LPGA TOUR
Office Depot Championship
Site: Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.
Course: Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles (6,394 yards, par 72).
Purse: $1.3 million.
Winner’s share: $195,000.
Television: The Golf Channel (Sunday, 2:30-5 p.m. MDT).
Last year: Annika Sorenstam won her 50th LPGA Tour title, beating Ashli Bunch by three strokes at El Caballero. The Swedish star also won 2001 and 2003 tournaments.
Last event: Sorenstam won the John Q. Hammons Hotel Classic for the second straight year and third in four seasons, holding off 19-year-old Paula Creamer by a stroke on Sept. 18 at Cedar Ridge in Broken Arrow. Okla.
Notes: Sorenstam has seven victories in 14 LPGA Tour starts this year and also won in her only other start, a European tour event she hosted in Sweden. The 63-time LPGA Tour winner has successfully defended 17 career titles, going 3-for-4 this year. Sorenstam has won her last four 54-hole events and is 16-for-25 in three-round tournaments since 2002. … In 2001 at Wilshire Country Club, Sorenstam came from 10 strokes back to complete the biggest turnaround in LPGA Tour history. Taking advantage of Pat Hurst’s back-nine collapse, Sorenstam shot a 66 and beat Mi Hyun Kim on the first playoff hole.
Tour leaders: Victories, Sorenstam, 7. Money, $1,957,200. Scoring, Sorenstam, 69.3265 per round. Putting, Sorenstam, 1.74 per green reached in regulation. Greens in regulation, Sorenstam, 76.0 percent. Eagles, Laura Davies, 10. Birdies, Creamer, 260. Sand saves, Patricia Meunier-Lebouc, 60.0 percent. Driving distance, Brittany Lincicome, 270.3 yards. Driving accuracy, Ji Yeon Lee, 83.3 percent. Player of the year, Sorenstam, 312 points.
On the Net: www.lpga.com
PGA TOUR
Chrysler Classic of Greensboro
Site: Greensboro, N.C.
Course: Forest Oaks Country Club (6,881 yards, par 72).
Purse: $5 million.
Winner’s share: $900,000.
Television: ABC (Sunday, 1-4 p.m.).
Last year: Brent Geiberger won by two strokes, making him and father Al the first father-son duo to win the same PGA Tour event. Al Geiberger won the 1976 tournament.
Last week: Chris DiMarco made a 15-foot birdie to beat Stuart Appleby 1-up in the deciding match in the United States’ 18 1/2-15 1/2 victory over the International team in the Presidents Cup at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Va. DiMarco was 4-0-1. … Robert Gamez won the Texas Open for his first PGA Tour victory in 15 1/2 years, the longest stretch between wins in tour history. Gamez, a two-time winner as rookie in 1990, closed with a 6-under 64 in 103-degree heat for a three-stroke victory.
Notes: Sam Snead won the tournament a tour-record eight times from 1938-65, including consecutive victories in 1949-50 and 1955-56. His 1965 victory made him the tour’s oldest winner at 52 years, 10 months, 8 days.
Tour leaders: Victories, Tiger Woods, 5. Money, Woods, $8,613,024. Scoring, Woods, 68.69 per round. Putting, Ben Crane, 1.700 per green reached in regulation. Greens in regulation, Garcia, 71.3 percent. Eagles, Brenden Pappas, 76.9 holes per eagle. Birdies, Woods, 4.52 per round. Sand saves, Pat Perez, 63.2 percent. Driving distance, Scott Hend, 318.8 yards. Driving accuracy, Jeff Hart, 76.5 percent. Total driving, Kenny Perry and David Hearn, 71 total placings in distance and accuracy categories. All-around, Woods, 238 total placings in all categories.
On the Net: www.pgatour.com
CHAMPIONS TOUR
SAS Championship
Site: Cary, N.C.
Course: Prestonwood Country Club (7,177 yards, par 72).
Purse: $1.9 million.
Winner’s share: $285,000.
Television: The Golf Channel (Sunday, 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m.).
