PGA Tour:  Traveler’s Championship

Site: TPC River Highlands  -  Cromwell, CT
Yards: 6,820     Par: 70
Defending: Hunter Mahan 265  (beat J. Williamson in a playoff)
Field:   World Top 25: Justin Rose (7), Vijay Singh (9) & Stewart Cink (12)   Other Notables: Mark Brooks, Steve Elkington, Brad Faxon, Lee Janzen & Corey Pavin.

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European PGA Tour:  BMW International Open

Site: Golf Club Munchen Eichenried  -  Munich, Germany
Yards: 6,957     Par: 72
Defending: Niclas Fasth 275  (beat B. Langer & J.F. Lima by 2)
Field:   World Top 25: Henrik Stenson (16), Luke Donald (18) & Miguel Angel Jimenez (19)   Other Notables: Colin Montgomerie, Michael Campbell, Retief Goosen & David Howell.

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Japan Tour:  Mizuno Open Yomiuri Classic

Site: Yomiuri Country Club (East course)  -  Yomiuri, Japan
Yards: 7,287     Par: 72
Defending: Dong-Hwan Lee 204  (beat six players by 4)
Field:   World Top 25: None    Other Notables: Ryo Ishikawa, Frankie Minoza, Jet Ozaki, Jumbo Ozaki & Prayad Marksaeng.

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LPGA Tour:  Wegman’s LPGA

Site: Locust Hill Country Club  - Pittsford, NY
Yards: 6,329     Par: 72
Defending: Lorena Ochoa 280  (beat I.K. Kim in a playoff)
Field:   Ranked: The entire Rolex top 20 except Karrie Webb (4), Ji-Yai Shin (8), Momoko Ueda (15), Sakura Yokomine (17) & Se Ri Pak (19)   Other Notables: Laura Davis, Nancy Lopez, Liselotte Neumann & Michelle Wie.

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Champions Tour:  Bank of America Championship

Site: Nashawtuc Country Club  -  Concord, MA
Yards: 6,741     Par: 72
Defending: Jay Haas 203  (beat B. Bryant & L. Thompson by 3)
Field:   Ranked: The entire Charles Schwab Cup to 20 except Bernhard Langer (2), Tom Watson (5), Nick Price (7), Fred Funk (13) & Vincente Fernandez (20)   Other Notables: Isao Aoki, Bruce Fleisher, Hale Irwin, Tom Kite, Gary Player & Curtis Strange.

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Elsewhere…
Ladies European - Tenerife Ladies Open – Tenerife, Spain
JLPGA – Nichirei PGM Ladies – Ibaraki, Japan
European Seniors – Irish Senior Open – Ballyliffin, Ireland
European Challenge – Telenet Trophy – Houthalen, Belgium
Nationwide – Knoxville Open – Knoxville, TN
Canadian – Greater Vancouver Charity Classic – South Surrey, B.C.
Futures – Duramed Championship – Mason, OH

PGA Tour:  Stanford St. Jude Championship

Site: TPC Southwind  -  Memphis, TN
Yards: 7,244     Par: 70
Defending: Woody Austin 267  (beat Brian Davis by 5)
Field:   World Top 25: Ernie Els (3), Vijay Singh (10), Sergio Garcia (11), Padraig Harrington (14), Trevor immelman (16), Anthony Kim (19) & Stephen Ames (24)   Other Notables: Mark Calcavecchia, David Duval, Retief Goosen, Davis Love III, Larry Mize, Corey Pavin & Kenny Perry.

Notes: The Stanford St Jude dates back to 1945, when it debuted as the Memphis Invitational, and was won by then-amateur Fred Haas at the Chickesaw Country Club………The event wasn’t played from 1947-57, but has been a fixture since………Defending champion Woody Austin’s five-shot victory came on the strength of a closing 62, the best winning final round of 2007………The event has had only three foreign winners in its history: Gary Player in 1974, Nick Price (twice) in 1993 & ’98, and Greg Norman in 1997………History was indelibly made here in round two of the 1977 edition when Al Geiberger became the first man ever to break 60 in a PGA Tour event, carding a legendary 59 at the Colonial Country Club en route to winning the title by three shots.

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European Tour: BA-CA Golf Open

Site: Fontana Golf Club  -  Vienna, Austria
Yards: 7,071     Par: 71
Defending: Richard Green 268  (beat J.F. Remesy in a playoff)
Field:   World Top 25: None   Other Notables: Thomas Bjorn , Michael Campbell, Darren Clarke, Graeme McDowell & Louis Oosthuizen.

Notes: This will be only the third playing of this smaller E Tour event, with 2006’s inaugural edition being won memorably by homestanding Marcus Brier………With the U.S. Open scheduled for next week, virtually all top international players have headed off to America, relegating the BA-CA to small-field status………A curious exception is New Zealand’s Michael Campbell, the 2005 U.S. Open champion, who will play here before making the long trip to San Diego.

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Asian Tour:  Bankok Airways Open

Site: Santiburi Samui Country Club  -  Koh Samui, Thailand
Yards: 6,316     Par: 71
Defending: Sung Lee 268  (beat P. Marksaeng by 3)
Field:   World Top 25: None    Other Notables: Prayad Marksaeng & Thaworn Wirtchant.

Notes: This is the fourth playing of this smallish event, which suffers from the same logistical limitations field-wise as the BA-CA in Europe………Notable entry Marksaeng, a six-time Asian Tour winner, was a winner at last week’s Japan Tour stop, the Mitsubishi Diamond Cup.

