Tag: PGA Championship

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Tiger Woods will not compete in the final of the PGA Championship 2022

Disappointment: Tiger Woods can not finish the PGA Championship. (Photo: Getty)
Disappointment: Tiger Woods can not finish the PGA Championship. (Photo: Getty)

The 46-year-old golf legend has to throw in the towel after three days at the 2022 PGA Championship. Already on Day 1 and 2, you could see the struggle Tiger Woods was fighting with his battered body. Moving Day seems to have been too much for Woods with its change in weather. About five hours after he left the 18th green, the PGA Championship announced that Tiger Woods would not play in the final round.

PGA Championship moving day wore on Woods’ body

After a round of 74 on the first day, Tiger Woods struggled into the weekend with a 69. The strain on his body was already noticeable here. Woods already knew on Friday evening that he was in for a tough weekend: “This weekend I’m going to have to go low. It’s going to be different. The wind is going to be coming out of the north. It’s going to be cooler.” On Moving Day, as expected, conditions deteriorated significantly, leaving Woods with a 79 from the course. He didn’t have many words after this disappointing performance, “Well, I’m sore. I know that is for a fact. We’ll do some work and see how it goes.” Five hours later, the final cancellation.

Is Tiger Woods in over his head?

For Tiger Woods, this week should be only the second full tournament start after his serious car accident. Woods nearly lost his right leg in February 2021, but battled his way back onto the golf course for more than a year and teed off again for the first time at the 2022 Masters. Even at the first major of the year, you could tell he was struggling to cope with the enormous strain. At the second major of the year, this week’s PGA Championship, Tiger Woods had to retire after three rounds. There has been no further information so far.

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PGA Championship 2022: Aaron Wise hit in the head by golf ball

Heavy hit on Aaron Wise in round 2 of the 2022 PGA Championship (Photo: Getty).
Heavy hit on Aaron Wise in round 2 of the 2022 PGA Championship (Photo: Getty).

Shots are being fired sharply at the PGA Championship 2022, but a dangerous situation arose in Round 2. On the fairway of the seventh hole, Aaron Wise was hit in the head by Cameron Smith’s tee shot from the adjacent 2nd hole just as he was identifying his ball.

Joel Dahmen, Aaron Wise’s playing partner, said after the round: “Thankfully, he’s fine,” Dahmen said. “It was a glancing blow, but the ball took off another 40 or 50 yards down the fairway. It ended up in the rough. You could hear it. All the spectators heard it. It was loud.”

Aaron Wise was fine under the circumstances, able to finish the round normally and only had to recover briefly from the scare. A cold water bottle was immediately used to cool the area on his head. Wise finished the round and is safely in the cut after two days one over par.

2022 PGA Championship: Leaderboard

“Thankfully he’s fine”

“I had a great up and down on seven and eight,” Wise said. “You know, obviously, there’s a lot of adrenaline in the body after something like that happens. I was just trying to calm myself down and get back to being somewhat normal for the last few holes.”

After the round, Aaron Wise went to the medical centre on the course. After a 20-minute assessment, he was released, including an ice pack for his head. According to Dahmen, Cameron Smith is not to blame for the incident: “It was so far away, and there’s so many people and the wind is blowing,” Dahmen said. “You’re not going to be able to hear it if anyone says ‘fore.’ I don’t fault Cam for that at all. One hundred people could have yelled ‘fore’ and you wouldn’t hear it.”

PGA Championship 2022: Wise in for the weekend

Wise had shot a 72 (+2) after his opening round of 69 on Friday, leaving the American in the tournament’s top 30 at one-over-par. “Aaron is doing well and in good spirits after being hit today,” his management team said in a statement. “We’ll be monitoring his condition overnight but he looks forward to competing tomorrow.” Wise will therefore continue to compete in the upcoming rounds of the 2022 PGA Championship despite the incident.

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PGA Championship 2022: Rory McIlroy about his fantastic opening roud

Rory McIlroy about his first round at the PGA Championship 2022. (Photo: Getty)
Rory McIlroy about his first round at the PGA Championship 2022. (Photo: Getty)

JOHN DEVER: Welcome back to the 2022 PGA Championship here at Southern Hills Country Club. Joined by Rory McIlroy, who fashioned a 5-under par 65 today. Rory, that’s the quick start you’ve been looking for, yes or no?

