a.m.) and NBC (Saturday, 3-6 p.m.; Sunday, noon-3 p.m.).

Last year: Jay Haas won the major tournament for the second time in three years, closing with a 4-over 74 at difficult Oak Hill for a one-stroke victory over Bernhard Langer. Haas finished at 7 over. Langer shot a 76.

Last week: Keith Fergus won the rain-shortened Regions Charity Classic in Alabama, shooting his second straight 6-under 66 for a three-stroke victory over Gene Jones.

Notes: Created at Bobby Jones' suggestion, the event was first played in 1937 at Augusta National. ... Sam Snead won six times, the last in 1973 with a record 20-under 268 total at PGA National. ... Greg Norman is winless in seven career start on the 50-and-over tour. ... Tom Lehman is making his second Champions Tour start. In his debut, he teamed with Bernhard Langer to win the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf. ... Denis Watson won in 2007 at Kiawah Island. ... Dave Stockton won the 1996 U.S. Senior Open at Canterbury, and Mark O'Meara took the 1979 U.S. Amateur on the Cleveland-area layout, also the site of the 1940 U.S. Open (Gene Sarazen), 1946 U.S. Open (Lloyd Mangrum), 1973 PGA Championship (Jack Nicklaus). ... The 2010 event will be played at Colorado Golf Club. ... The Principal Charity Classic is next week in West Des Moines, Iowa.

On the Net: http://www.pga.com/seniorpga/2009/

Champions Tour site: http://www.pgatour.com

LPGA TOUR

LPGA Corning Classic

Site: Corning, N.Y.

Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.

Course: Corning Country Club (6,223 yards, par 72).

Purse: $1.5 million. Winner's share: $225,000.

Television: Golf Channel (Thursday, 6:30-8:30 p.m.; Friday, 3:30-5:30 a.m., 6:30-8:30 p.m.; Saturday, 3-5 a.m., 6:30-9:30 p.m.; Sunday, 3-5 a.m., 7-9:30 p.m.).

Last year: Leta Lindley won for the first time in 295 LPGA Tour starts as a pro, edging Jeong Jang with a birdie on the first extra hole.

Last week: South Korea's Ji Young Oh won the Sybase Classic for her second career LPGA Tour title, beating Norway's Suzann Pettersen by four strokes. The 20-year-old Oh had a hole-in-one in the first round.

Notes: The tournament, an LPGA Tour fixture since 1979, is folding after the event. ... Michelle Wie is coming off a third-place tie last week in New Jersey. ... Top-ranked Lorena Ochoa is taking the week off, leaving the field with 28 of the 30 players on the money list and 17 of the top 20 in the ranking. ... Juli Inkster, also skipping the event, won in 2003, closing with a 10-under 62 for a tournament-record 24-under 264 total. ... The tour is off next week. Play will resume June 4-7 with the LPGA State Farm Classic in Springfield, Ill.

On the Net: http://www.lpga.com

PGA EUROPEAN TOUR

BMW PGA Championship

Site: Virginia Water, England.

Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.

Course: Wentworth Club, West Course (7,320 yards, par 72).

Purse: $6.04 million. Winner's share: $750,000.

Television: Golf Channel (Thursday-Friday, 10 a.m.-noon; Saturday, 3-6 p.m.; Sunday, midnight-3 a.m., 3-6 p.m.).

Last year: Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez beat England's Oliver Wilson with a birdie on the second hole of a playoff. Jimenez had a hole-in-one in the final round.

Last week: Irish amateur Shane Lowry won the Irish Open in his first tour start, beating England's Robert Rock with a par on the third hole of a playoff.

Notes: Masters champion Angel Cabrera is making his first European tour start of the year. He won in 2005 at Wentworth. ... Players Championship winner Henrik Stenson also is in the strong field along with Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Paul Casey, Ben Curtis, Luke Donald, Justin Rose, Lee Westwood, Darren Clarke, Rory McIlroy and John Daly. Els, a seven-time World Match Play winner at Wentworth, helped refurbish the Harry Colt-designed layout. ... Colin Montgomerie swept the 1998-00 events and also took the 1999 World Match Play on the "Burma Road" layout. ... The European Open is next week at London Golf Club.

On the Net: http://www.europeantour.com

NATIONWIDE TOUR

Next event: Rex Hospital Open, May 28-31, TPC Wakefield Plantation, Raleigh, N.C.

Last week: Australia's Michael Sim won for the second time in his last three Nationwide Tour starts, beating Fabian Gomez with a par on the first hole of a playoff in the BMW Charity Pro-Am. Sim, a victory away from earning an in-season promotion to the PGA Tour, also won the Stonebrae Classic last month.

On the Net: http://www.pgatour.com

OTHER TOURNAMENTS
Men

NGA HOOTERS TOUR: NGA Hooters Tour Classic at Quail Crossing, Wednesday-Saturday, Quail Crossing Golf Club, Boonville, Ind. On the Net: http://www.ngahooterstour.com

PGA EUROPEAN CHALLENGE TOUR: Piemonte Open, Wednesday-Saturday, La Mandria Golf Club, Torino, Italy. On the Net: http://www.europeantour.com

TOUR OF THE AMERICAS: Copa Tres Diamantes Mitsubishi, Thursday-Sunday, Barquisimeto Country Club, Barquisimeto, Venezela. On the Net: http://www.tourdelasamericas.com

Women

COLLEGE: NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championship, Tuesday-Friday, Caves Valley Golf Club, Owings Mills, Md. On the Net: http://www.ncaa.com

LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR: Ladies German Open, Thursday-Sunday, Golfpark Gut Hausern, Munich, Germany. On the Net: http://www.ladieseuropeantour.com

JAPAN LPGA TOUR: Bridgestone Ladies Open, Friday-Sunday, Chukyo Golf Club, Aichi, Japan. On the Net: http://www.lpga.or.jp