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Sunshine Tour:  Lombard Insurance Classic

Site: Royal Swazi Golf Club  -  Ezulwini, South Africa
Metres: 6,166     Par: 72
Defending: Peter Karmis 200  (beat T. Charamba by 1)
Field:   World Top 25: None    Other Notables: Desvonde Botes, Jean Hugo, Hennie Otto & Des Terblanche.

Notes: Another international event with a limited field, owing to next week’s U.S. Open – though this actually has at least as strong a field at the high end as most of the Sunshine circuit’s other summer stops………Fifteen-time tour winner Desvonde Botes has been showing better form of late and might well be viewed as this week’s favorite.

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LPGA Tour:  MaDonald’s LPGA Championship

Site: Bulle Rock Golf Course  -  Havre de Grace, Maryland
Yards: 6,596     Par: 72
Defending: Suzann Pettersen 274  (beat K. Webb by 1)
Field:   Ranked: The entire Rolex top 20 except Ji-Yai Shin (6), Juli Inkster (10) & Sakura Yokomine (17)    Other Notables: Everyone who’s physically able.

Notes: The LPGA returns to Maryland for its second Major championship, with Suzann Pettersen defending………All eyes will naturally be on world numbers one and two, Lorena Ochoa and Annika Sorenstam, who’ve combined to win nine of the tour’s 14 official 2008 tournaments to date………This event began in 1955 when Beverly Hanson defeated Louise Suggs 4 & 3 in a match play final, which followed 54 holes of medal play to determine the finalists………Mickey Wright is the only four-time winner of the championship (1958, ’60, ’61 and ’63)………Three-time titleists include Kathy Whitworth, Nancy Lopez, Patty Sheehan, Se Ri Pak and Annika Sorenstam, with Annika managing the unique feat of claiming it thrice in succession from 2003-05………Betsy Rawls, Mary Mills, Sandra Haynie, Donna Caponi, Laura Davies and Juli Inkster………Pre-tournament odds/favorites to appear here tomorrow.

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Elsewhere…
On the women’s side, the LET returns to the Netherlands for the ABN AMRO Open in Valkenswaard, while the JLPGA visits Shiga Prefecture for the 16th playing of the Resort Trust Ladies.  A fairly quiet men’s slate includes the Nationwide Tour’s Rex Hospital Open (Raleigh, NC), the European Challenge Tour’s Reale Challenge de Espana, and the European Senior Tour’s Jersey Seniors Classic in the Channel Islands.

PGA Tour:  The Memorial Tournament – Dublin, OH

Coming off two disappointing losses in his last three starts, but highly motivated to gain a spot on the upcoming American Ryder Cup team, 47-year-old Kenny Perry joined Tiger Woods as the only three-time winners of Jack Nicklaus’s Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio, posting an eight-under-par 280 aggregate.  Perry’s total – which bettered the foursome of Jerry Kelly, Justin Rose, Mathew Goggin and Mike Weir by two – was the highest winning score at the event in 23 years, reflecting the heavy rough, lightning-fast greens and furrowed bunker rakes now in vogue at Nicklaus’s Muirfield Village Golf Club.  Perry began Sunday’s final round three stokes behind 54-hole leader Mathew Goggin of Australia, but Goggin made three bogeys over his first six holes, allowing Perry to move ahead by the turn behind an outgoing three-under-par 33.  Coming home, Perry held it together, extending his lead to three with a two-putt birdie at the par-5 15th en route to a methodical 36.  His pursuers, on the other hand, all stumbled in the difficult conditions, allowing Perry, even after a bogey at the 17th, to walk comfortably up the last fairway with his two-shot margin of victory.  The win moves him to 5th in season earnings, 27th in the Official World Ranking and 5th in Ryder Cup points – Perry’s primary goal with the event being played in his native Kentucky in September.

                      FINAL RESULTS          MONEY LIST          PGA TOUR STATS
 
 
European Tour:  Celtic Manor Wales Open – Newport, Wales

Playing sterling golf over Celtic Manor’s new Twenty Ten course (host of the 2010 Ryder Cup), 30-year-old Australian Scott Strange cruised to a four-shot victory at the Wales Open, posting scores of 63-66-69-64, for a 262 total.  Strange, a two-time winner in Asia, claimed his first E Tour title with the impressive performance – a display which included a back nine 28 on Thursday and a seven-birdie, no-bogey ledger during Sunday’s closing 64.  Indeed, only one player came within eight strokes of the red-hot Strange, that being Sweden’s streaking Robert Karlsson, who birdied eight of his first 11 holes on Sunday en route to logging his fourth consecutive top-three E Tour finish, and racking up more crucial Ryder Cup points.  The victory moves Strange up to 9th in the Order of Merit and 81st in the World Ranking, while Karlsson moves to 2nd and 26th respectively. 

                      FINAL RESULTS          ORDER OF MERIT          E TOUR STATS
 
 
Japan Tour:  Mitsubishi Diamond Cup – Hyogo, Japan

Prayad Marksaeng of Thailand claimed his first victory on the Japan Tour at the Mitsubishi Diamond Cup, birdieing the Higashi Hirono Country Club’s par-5 finisher to post a 274 total, edging homestanding Shintaro Kai by one.  The 42-year-old Marksaeng, a Six-time winner on the Asian Tour, opened with unspectacular rounds of 70-70 before charging home with weekend scores of 66-68, which in the end proved just enough for victory.  A threesome of Japanese players which included Order of Merit leader Shingo Katayama tied for 3rd, two strokes back, though perhaps more notable was 53-year-old Tommy Nakajima, who closed with a fine 66 to tie for 11th, six shots off the pace.  Though not a member of the J Tour, Marksaeng jumps to 6th in the Order of Merit (and 85th in the World Ranking) with the victory.