RORY MCILROY: Yes or no? No, no, I’d rather shoot 74 and try to make the cut tomorrow. (Laughter.)

Yeah, look, it was a great start to the tournament. I’ve been playing well coming in here. I’ve been carrying some good form. Obviously that took a lot from that last round at Augusta, played well up in D.C. at the Wells Fargo there, and played good in the practice rounds earlier this week.

I think when your game is feeling like that, it’s just a matter of going out there and really sticking to your game plan, executing as well as you possibly can, and just sort of staying in your own little world. I did that really well today. It was nice to get off to that good start and sorta keep it going.

I feel like this course, it lets you be pretty aggressive off the tee if you want to be, so I hit quite a lot of drivers out there and took advantage of my length and finished that off with some nice iron play and some nice putting.

Q. What were you happiest with, and if there was disappointment, what were you most disappointed with?

RORY MCILROY: I think just happy with when you get off to a good start like that, sometimes you can maybe start to be a little careful or start to give yourself a little more margin for error, but I stuck to my game plan.

I stayed aggressive, hit that driver up 4, took an aggressive line on 5. Yeah, I stuck to what I was trying to do out there, which I was pleased with.

Then if anything obviously the two bogeys on the par-3s on the front nine, but it’s very easy to make bogeys out here. You get yourself just a little bit out of position, you catch a little bit of grain around the green, it’s tricky.

I didn’t encounter too many of those tricky scenarios today, but it can certainly be tricky. You get yourself out of position here, you just try to make a 4 or a par and run to the next.

Q. I was going to ask you about that line on 5 you took. Why did you decide to aim at that tree and hit a cut instead of working a draw or something? What’s the thinking?

RORY MCILROY: I snap hooked one on to the driving range yesterday, so at least I knew I wasn’t going to do that. That was basically it. And the wind was off the left. If anything I’m a little more comfortable hitting the driver left to right at the minute. I feel like my body works a little better, I can be more aggressive with my body; body doesn’t stop and arms go.

Some of those right-to-left winds today off the tee it was nice because I could just aim the driver up the middle of the fairway, hit like a nice hold against the wind.

But yeah, that was the reason. It wasn’t all to do with the shot yesterday, but just fits my eye a little better.

Q. You’ve talked about how it can be challenging playing with Tiger Woods or in these super groups. Is there an opposite to that where once you’re playing well you get more in the zone, or what’s the effect out there?

RORY MCILROY: Yeah, I think the nice thing around — like for example, it’s different playing with him here than it is say at East Lake, because East Lake feels so claustrophobic, the crowds are so much more on top of you.

Here it’s big wide corridors. I feel like there’s a lot of room, so it doesn’t feel as oppressive as some other venues. It’s sort of nice that — I was looking forward to the draw anyway. It’s always a cool group to be a part of.

But I think this golf course just with how it’s been opened up, it doesn’t feel quite as boisterous as it usually does.

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PGA Championship 2022: Tiger Woods about his frustrating start

Tiger Woods about his first round at the PGA Championship 2022 (Photo: Getty)
Tiger Woods about his first round at the PGA Championship 2022 (Photo: Getty)

JOHN DEVER: Welcome back to the 2022 PGA Championship here at Southern Hills. We’re joined by Tiger Woods who opened with a 4-over par 74 today. Looked like a struggle out there. Did you hold it together? It’s not that bad a score.

TIGER WOODS: Well, I did not hit a lot of good iron shots. I drove it well, but my iron shots were not very good. I didn’t get the ball very close. I got off to a great start and didn’t keep it going. I really didn’t give myself any looks for birdie. I was struggling trying to get the ball on the green, and I missed quite a few iron shots both ways. It was a frustrating day.

Q. It looked like you tweaked something, looked like something was bothering you, and also, bunker shots, the ball came out hot —

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, yeah. All the bunker shots sort of came out hot. The sand is a lot faster than I thought it would be. Kind of been that way all week, especially if you get up in the areas where it’s not raked. I had a couple of those balls where it was in those areas. It’s like, is there a lot of sand here, is there not, how should I play it, and when you dig in with your feet you’re not in those areas where it’s raked. I feel like sometimes the sand — I’m guessing, and I guessed wrong.

