Castle Rock – Officials of The International began assembling the field for this year’s event by announcing Monday that Australian golfer Rod Pampling will return to Castle Pines to defend his championship.
“Early indications are that we’re going have a great field this year,” tournament director Greg Vickers said. Last year, it wasn’t as star-filled as previous years.
Some of the world’s top players, including past champions Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh, skipped the event in order to explore Whistling Straits, the remote Wisconsin golf course that hosted the PGA Championship the week after The International.
This year The International, to be held Aug. 4-7, again is locked into the week preceding the PGA Championship as well as in 2006, but Vickers said after talking to some of the players at the Masters last month he doesn’t see that as a continuing problem.
“I think last year was a little bit of an anomaly,” Vickers said. “We lost a couple of guys to Whistling Straits, but this year the PGA’s at Baltusrol.”
Baltusrol is the historic Springfield, N.J., course that has hosted a number of U.S. Open and PGA Championships, and most of the players know it well. Whether that helps The International get players such as Mickelson or Singh is yet to be determined.
Regardless, Vickers has his early favorite to win this year’s event: Chris DiMarco, who finished as the runner-up at Augusta.
“He’s let this tournament get away from him twice (including last year) and he told me at the Masters that this is going to be his year,” Vickers said.
Keith Schneider, director of golf at Castle Pines, said moving the date of The International to make it more appealing to Tiger Woods and other top golfers is a priority, with tournament founder Jack Vickers and executive director Larry Thiel having ongoing talks with PGA Tour officials.
His prediction? “I think we’ll be moving in 2007,” he said.
Footnotes
Pampling, who finished in a tie for fifth at the Masters, told reporters at The International’s media day Monday that getting to play at Augusta National was just one of many perks he gained from winning The International. The best, he said, was having enough of a bankroll to be able to take a month off earlier this year for the birth of his firstborn son. … This year’s tournament will mark the 20th year of the event, the 25th anniversary of the golf course and the 80th birthday of founder Jack Vickers. “This is going to be a pretty special year,” Greg Vickers said. “There’s probably going to be a little bit of pomp and circumstance surrounding the tournament.” Among the dignitaries expected to attend, he said, is former President George H.W. Bush. … For the second year in a row, the winner of the Colorado Open will qualify to play in the tournament. … Other than resurfacing the greens on the ninth, 13th and 14th holes, there have been no significant course changes for the 2005 tournament.
Joseph Sanchez can be reached at 303-820-5458 or jsanchez@denverpost.com.