                      FINAL RESULTS          ORDER OF MERIT          J TOUR STATS
 
 
Sunshine Tour:  Vodacom Origins of Golf Selborne – Pennington, South Africa

Jean Hugo claimed his second Sunshine Tour triumph of  2008 at the Selborne Country Club, carding a final-round 68 for a 203 total, and a two-shot victory over Bradford Vaughn.  Hugo began Saturday’s final round two strokes behind Vaughn Groenewald but moved himself into the lead with an outward 34, his cause aided considerably by Groenewald, who turned in 37 before collapsing with a 42 coming home.  A foursome of players (led by 15-time winner Desvonde Botes and rookie PowerHouse McIntyre) tied for 3rd at 206.  The victory lifts Hugo to 8th in the Order of Merit, 421st in the World Ranking, and first – easily – in points for the six-event Vodacom series.

                   FINAL RESULTS          ORDER OF MERIT          SUNSHINE STATS
 
 
LPGA Tour:  Ginn Tribute Hosted by Annika – Charleston, SC

Korea’s Seon Hwa Lee claimed her third career LPGA victory by defeating Hall-of-Famer Karrie Webb in sudden death at the Ginn Tribute Hosted by Annika after the pair tied on 14-under-par 274 over 72 holes.  In point of fact, Lee was fortunate both for the opportunity to playoff, and to emerge the winner.  Starting play on Sunday, she stood nine shots behind leader Sophie Gustafson, whose rounds of 66-65-67 had given her a commanding six-shot 54-hole lead.  Gustafson then looked poised to run away after birdieing the first and third holes on Sunday, before crashing and burning with five bogeys and two double-bogeys over her final 15, ultimately carding a 79 and tying for 4th.  Meanwhile, Webb birdied the par-4 18th to close with 70 and tie Lee on 274, but on the first playoff hole missed a three-footer for par, effectively handing Lee the title.  With the victory, Lee jumps from 18th to 4th on the LPGA Money list, and extends an enviable streak of posting a victory in each of her three years playing in America full-time.

                         FINAL RESULTS          MONEY LIST          LPGA STATS
 
 
Champions Tour:  Principal Charity Classic – West Des Moines, IA

Following up his win at the Senior PGA Championship last week, Jay Haas claimed his second straight Champions Tour title by posting a 10-under-par 203 total at the Principal Charity Classic in Iowa.  Haas began Sunday’s final round two shots behind 36-hole leader Nick Price but closed with the tournament’s low round – a six-under-par 65 – to ultimately finish one ahead of Andy Bean, two up on Price and three ahead of Joey Sindelar.  The victory moves Haas – who is also the defending champion at this week’s Bank of America Championship – into 1st place on the Champions Tour money list.

                    FINAL RESULTS          MONEY LIST          CHAMPIONS STATS
 
 
Elsewhere…

In Munich, Korea’s 18-year-old Amy Yang claimed her first professional victory by capturing the LET’s Ladies German Open, her 267 total bettering Sweden’s Louise Stahle by four.  American Michelle Wie, playing on a sponsor exemption, finished 6th, seven shots off the pace………Propelled by an opening-round 62, Akane Iijima won for the fourth time on the JLPGA Tour, defeating Mayumi Nakashima by three at the Kosaido Ladies Cup………Kris Blanks won the Nationwide Tour’s Bank of America Open, edging former PGA Tour player Bob May by a single stroke after posting a 16-under-par total of 272………Italy’s Alessandro Tadini won the European Challenge Tour’s Oceanico Group Pro-Am Challenge in Manchester, England, his 264 aggregate defeating Switzerland’s Raphael De Sousa by one………In Krakow, Ian Woosnam won his first event on the European Seniors Tour, edging Spain’s Domingo Hospital by one at the Parkridge Polish Seniors Championship………On the Futures Tour, Mindy Kim won her second straight event, claiming the Aurora Health Care Championship by three strokes in Lake Geneva, WI.

PGA Tour: The Memorial Tournament

Site: Muirfield Village Golf Club  -  Dublin, OH
Yards: 7,333     Par: 72
Defending: K.J. Choi 271  (beat Ryan Moore by 1)
Field:   World Top 25: All except Tiger Woods (1), Adam Scott (4), Padraig Harrington (12), Henrik Stenson (14), Rory Sabbatini (15), Lee Westwood (20), Miguel Angel Jimenez (21), Angel Cabrera (22), Andres Romero (23) & Stephen Ames (24)   Other Notables: Paul Azinger, Fred Couples, David Duval, Tom Lehman & Davis Love III.

Notes: This is the 33rd playing of Jack Nicklaus’s Memorial Tournament, which has been played, without fail, over Jack’s Muirfield Village Golf Club every year since its 1976 inception………As one of the PGA Tour’s marquee non-Major events, Memorial boasts a virtually unmatched ledger of contemporary champions, including multiple winners Tiger Woods (the only three-time titleist), Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Hale Irwin, Greg Norman and Kenny Perry, all of whom have won it twice………Twenty-two of the previous 32 winners have been Major champions………The Memorial has honored one or more of golf’s all-time greats every year since 1976, with this year’s honorees being Tony Jacklin, Ralph Guldahl, Charles Blair Macdonald and Craig Wood.