Yeah, my leg is not feeling as good as I would like it to be. We’ll start the recovery process and get after it tomorrow.

Q. There were a few instances when you went iron off the tee when Rory and Jordan both hit driver. Was that always the strategy and when you see them do that, does it make you think, I’m pretty far back here?

TIGER WOODS: Well, it wouldn’t have been so far back if I would have hit the iron shot solid and put the ball in the fairway. I was playing to my spots, and those guys obviously have a different game plan. It’s just different.

The game is played very differently now, and it’s very aggressive. We were talking about it today, Joey and I, the days of the Lee Janzens and the Scott Simpsons and the Faldos of the world, playing that kind of golf is gone. You go out there and hit driver a lot, and if you have a hot week, you have a hot week and you’re up there.

The game is just different. It’s much more aggressive now, and I know that. But I was playing to my spots. If I would have hit the ball solidly on those two holes and put the ball in the fairway, I would have been fine. I would have had 9-iron, 8-iron in there. That’s not a big deal. But I didn’t do that. I put the ball in the rough over there on 4 and hit the tree on 9 and ended up hitting a 4-iron in there.

Q. When your leg is bothering you more than normal, how does it impact your swing? What does it do that you are not able to do the way you’d like?

TIGER WOODS: Well, I just can’t load it. Loading hurts, pressing off it hurts, and walking hurts, and twisting hurts. It’s just golf. I don’t play that, if I don’t do that, then I’m all right.

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2022 PGA Championship without Bryson DeChambeau

With a thickly bandaged wrist: Bryson DeChambeau in preparation for the 2022 PGA Championship. (Photo: Getty)

Phil Mickelson’s cancellation was followed by another cancellation shortly before the start of the major: at around 5 p.m. local time on Wednesday, Bryson DeChambeau announced in Tulsa that he would not be taking part in the 2022 PGA Championship. The second major of the year comes too soon for the 28-year-old after months of pain that was eventually followed by surgery. Although DeChambeau flew to Tulsa this week to the Southern Hills Country Club to be able to prepare himself optimally for a possible participation, he has to admit to himself shortly before the start of the tournament that he is not yet fit enough again.

His left wrist prevents him from playing in the PGA Championship 2022

Bryson DeChambeau underwent surgery on his left hand about five weeks ago. A fall while playing table tennis damaged a bone in his wrist. At first DeChambeau played over the injury, but ultimately could not avoid surgery. Eight weeks of regeneration were initially recommended by the doctors. After DeChambeau had already trained one-handed shortly after the operation, he tried to get back to his usual game as quickly as possible. After four weeks, he already achieved an impressive speed and distance with his driver, as he showed on Twitter.

He finally made his way to Southern Hills Country Club on May 16 to test his body on the course that will host the 2022 PGA Championship.

“I want to be 100% coming back”

After intense days of practice, he played nine holes on each of the last two days before the start of the major. The realization he gained was disappointing: “I just realized it wasn’t going to be the right decision for me to play this week – it was going to be a stretch.” He said he was only 70 percent fit and didn’t want to compete at this level. “I want to give somebody else a chance that’s fully prepared and ready to go out here. Feeling fatigued and tired, four days is a big stretch for me right now”, DeChambeau admits with a heavy heart.

The replacement for Bryson DeChambeau at the PGA Championship 2022 will be Denny McCarthy. The latter is confident despite his impromptu entry, “I had a feeling he was going to pull out. I was ready either way.”

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PGA Tour: PGA chief in talks with Phil Mickelson

phil mickelson pga championship
If Phil Mickelson start at the PGA Championship is yet to be decided (foto: Getty)

Phil Mickelson and the PGA Tour are in a difficult situation. The American has entered both the PGA Championship to defend his title and the first event of the LIV Golf Invitational Series. In addition, the conflict with the Tour has not yet been finally clarified and pronounced. In a podcast, the head of the PGA of America, which is hosting the second major, said he is in talks with Phil Mickelson. It is not yet clear whether Mickelson will play in the PGA Championship.

