Greenbrier Classic - July 04, 2012
E-Notes – July 3, 2012
PGA TOUR
Marquee groupings and starting times (FedExCup standing) – The Greenbrier Classic
THURSDAY, 1:10 p.m. ET No. 1 tee (Friday – 8:00 a.m. ET No. 10 tee)
Johnson Wagner (13), Dustin Johnson (21), Bill Haas (22)
THURSDAY, 1:20 p.m. ET No. 1 tee (Friday – 8:10 a.m. ET No. 10 tee)
Phil Mickelson (8), Stuart Appleby (156), Scott Stallings (158)
FRIDAY, 1:10 p.m. ET No. 1 tee (Thursday – 8:00 a.m. ET No. 10 tee)
Tom Watson (N/A), Keegan Bradley (24), Jim Furyk (17)
FRIDAY, 1:20 p.m. ET No. 1 tee (Thursday – 8:10 a.m. ET No. 10 tee)
Tiger Woods (1), Webb Simpson (9), Steve Stricker (25)
The Old White TPC played significantly tougher last year compared to its debut hosting appearance in 2010. At the inaugural Greenbrier Classic, 46 players posted all four rounds in the 60s. Last year, there were none. In 2010, the cumulative scoring average was 68.536, compared to 70.593 last year.
The Greenbrier Classic features three of the four FedExCup champions in its field: Tiger Woods (2007, 2009), Jim Furyk (2010), Bill Haas (2011). Only 2008 champion Vijay Singh is missing.
From Gary D’Amato of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: Steve Stricker’s wife, Nicki, will caddie for him at The Greenbrier Classic this week. Stricker’s regular caddie, Jimmy Johnson, has the week off. Nicki was Steve’s regular caddie until 1998, when the couple’s first daughter, Bobbi, was born.
Tiger Woods earned his 100th career professional victory at the AT&T National. In addition to his 74 official PGA TOUR wins, Woods has 12 international and 14 unofficial victories.
Seasons with 3+ PGA TOUR victories since 1970:
Tiger Woods 12
Tom Watson 7
Jack Nicklaus 7
Phil Mickelson 5
Vijay Singh 4
Tiger Woods has four bogey-free rounds (37 total rounds) in 2012 compared to just two during the 2010-2011 seasons (71 total rounds). His victory at the AT&T National included a stretch of 41 consecutive bogey-free holes.
Tiger Woods took over the lead in the FedExCup standings for the first time in 100 weeks with his third victory of the 2012 campaign at the AT&T National. Woods, the seventh player to lead the standings this season, leads Jason Dufner by 103 points.
Tiger Woods took over No. 1 in Scoring Average following the AT&T National at 69.04. Due to his withdrawal during the final round of the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship, Woods is not eligible to win the Vardon Award or the Byron Nelson Award in 2012. Matt Kuchar is second at 69.16.
Highest cut totals on the PGA TOUR since 2009:
149 (+5) 2012 Masters Tournament
149 (+7) 2010 U.S. Open
149 (+7) 2009 The Barclays
148 (+8) 2012 U.S. Open
148 (+4) 2009 The Memorial Tournament
148 (+6) 2012 AT&T National
With his runner-up finish at the AT&T National, Bo Van Pelt notched his sixth top-10 finish of 2012, tied with Matt Kuchar and Jason Dufner for most on TOUR. His 19 top-10 finishes since 2010 are most among any player without a victory during that time period:
Most Top Tens without a win since 2010:
Bo Van Pelt 19
Charles Howell III 14
Ryan Moore 13
Brendon de Jonge 12
Spencer Levin 12
Retief Goosen 12
Jeff Overton 12
The top two players, not previously eligible, from cumulative money list taken from THE PLAYERS and five TOUR events (THE PLAYERS, FedEx St. Jude Classic, U.S. Open, Travelers Championship, AT&T National and The Greenbrier Classic), will gain entry into the 2012 British Open. Below are the current standings through the AT&T National.
Rank Player Earnings
1 Marc Leishman $1,150,675
2 Michael Thompson $718,412
3 John Merrick $616,440
4 Charley Hoffman $586,593
5 Jhonattan Vegas $552,021
Additionally, the leading player not otherwise exempt, among the top five finishers and ties at both The Greenbrier Classic and John Deere Classic will receive exemptions into British Open. Ties will be determined by the highest-ranking player in Official World Golf ranking at the commencement of the tournament.
WEB.COM TOUR
Peter Tomasulo's victory in the United Leasing Championship at Victoria National Golf Club was the first under the tour's new name, the Web.com Tour. Web.com replaced Nationwide Insurance as the tour's umbrella sponsor last Wednesday. The Tour played 280 events with Nationwide as umbrella sponsor. There have been 663 events played since the Tour's inception in 1990.