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European PGA Tour:  Celtic Manor Wales Open

Site: Celtic Manor Resort  -  Newport, Wales
Yards: 7,352     Par: 71
Defending: Richard Sterne 263  (beat Bradley Dredge, Soren Kjeldsen, Mardan Mamat & Mats Vibe-Hastrup by 1)
Field:   World Top 25: Padraig Harrington (12) & Miguel Angel Jimenez (21)   Other Notables: Thomas Bjorn, Niclas Fasth, Robert Karlsson & Colin Montgomerie.

Notes: The Wales Open is one of the newer “national” opens in professional golf, having debuted in 2000.........All eight playings have been at the Celtic Manor Resort………This, however, will be the event’s debut on the new Twenty Ten course, a large, modern design built specifically to host the 2010 Ryder Cup………Recent past champions Miguel Angel Jimenez (2005) and Robert Karlsson (2006) are both in top form coming in this week, though Karlsson’s momentum will be tested following a disappointing Sunday collapse at last week’s BMW PGA Championship.

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Japan Tour:  Mitsubishi Diamond Cup

Site: Higashi Hirono Golf Club  -  Hyogo, Japan
Yards: 7,158     Par: 72
Defending: Tetsuji Hiratsuka 282  (beat S. Hirota & K. Miyazato by 1)
Field:   World Top 25: None    Other Notables: Ryo Ishikawa, Toshi Izawa, Shingo Katayama, Shigeki Maruyama, Frankie Minoza, Tommy Nakajima, Jet Ozaki, Jumbo Ozaki & Craig Parry.

Notes: Golf course aficionados will note that the Higashi Hirono Golf Club is not to be confused with the Hirono Golf Club, Charles Alison’s Golden age masterpiece, and very likely the finest course in Japan………The Mitsubishi Diamond Cup is one of a handful of J Tour events that have been played since well before the Tour’s official formation in 1985………Scheduled to compete are both Tommy Nakajima and Jumbo Ozaki, the former a four-time winner here (including a surprising triumph in 2002, at age 48), the latter a back-to-back champion in 1996 & ’97………Australia’s Brian Jones is also a three-time winner, while the only Americans ever to claim the title are Brandt Jobe (1995) and Todd Hamilton (2003).

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Sunshine Tour:  Vodacom Origins of Golf Selborne

Site: Selborne Hotel Spa & Golf Estate  -  Pennington, South Africa
Yards: 6,607     Par: 72
Defending: George Coetzee 207  (beat U. van den Berg by 2)
Field:   World Top 25: None    Other Notables: Desvonde Botes & Darren Fichardt.
 
Notes: This, the third playing of the Selborne event, is the third stop in the six event Vodacom series, the Sunshine circuit’s tour-within-a-tour………As with most of South Africa’s summer events, precious few of her elite players will be present………The Selborne golf course is a somewhat idiosyncratic design built by one Dennis Barker, the former dairy farmer who elected to transform his farm into one of South Africa’s finer resorts.

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LPGA Tour:  Ginn Tribute Hosted by Annika

Site: RiverTowne Country Club  -  Charleston, SC
Yards: 6,459     Par: 72
Defending: Nicole Castrale 279  (beat L. Ochoa in a playoff)
Field:   Ranked: The entire Rolex top 20 except Ji-Yai Shin (7) & Sakura Yokomine (17)    Other Notables: Helen Alfredsson, Laura Davies, Liselotte Neumann, Grace Park, Sherri Steinhauer & Jan Stephenson.
 
Notes: This is only the second playing of this new, high-profile event, with Annika Sorenstam’s presence (not to mention Bobby Ginn’s money) being enough to draw an elite field………Last year’s playoff loser, world number one Lorena Ochoa, will attempt to win for the seventh time in 11 2008 starts, while tournament host Annika will be aiming for her fourth ’08 triumph, as her drive to season-end retirement kicks into gear.

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Champions Tour:  Principal Charity Classic

Site: Glen Oaks Country Club  -  West Des Moines, IA
Yards: 7,000     Par: 71
Defending: Jay Haas 201  (beat Br. Bryant & R.W. Eaks by 3)
Field:   Ranked: The entire Charles Schwab Cup to 20 except Tom Watson (5), Fred Funk (12), Jerry Pate (13)   Other Notables: Isao Aoki, Allen Doyle, Bruce Fleisher, Hal Irwin, Mark James, Graham Marsh, Gil Morgan, Larry Nelson, Dave Stockton, Jim Thorpe & Fuzzy Zoeller.

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Elsewhere…
On the women’s side, the LET heads to Munich for the Hypo Vereinsbank Ladies German Open, while the JLPGA heads to Chiba Prefecture for the Kosaido Ladies Cup, and the KLPGA returns to action at the HillState SeoKyung Open.  Among the men, the Nationwide Tour moves from the Mid-Atlantic region to the Heartland for the Bank of America Open in Glen View, IL, while the European Challenge Tour returns to the U.K. for the Oceanico Developments Pro-Am Challenge in Manchester.  The European Senior circuit replaces the Challenge Tour in Poland, where it will contest the Parkridge Polish Seniors Championship, while back in America, the Futures Tour visits Lake Geneva, WI for the Aurora Health Care Championship.