Last year: Craig Stadler won the fifth of his five 2004 titles to became the first player in more than six years to win three straight tournaments on the Champions Tour. He had a tournament-record 17-under 199 total.
Last event: Bob Gilder won the Constellation Energy Classic for his eighth Champions Tour title and first since 2003, beating Morris Hatalsky by four strokes on Sept. 18 at Hayfields in Hunt Valley, Md.
Notes: Stadler is winless in 17 Champions Tour starts this year. He also has played six PGA Tour events. … Scott Simpson is making his first Champions Tour start. The 1987 U.S. Open winner turned 50 on Sept. 17. He has seven PGA Tour victories. … George Archer died last Sunday after a yearlong battle with Burkitts lymphoma. He was 65. The 1969 Masters champion won 12 times on the PGA Tour and 19 times on the Champions Tour, the last in 2000 in the MasterCard Championship.
Tour leaders: Victories, Hale Irwin, 3. Money, Dana Quigley, $1,809,828. Scoring, Quigley, 69.49 per round. Putting, Hatalsky, 1.729 per green reached in regulation. Greens in regulation, Mark McNulty, 74.8 percent. Eagles, Tom Jenkins, 76.5 holes per eagle. Birdies, Stadler, 4.62 per round. Sand saves, James Mason, 69.2 percent. Driving distance, Dan Pohl, 301.0 yards. Driving accuracy, John Bland, 84.0 percent. Total driving, Peter Jacobsen, 30 total placings in distance and accuracy categories. All-around, Quigley, 69 total placings in all categories. Charles Schwab Cup: Quigley, 2,121 points.
On the Net: www.pgatour.com
PGA EUROPEAN TOUR
Dunhill Links Championship
Site: St. Andrews and Carnoustie, Scotland.
Courses: St. Andrews, Old Course (7,279 yards, par 72), Carnoustie, Championship Course (7,112 yards, par 72) and Kingsbarns Golf Links (7,099 yards, par 72).
Purse: $4.78 million.
Winner’s share: $797,000.
Television: The Golf Channel (Sunday, 5:30-10:30 a.m.).
Last year: Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher won his first European tour title, beating Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell on the first hole of a playoff.
Last week: Paul Casey beat Niklas Fasth 4 and 3 in the Seve Trophy in Billingham, England, to help Britain and Ireland defeat Continental Europe 16 1/2-11 1/2, the biggest margin in the five-year history of the event.
Notes: Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie, the winning player-captain last week in the Seve Trophy, is in the field along with 2004 European Ryder Cup teammates Casey, McGinley, Darren Clarke, Padraig Harrington, Lee Westwood, David Howell and Ian Poulter. … The top 60 players and ties and the top 20 pro-am teams will advance to the final round at St. Andrews. … Westwood won the 2003 tournament, beating Ernie Els by a stroke. … The Abama Open de Canarias is next week in Spain, opposite the World Golf Championships American Express Championship in San Francisco.
On the Net:
www.europeantour.com
NATIONWIDE TOUR
Oregon Classic
Site: Junction City, Ore.
Course: Shadow Hills Country Club (7,007 yards, par 72).
Purse: $450,000.
Winner’s share: $81,000.
Television: None.
Last year: Eugene native Jeff Quinney won his first Nationwide Tour title, closing with a 9-under 63 to overcome a five-stroke deficit. The 2000 U.S. Amateur champion beat Barry Cheesman and David McKenzie by three strokes.
Last week: Australia’s Greg Chalmers won the Boise Open for his first victory since the 1998 Australian Open, beating Danny Ellis with par on the first playoff hole.
Notes: Chris Couch, a two-time winner this year, won the 2003 tournament. … Eugene resident Casey Martin, allowed to use a cart in PGA Tour-sanctioned events under a Supreme Court ruling, tied for 60th last week in Boise after making the cut for the first time in eight tour starts this year. He has a circulatory disorder in his right leg. … The Gila River Golf Classic is next week in Arizona, followed by the Permian Basin Charity Classic in Midland, Texas.
On the Net: www.pgatour.com