Talks have been going on for weeks

Seth Waugh, the head of the PGA, speaking to the podcast, said that there have been talks with Mickelson since the fall and also recently. If Waugh has his way, it’s not yet clear which of the tournaments Mickelson will choose. “Mickelson is trying to figure out when the right time is for him,” adding, “I think the game is also trying to figure out the right time for him. How long is long enough? And is he mentally and physically ready for it?”

The marketing company Sportfive is also not so sure whether the 51-year-old will even compete in one of the two tournaments. According to their information, Mickelson is leaving all his options open. However, the fact that Mickelson was recently seen on the golf course in California again suggests that he will soon be returning to professional golf. Seth Waugh also sees things positively but finds the whole situation extremely unfortunate: “The whole thing (Mickelson’s incident) is just sad,” adding, “It’s sad for Phil, it’s sad for the game. He’s been great for the game for a long time and I believe in making amends and I believe he can do it”

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Tiger Woods fuels hopes for participation in the 2022 PGA Championship

Tiger Woods together with the head pro of the Southern Hills Country Club on a practice round before the PGA Championship 2022. (Photo: Twitter/@PGAChampionship & @okgolf2)
Tiger Woods together with the head pro of the Southern Hills Country Club on a practice round before the PGA Championship 2022. (Photo: Twitter/@PGAChampionship & @okgolf2)

It’s reminiscent of the scenes that sent the golf world into hysterics a couple of weeks ago: a plane being tracked and a practice round that raised hopes of a appearance in a major. Only this time the surprise is not quite so great, given the feat Tiger Woods had achieved at the US Masters in 2022. Now the superstar was out on a practice round at Southern Hills Country Club to gauge the strain for the 2022 PGA Championship.

Tiger Woods on a practice round at Southern Hills Country Club

On Thursday, the 15-time major winner’s private jet touched down at the airport in Tulsa, Oklahoma, after which Tiger Woods played a practice round at Southern Hills, where the second major of the year will be played in about three weeks. Woods completed the 18 holes alongside Cary Cozby, the golf club’s head pro, reports the Golf Channel, and was spotted by numerous cameras; his putting drills were even filmed from a helicopter. According to a “Golf Channel” reporter, Cozby said that “Tiger had great speed with swing and was engaged regarding the lines to take with shots and the differences in green complexes since winning there in 2007.”

On his round, the 46-year-old was spotted wearing shorts that exposed a view of his damaged right leg, which is encased in a compression sleeve. On his feet, Woods is wearing the Footjoy shoes that first made his participation in the prestigious major at hilly Augusta National possible.

Immediately after the tournament, the five-time Masters winner announced that he would participate in the second Major of the year if possible and set his sights on the 150th Open Championship. Hall-of-Famer sources now say that after his practice round, Woods intends to play the 2022 PGA Championship in May, provided there are no further setbacks. This is reported by Golf Digest, which goes on to say that they will wait to see the body’s reactions to the increasing strain in the coming weeks before making a final decision on participation.

PGA Championship 2022 in Oklahoma

The PGA Championship 2022 will be held at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa from 19 to 22 May. Originally, the second major of the year was to be held at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, but after the riots at the beginning of 2021 with the storming of the Capitol by Trump supporters, the former US president’s club was stripped of its hosting status.

Tiger Woods has already played two major tournaments at Southern Hills; in 2007 he won the PGA Championship there for the fourth and for the moment last time. In 2019, however, the course was thoroughly renovated and therefore presents a new challenge this year. It was only recently announced that the golf legend is on the list of participants for the most important tournament of the PGA of America, as is defending champion Phil Mickelson. With the practice round, participation becomes more and more likely.

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PGA Tour

Phil Mickelson signs up for PGA Championship and Saudi opener

Phil Mickelson is keeping all his options open. (Photo: Getty)
Phil Mickelson is keeping all his options open. (Photo: Getty)

The first tournament of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational Series kicks off in less than a month, and it will feature 15 golfers from the top 100 in the world rankings. This was reported by Sport Illustrated, citing a statement from LIV Golf. Among the 15 players is probably Phil Mickelson, who despite increased criticism in recent months wants to keep open the chance to participate in the first event in London. But that’s not the end of Mickelson’s return to tournament golf. The defending PGA Championship champion would like to start his comeback to the PGA Tour at this very tournament.