The PGA Tour and LPGA Tour are in action this week, but most discerning eyes will instead turn to Europe (for the BMW PGA Championship) and Rochester, New York (for the Senior PGA Championship.  Nothing wrong with a little change of pace, particularly since Lorena (and Annika) is taking the week off...

PGA Tour:  Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial

Site: Colonial Country Club  -  Ft. Worth, TX
Yards: 7,054     Par: 70
Defending: Rory Sabbatini 266  (beat J. Furyk & B. Langer in a playoff)
Field:   World Top 25: Phil Mickelson (2), Jim Furuk (5), Steve Stricker (6), Geoff Ogilvy (7), K.J. Choi (8), Rory Sabbatini (14), Anthony Kim (17) & Stephen Ames (24)   Other Notables: Mark Brooks, Steve Elkington, David Frost, Lee Janzen, Tom Lehman & Corey Pavin.

Notes: The Colonial Country Club’s borrowing of the nickname “Hogan’s Alley” (which began at Riviera) is slightly dubious, but the great Ben Hogan did win the first two Colonial National Invitation tournaments (1946 & ’47), four of the first seven (through 1953) as well as a fifth title in 1959………He was also close friends with club founder Marvin Leonard and, of course, resided in Ft. Worth, so his connections with the club were extensive………Given the international face of modern professional golf, the Colonial has not benefited from being scheduled directly opposite one of the European Tour’s marquee events, the BMW PGA Championship………This year’s field matches the E Tour with eight world top 25s present – a somewhat lesser haul than has been typical for the vast majority of the event’s history………Not overly long and requiring a fair amount of tee-to-green thought, Colonial does tend to offer shorter, craftier hitters one of their better opportunities for victory on the modern circuit.

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European PGA Tour:  BMW PGA Championship

Site: Wentworth Golf Club (West course)  -  Virginia Water, England
Yards: 7,308     Par: 72
Defending: Anders Hansen 280  (defeated J. Rose in a playoff)
Field:   World Top 25: Ernie Els (3), Vijay Singh (9), Justin Rose (11), Henrik Stenson (13), Luke Donald (19), Lee Westwood (20), Angel Cabrera (21) & Andres Romero (22)   Other Notables: Retief Goosen, Paul Casey, Miguel-Angel Jimenez, Colin Montgomerie & Jose Maria Olazabal.

Notes: This venerable event dates to 1955 but was contested only by British professions (the “British Closed PGA”) until 1967………It is also one of a handful of pre-1970 events (save for the Open Championship) which remins a major stop on the modern-day European our………The BMW will be one of a growing number of Euro events which, based on strength of field, figures to match its opposite PGA Tour stop (in this case Colonial) for World Ranking points………Nick Faldo has won the title more than anyone else, with four triumphs between 1978-89………Both Bernhard Langer and Colin Montgomerie have won it thrice, with Monty’s coming in succession from 1998-2000………The great Peter Alliss also hoisted the trophy on three occasions, but those were all during the closed era.

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Japan Tour:  Munsingwear Open KSB Cup

Site: Tojigaoka Marine Hills Golf Club  -  Okayama, Japan
Yards: 7,072     Par: 72
Defending: Ryo Ishikawa (a) 276  (defeated K. Miyamoto by 1)
Field:   World Top 25: None    Other Notables: S.K. Ho, Ryo Ishikawa, Toshi Izawa, Wen-Chong Liang, Frankie Minoza, Jumbo Ozaki & Craig Parry.

Notes: Though not necessarily one of the glamour stops on the J Tour, the Munsingwear has claimed a potentially large spot in history as the site of last year’s victory by Ryo Ishikawa, the a 16-yea-old amateur………Ishikawa returns to defend his title against a mid-strength field, headed by Korea’s S.K. Ho and Toshi Izawa.

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LPGA Tour:  LPGA Corning Classic

Site: Corning Country Club  -  Corning, NY
Yards: 6,223     Par: 72
Defending: Young Kim 268  (defeated P. Creamer & M.H. Kim by 3)
Field:   Rolex Top 20: Paula Creamer (4), Jeong Jang (8), Mi Hyun Kim (13), Angela Stanford (18) & Seon-Hwa Lee (19)    Other Notables: Danielle Ammaccapane, Rosie Jones & Meg Mallon.

Notes:This is the 30th playing of the Corning, with the inaugural (1979) championship won by Australian Penny Pulz, who shot 284 to beat Judy Rankin by two.........The Corning ranks among the LPGA's longest-running single-site events, having been contested solely at the Corning Country Club.........The last three editions have witnessed Korean winners: Jimin Kang in 2005, Hee-Won Han in 2006 and Young Kim in 2007.........Only two of the world's top 10 players are scheduled to compete this week (#4 Paula Creamer and #8 Jimin Kang) and, truth be told, the event does inevitably lose a bit of luster in the absence of Lorena Ochoa and Annika Sorenstam (among others).

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Champions Tour:  Senior PGA Championship

Site: Oak Hill Country Club (East course)  -  Rochester, NY
Yards: 7,001     Par: 70
Defending: Denis Watson 279  (defeated E. Romero by 2)
Field:   Ranked: The entire Charles Schwab Cup to 20 except Fred Funk (11), Brad Bryant (13) & Andy North (19)   Other Notables: Isao Aoki, Bruce Fleisher, Raymond Floyd, Hale Irwin, Tom Kite, Graham Marsh, Greg Norman, Mark O’Meara, Curtis Strange & Fuzzy Zoeller.