Peter Tomasulo won in Evansville playing on a PGA TOUR Medical Extension. It was only his second Web.com Tour start of 2012. The Californian was sidelined by a rib stress fracture.
Congratulations to Joe Daley on winning the Constellation Senior Players. Daley played 11 seasons on the Web.com Tour, winning twice, and two years on the PGA TOUR (1996, 1998).
The Web.com Tour is idle this week before heading to the Salt Lake City area for the Utah Championship presented by Utah Sports Commission (July 12-15).
“Mustache Week” returns in Utah for the sixth year in a row. Web.com Tour rookie Hudson Swafford has been growing his facial hairs and blogging about the competition for  PGATOUR.COM the past two weeks, and will be through next week.
CHAMPIONS TOUR
With his win at the Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS, Joe Daley earns fully-exempt status thru July 1, 2013 as well as a spot in next year’s THE PLAYERS Championship and a five-year exemption into the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai. He also earns a check for $405,000, the largest of his professional career as well as 810 points in the season-long Charles Schwab Cup race and moves into fourth place on the 2012 points list with 958 points.
Joe Daley becomes the first non-exempt player to win a Champions Tour event since Rod Spittle open qualified and won the 2010 AT&T Championship in San Antonio.
Tom Lehman extended his streak of rounds in the 60s to 12, which equals the second-longest streak of sub-70 rounds in Champions Tour history. The longest is Hale Irwin’s 13 in 1999. Lehman is now tied with Fred Couples, who had 12 in 2010.
With his runner-up finish at the Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS Tom Lehman takes over the lead in the Charles Schwab Cup race, the fourth player to occupy that spot this season. The 2011 winner of the Cup, Lehman now has 1,521 points, a lead of 255 points on Michael Allen (1,266) and 406 over Bernhard Langer (1,115). Joe Daley is fourth (958) and Fred Couples (899) is fifth.
Tom Lehman earned Player of the Month honors for June. Lehman won the Regions Tradition, was runner-up to Joe Daley at last week’s Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS and finished T4 at the Principal Charity Classic. Lehman shot all 11 rounds in the 60s last month and was a cumulative 36-under-par.
The winner of the last 23 tournaments on the Champions Tour has come from the final group on Sunday.
Hale Irwin matched his age for the fifth time in his career, shooting a 3-under-par 67 in the final round of the Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS.
Olin Browne (3rd) carded a tournament-record 62 in the second round of the Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS Championship, bettering the previous tournament-low of 63 (9-under) recorded on three previous occasions, most recently by Tom Kite in the third round in 2003 at TPC Michigan (Par 72). The 8-under 62 equaled the competitive course record at Fox Chapel Golf Club, previously carded by William Miller at the 2006 Western Pennsylvania Amateur. The 62 is Browne’s lowest round on the Champions Tour and came in his 73rd start.
The third round of the Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS marked Fred Couples’ 100th round on the Champions Tour. In those 100 rounds, Couples carded sub-70 scores 71 times.
Constellation and The First Tee of Pittsburgh last week announced the establishment of the Deacon Palmer Endowment Fund, intended to commemorate the significant and positive impact of Arnold Palmer’s relationship with his father and also acknowledge Palmer’s belief in the importance of The First Tee of Pittsburgh taking steps to endow its programs for future generations of children. Constellation’s gift of $150,000 will go towards establishing the fund and supporting the Chapter’s operating expenses.
Earlier this year at the Encompass Insurance Pro-Am, Brad Bryant and his wife Sue announced the creation of the Uniting Hearts Fund, making adoptions possible for children and families in need. This year, Bryant is giving 10 percent of his prize earnings to the Uniting Hearts Fund and the fund has already collected over $66,000 based on Bryant’s play thus far in 2012.
Jeff Sluman will try to make it four wins in five years at Pebble Beach when he defends his Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach crown again. Here’s a list of the players in Champions Tour history who have won the same tournament four or more times in their careers:
Wins Player Event
6 Hale Irwin 1997, 2000 Kaanapali Classic; 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005 Turtle Bay Championship (no event in 2004)
4 Jack Nicklaus 1990, 1991, 1995, 1996 Tradition
4 Hale Irwin 1996, 1997, 1998, 2004 Senior PGA Championship
Jay Haas has been among the top-10 six times in seven appearances at the Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach and has finished second three times – 2004, 2006, 2011.
No player has won the Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach after making a double-bogey or worse during the tournament.
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