Phil Mickelson’s return to the tournament stage

Phil Mickelson is planning his return to the PGA Tour after withdrawing from all upcoming tournament starts for the time being in February as a result of heavy criticism. His proximity to the LIV Golf Invitational Series (formerly the Saudi Golf League) repeatedly brought him into the negative media spotlight last year, but now he wants to make his comeback and will start at the PGA Championship. Mickelson won the second major of the golf season last year. But his start at Southern Hills Country Club is not enough for Mickelson. At the same time, he applied for a permit to play in the first Saudi League tournament in June. A statement from his agency said, “We have also applied on his behalf for clearance to play in the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational in London from June 9-11. This request meets the April 25 deadline set by the PGA Tour to participate in a competitive Tour event.” It is unclear at this time whether he will take advantage of this release, but he wants to keep all options open, the statement added.

15 players from the top 100 will compete in London

According to Sports Illustrated, 14 other players from the top 100 in the world rankings are taking advantage of the 30-day period before the start of the tournament. The names of those players remain non-public and are subject to confidentiality agreements, according to a spokesperson for the LIV Golf Invitational Series. So far, about 70 players have registered for the event, but with a planned field of 48 players, not all professionals will be able to compete. It remains to be seen how and according to which criteria the field of participants will finally be put together. It also remains to be seen how the PGA Tour will handle future Saudi Tour events on American soil. At this point in time, the PGA Tour does not want to issue any permits for participation in these events. This would affect at least two of the eight tournaments, with the tournament in Portland in early July, as well as other events at Trump National Golf Club and the scheduled team finale at Trump National Doral in Miami in late October.

Daly pleads for merger of tours

John Daly sees a simple solution to the eternal back-and-forth between LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman and PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan. Daly is calling for the Saudi Tour and the PGA Tour to merge. To him, he says it’s the easy solution and also a great opportunity for golf. “I mean, you want to keep golf going and keep it strong, and the foundation of the European Tour and the foundation of the Asian Tour and the Australian Tour and all the tours and our tour the players have built through a lot of great sponsors that we’ve had. I just think it would be really good if they could work together instead of competing against each other.” He himself has not been offered a starting spot on the new tour, but he likes the concept and sees a great opportunity in the increase in prize money.

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In the PGA Championship field: Next major for Tiger Woods?

We can continue to hope to see Tiger Woods at the PGA Championship. (Photo: Getty)
We can continue to hope to see Tiger Woods at the PGA Championship. (Photo: Getty)

It took over a year for Tiger Woods to be capable of full tournament participation again. In February 2021, the legend nearly lost his right leg. Whether he would ever be able to play golf again was unclear for a long time. His participation in the PNC Championship together with his son Charlie raised hopes. Then, shortly before the US Masters in 2022, the surprise: Tiger will be competing! His participation in the first Major of the year should not be the last. Recently, it was officially announced that Woods is on the list of participants in the PGA Championship in May.

Tiger Woods: “Only the big events”

It has been clear to Tiger Woods for some time that he will probably never play another full tournament season on the PGA Tour. The car accident has affected his right leg too much. Woods’ participation in the Masters showed that while he struggled and limped on the highly demanding terrain toward the end, he is perfectly capable of handling a four-day tournament again. His Masters participation, in which he made the cut and finished tied for 47th, solidified his plans for the future: “I’ll never play a full schedule again, just the big events.”

Last afternoon, the PGA Championship released the list of participants for the 104th PGA Championship at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma, May 19-22. Lo and behold, Tiger Woods is one of the announced participants.

St. Andrews is especially close to Woods’ heart

While it was not 100 percent certain for Tiger Woods whether he will compete in the PGA Championship, it was clear to him that he will definitely travel to St. Andrews for the British Open in July: “The tournament is something that is very close to my heart. It’s my favorite golf course in the world, so I’ll be there.” The fact that the golf course is a particularly flat course with no slopes to speak of will definitely suit Woods.