                      ENTRANTS          WEBSITE          GOLF COURSE          AERIAL
 
 
Elsewhere…
On the women’s side, the LET ventures into the Alps for the Deutsche Bank Ladies Swiss Open, the JLPGA returns to the city of Toyota for the Chukyu TV Bridgestone Ladies Open, while the KLPGA changes format for the Doosan Match Play Championship.  Meanwhile, on the men’s side, the Nationwide Tour returns to Maryland for the Prince George’s County Open, the European Challenge Tour charts new ground at Poland’s inaugural DHL Wroclaw Open, and the China Tour ventures to Nanjing for the Sofitel Championship, while both the Tour de las Americas and Canadian Tour journey to Mexico for the Televisa Players Championship (Acapulco) and the San Luis Potosi Open respectively.

With most of the world's male elite taking the week off, discerning eyes should zero in on the LPGA event in Clifton, New Jersey.  The ladies are certainly missing a number of ranked players as well, but with Lorena Ochoa and Annika Sorenstam in attendance and appearing poised for a major battle, they've got all the field they need...

PGA Tour:  AT&T Classic

Site: TPC Sugarloaf  -  Duluth, GA
Yards: 7,293     Par: 72
Defending: Zach Johnson 273  (beat Ryuji Imada in a playoff)
Field:   World Top 25: Stewart Cink (15) & Zach Johnson (22)   Other Notables: David Duval, Steve Elkington, Retief Goosen, Lee Janzen, Greg Norman & Corey Pavin.

Notes: Beginning life as the Atlanta Open back in 1934, the AT&T Classic ranks among the PGA Tour’s older stops, though it was not contested from 1948-1966………The AT&T was played the week before the Masters prior to 2007, and while its present post-Players Championship slot would figure to draw a stronger field, such has thus far not proven to be the case………Defending champion Zach Johnson, an Iowa native, is a two-time winner here which, combined with his 2007 Masters title, means that Johnson has never won a PGA Tour event outside of the state of Georgia………World number two Phil Mickelson is a three-time winner here (2000, ’05 &  ’06) but will not be participating this week………Fifty-three-year-old Greg Norman makes a rare PGA Tour appearance, but only because the TPC Sugarloaf was designed by his firm.

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European PGA Tour:  Irish Open

Site: Adare Manor Hotel & Golf Resort  -  Adare, Ireland
Yards: 7,453     Par: 72
Defending: Padraig Harrington 283  (beat Bradley Dredge in a playoff)
Field:   World Top 25: Padraig Harrington (12) & Lee Westwood (20)   Other Notables: Niclas Fasth, Martin Kaymer, Robert Karlsson, Colin Montgomerie & Charl Schwartzel.

Notes: The Irish Open dates to 1927, when the great George Duncan captured the inaugural title at Portmarnock………With his 2007 victory, Padraig Harrington became the first native winner since John O’Leary in 1982, and  will now attempt to join Harry Bradshaw (1947 & ’49) as the only Irishman to win the title more than once………Ben Crenshaw (1976) and Hubert Green (1977) have been the only American winners………In the modern era, Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer, Nick Faldo and Colin Montgomerie have all claimed the title three times.

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Japan Tour:  Japan PGA Championship

Site: Raysum Golf Spa & Resort
Yards: 7,125     Par: 72
Defending: Toshi Izawa 283  (defeated Satoru Hirota by 1)
Field:   World Top 25: None    Other Notables: Ryo Ishikawa, Toshi Izawa, Shingo Katayama, Wen-Chong Liang, Frankie Minoza & Tommy Nakajima.

Notes: Toshi Izawa defends at one of the J Tour’s marquee events………Only five overseas players have taken this title since its 1972 debut: Min Nan Hsieh (Taiwan) in 1979, David Ishii (USA) in 1987, Brandt Jobe (USA) in 1998, Dean Wilson (USA) in 2001 and S.K. Ho (Korea), a two-time winner in 2004-05 – and both Ishii and Wilson are of at least partial Japanese descent………Three-time winner Tommy Nakajima is scheduled to compete, as is the legendary Jumbo Ozaki, a four-time winner here who thus far in 2008 has withdrawn from the Token Homemate Cup and the Tsuruya Open, and been DQ’d after one round at The Crowns.

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Sunshine Tour:  Nashua Golf Challenge

Site: Gary Player Country Club & Lost City Golf Course  -  Sun City, South Africa
GPCC: Yards: 7,831     Par: 72          LCGC: Yards: 6,983     Par: 72
Defending: Warren Abery 207  (beat Adilson da Silva by 4)
Field:   World Top 25: None    Other Notables: Desvonde Botes, Marc Cayeux, Darren Fichardt & Des Terblanche.

Notes: This is only the second playing of this event, which draws a typically lean Sunshine Tour summertime field………The event is contested in a pro-am format over 54 holes, with the first 36 holes being split between the neighboring courses and the last round being contested of the Gary Player Country Club course.

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LPGA Tour:  Sybase Classic presented by ShopRite

Site: Upper Montclair Country Club  -  Clifton, NJ
Yards: 6,433     Par: 72
Defending: Lorena Ochoa 270  (defeated Sarah Lee by 3)
Field:   World Top 20: Lorena Ochoa (1), Annika Sorenstam (2), Karrie Webb (5), Cristie Kerr (6), Jee Young Lee (10), Momoko Ueda (11), Morgan Pressel (14), Stacy Prammanasudh (15) & Seon Hwa Lee (19)    Other Notables: Helen Alfredsson, Meg Mallon, Liselotte Neumann, Jan Stephenson.

Notes: The roots of this event go back to the 1970s, though in its present form it dates to 1990………Prior to 2007, it enjoyed a long and successful run at New York’s Wykagyl Country Club before moving across the river to New Jersey………World number one Lorena Ochoa is the two-time defending champion, having also claimed the final Wykagyl playing in 2006………Only nine of the world top 20 are scheduled to compete this week, but with both Ochoa and a streaking Annika Sorenstam present and at the top of their games, it’s doubtful too many observers will be looking beyond numbers one and two………Will this be the week the two finally battle it out on a Sunday afternoon?

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Champions Tour:  Regions Charity Classic

Site: Robert Trent Jones Trail – Ross Bridge  -  Hoover, AL
Yards: 7,473     Par: 72
Defending: Brad Bryant 204  (defeated R.W. Eaks in a playoff)
Field:   Ranked: The entire Charles Schwab Cup to 20 except Jay Haas (3), Tom Watson (4), John Cook (6), Craig Stadler (7), Fred Funk (10), Andy North (17)   Other Notables: Isao Aoki, Bob Charles, Bruce Fleisher, Hubert Green, Hale Irwin, Curtis Strange & Fuzzy Zoeller.

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Elsewhere…
On the women’s side, the JLPGA returns to Fukuoka for the ninth playing of the Vernal Ladies, the KLPGA gathers for the Korean Women’s Open, and the Futures Tour visits the American heartland for the Mercedes-Benz of Kansas City Championship.  On the men’s side, the Nationwide Tour returns to South Carolina for the BMW Charity Pro-Am, the Euro Challenge Tour journeys to Italy for the Piemonte Open, the Omega China Tour features the Shanghai Championship, the Canadian Tour the Iberostar Riviera Maya Open (Mexico) and the Tour de las Americas risks being nationalized at the Copa 3 Diamantes in Venezuela.

With apologies for yet another (hopefully final!) computer-related delay...

PGA Tour:  The Players Championship

Site: TPC Sawgrass (Stadium course)  -  Ponte Vedra Beach, FL
Yards: 7,215     Par: 72
Defending: Phil Mickelson 277  (beat Sergio Garcia by 2)
Field:   World Top 25: All except Tiger Woods (1)   Other Notables: Everyone else who’s physically able.

Notes: This is the 35th edition of The Players Championship, which was initially played at the Atlanta Country Club, the Colonial Country Club, the Inverrary Golf & Country Club in 1974, ’75 and ’76, then at the Sawgrass Country Club from 1977-81.........Pete Dye’s legendary Stadium course at TPC Sawgrass opened just across the road from the Sawgrass Country Club in 1982 and, through multiple renovations, has hosted the event ever since.........The tournament record is held by Greg Norman, who torched the Stadium course for a 264 total in 1994 which remains the Sawgrass record by six and the overall record by five.........Always boasting an elite field, this year’s Players features the entirety of the world top 25, with the exception of the injured Tiger Woods.........The PGA Tour will, of course, trumpet this relentlessly as “The Fifth Major” which would actually be amusing were it not so mind-numbing.........I’m not absolutely certain that there aren’t Tour players who’d actually rather win this than the PGA Championship, but any way you look at it, four is four is four…

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European PGA Tour:  Methorios Capital Italian Open

Site: Castello di Tolcinasco Golf Club  -  Milan, Italy
Yards: 7,283     Par: 72
Defending: Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano 200  (beat Markus Brief in a playoff)
Field:   World Top 25: None   Other Notables: Anders Hansen, Robert Karlsson, Stephen Dodd & Charl Schwartzel.

Notes: The Italian Open is one of the European Tour’s most established events, having been contested since 1925.........Though won by homeland stars like Alfonso Angelini, Aldo Casera and Ugo Grappasonni in the early postwar years, it has generally been dominated by British and European players, especially France’s Auguste Boyer (who won the title four times before the war) and Belgium’s Flory Van Donck (who claimed it three times afterward).........The only American to win it was Billy Casper, who edged Briton Brian Barnes by one in 1975.

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Japan & Asian Tours:  Pine Valley Beijing Open

Site: Pine Valley Golf Resort  -  Beijing, China
Yards: 7,259     Par: 72
Defending: Gaurav Ghei 272  (beat Adam Blyth by 2)
Field:   World Top 25: None    Other Notables: Thongchai Jaidee & Thaworn Wiratchant.

Notes: This is the second playing of this young event, but the first time it will be tri-sponsored by the Asian and Japan Tours, and the China Golf Association.........Though the Asian and Japan Tours have collaborated once before, this is the first J Tour-sanctioned event to played off Japanese soil – let the OneAsia conversation begin!.........Though the event is trumpeting its invasion of J Tour stars, the field is actually a light one, as the region’s elite will, of course, be in Florida for the Players Championship.

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Sunshine Tour:  Samsung Royal Swazi Sun Open

Site: Royal Swazi Sun Country Club – Swaziland, South Africa
Metres: 6,166     Par: 72
Defending: Des Terblanche +50 (Stableford)  (beat James Kamte by 2 points)
Field:   World Top 25: None    Other Notables: Desvonde Botes, Darren Fichardt, Hennie Otto & Des Terblanche.