However, Tiger Woods already seems to have largely recovered from his start at the particularly strenuous Augusta. We can still hope for a participation in the PGA Championship at Southern Hills. Phil Mickelson, who withdrew from the public eye for weeks, is also on the official list of participants in the PGA Championship.

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Weekly Preview: Exciting English Debuts

MADRID, SPAIN - OCTOBER 06: Daniel Gavins of England ponders a shot in the pro - am prior to the start of The Open de Espana at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid on October 06, 2021 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)

PGA Tour: Shriners Children’s Open

When TPC Summerlin calls, the best players in the world come together. This year is no exception. After the stars of this year’s Ryder Cup took a little break, fans can look forward to seeing some familiar faces again this week. Starting with Ian Poulter who will begin early, teeing off tomorrow at 11:51(BST). As well as Matt Wallace who will get a chance to redeem himself from last week’s disappointing cut. Danny Willet who was last weekend’s champion of the Alfred Dunhill Links tournament will also be playing and teeing off at 18:35(BST).

PGA Tour Shriners Children’s Open
Course TPC Summerlin, Las Vegas, Nevada (USA)
Prize Money 7,0 Mio US-Dollar (6,0 Mio EUR)
Defending Champion Martin Laird
Headliner Brooks Koepka, Hideki Matsuyama, Viktor Hovland
English players Ian Poulter, Matt Wallace, Paul Casey, Aaron Rai, Danny Willet, Harry Hall

European Tour: Open de Espana


Starting signal for the Spanish weeks on the European Tour! The next three weekends the European Tour stays in the home country of world number one Jon Rahm. The start is made by the Club de Campo Villa in Madrid, Spain. Since last year’s tournament had to be cancelled due to pandemic. A few English stars to get a chance at this year’s tournament include, Richard Bland, Daniel Gavins, and Ross McGowan.

EU Tour Open de Espana
Course Club de Campo Villa de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Prize Money 1,5 Mio EUR
Defending Champion Jon Rahm
Headliner Jon Rahm, Bernd Wiesberger, Nicolai Hojgaard
English players

Richard Bland, Daniel Gavins, Ross McGowan, Steven Brown, Eddie Pepperell, Richard Mcevoy, Marcus Armitage, Andy Sullivan, Luke Donald 

LPGA Tour: Cognizant Founders Cup

For the women of the highest American tour, it’s off to New Jersey this week, where the Cognizant Founders Cup will be held for the tenth time. Since 2014, four of the last five winners have come from Korea, the most recent being Jin Young Ko in 2019. However English stars will be there to being the heat. Stars such as Charley Hull and Georgia Hall who both sit in the top 50 Rolex Rankings.

LPGA Tour Cognizant Founders Cup
Course TPC Summerlin, Las Vegas, Nevada (USA)
Prize Money 3,0 Mio US-Dollar (ca. 2,5 Mio Euro)
Defending Champion Jin Young Ko
Headliner Nelly Korda, Jessica Korda, Jin Young Ko
English players Charley Hull, Georgia Hall, Laura Davies, Olivia Mehaffey, Mel Reid, Bronte Law, Jodi Ewart Shadoff, 

PGA Tour Champions: Constellation Furyk & Friends

A new tournament in the calendar of the PGA Tour Champions. When Jim Furyk invites the oldies, they all pack their bags again. They all come together at the Timuquana Country Club in Jacksonville, Florida. Even Phil Mickelson does the honors and takes a break from the PGA Tour this week to join his friend Jim Furyk on the course. According to the rankings in the Charles Schwab Cup, it is the best-staffed tournament of the PGA Tour Champions ever. Furthermore, the two Ryder Cup captains Steve Stricker and Padraig Harrington are also entered. Paul Broadhurst is the only English player in the tournament.

PGA Tour Champions Constellation Furyk & Friends
Course TPC Summerlin, Las Vegas, Nevada (USA)
Prize Money
500.000 US-Dollar
Defending Champion Martin Laird
Headliner
Steve Stricker, Phil Mickelson,
English players Paul Broadhurst