Notes: Like the Asian and Japan Tours, the Sunshine circuit – which generally sees few of its world-class stars compete at home during the American summer months anyway – is virtually devoid of world-class talent this week, though men like Darren Fichardt and Hennie Otto have certainly proven their worth in Europe.........This event has been played under the Modified Stableford system since 2003, twice being claimed by 17-time Sunshine winner Des Terblanche during that time (2003 & ’07).........Sadly, our hero, PowerHouse McIntyre narrowly missed qualifying when a bogey at the 18th hole knocked him fron the final spot.

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LPGA Tour:  Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsmill

Site: Kingsmill Resort & Spa (River course)  -  Williamsburg, VA
Yards: 6,315     Par: 71
Defending: Suzann Pettersen 274  (beat Jee Young Lee in a playoff)
Field:   Ranked: The entire Rolex top 20 except Ji-Yai Shin (7), Se Ri Pak (12), Sakura Yokomine (17) & Yuri Fudoh (19).    Other Notables: Laura Davies, Meg Mallon, Liselotte Neumann, Grace Park & Michelle Wie.

Notes: The LPGA returns to Pete Dye’s River course at the Kingsmill Resort for the sixth time, having replaced the PGA Tour her in 2003 following a 22-year run (1981-2002) by the men.........A strong field is entered, including the world’s top six players, led by number Lorena Ochoa, who will be looking to begin a new winning streak after tying for 5th at last week’s SemGroup Championship.........With her playoff triumph over Jee Young Lee, defending champion Suzann Pettersen claimed her first-ever LPGA victory here a year aho, kicking off a run that included five wins, a Major title (the LPGA Championship) and a rise to second in the world ranking.........Kingsmill seems well-suited to brining out the best as past winners have included Grace Park (2003), Se Ri Pak (2004), Cristie Kerr (2005) and Karrie Webb (2006).

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Elsewhere...
On the women’s side, the LET makes its maiden visit to Turkey for the Garanti American Express Turkish Open, the JLPGA returns to Tokyo for the grandly named World Ladies Championship, and the KLPGA remains in action with the KB Star Tour in Chungcheong.   On the male side, the Nationwide Tour travels to Arkansas for the Ft. Smith Classic.

While the PGA Tour's Wachovia Championship is certainly an A-list event, discerning eyes should really be trained on the women this week, as Lorena Ochoa attempts to become the third player ever to win five consecutive LPGA starts (following Nancy Lopez in 1978 and Annika Sorenstam in 2004-05).  The European Tour begins that part of the schedule where it actually plays in Europe, while the Japan Tour offers its first 2008 event of major prestige, The Crowns.  Other than Tiger still being on the shelf, the week looks good...

PGA Tour:  Wachovia Championship

Site: Quail Hollow Club  -  Charlotte, NC
Yards: 7,442     Par: 72
Defending: Tiger Woods 275  (beat Steve Stricker by 2)
Field:   World Top 25: Phil Mickelson (2), Steve Stricker (4), Adam Scott (5), Geoff Ogilvy (6), Jim Furyk (9), Vijay Singh (9), Justin Rose (10), Rory Sabbatini (12), Stewart Cink (14), Trevor Immelman (15), Aaron Baddeley (16), Sergio Garcia (17), Luke Donald (18), Angel Cabrera (19), Zach Johnson (21), Andres Romero (22), Boo Weekley (23) & Stuart Appleby (25)   Other Notables: Fred Couples, David Duval, Davis Love III & Jose Maria Olazabal.

Notes: This will be only the sixth playing of the Wachovia, but with a large sponsorship commitment and plenty of support from the commissioner’s office, the event has already risen to a spot among the elite of the non-Majors.........Four of the five previous winners have been Major champions: David Toms, Vijay Singh, Jim Furyk and Tiger Woods.........Among these, only Woods will be absent this week, continuing to nurse his surgically repaired knee.

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European PGA Tour:  Open de Espana

Site: Real Golf Club de Sevilla – Seville, Spain
Yards: 7,140     Par: 72
Defending: Charl Schwartzel 272  (defeated Jyoti Randhawa by 1)
Field:   World Top 25: Niclas Fasth   Other Notables: Darren Clarke, John Daly, Paul McGinley, Colin Montgomerie & Charl Schwartzel.

Notes: Niclas Fasth may be the only world top-25 present, but Darren Clarke is coming off a victory at the BMW Asian Open, and Colin Montgomerie is still frequently capable of world-class golf.........Perhaps John Daly – who clearly can’t cut it in America these days – might considering venturing to Europe more frequently?.........Hardcore TV viewers may recognize the Real Golf Club de Sevilla as the site of the 2004 World Cup.

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Japan Tour:  The Crowns

Site: Nagoya Golf Club (Wago course)  -  Nagoya, Japan
Yards: 6,547     Par: 70
Defending: Hirofumi Miyase 278  (defeated Toru Taniguchi in a playoff)
Field:   World Top 25: None    Other Notables: Tad Fujikawa, Toshi Izawa, Shingo Katayama, Wen-Chong Liang, Rory McIlroy , Tommy Nakajima, Jeev Milkha Singh & Toru Taniguchi.

Notes: This will be the 39th playing of Japan’s prestigious Crowns tournament, an event which has a long history of attracting high-level overseas talent.........Past foreign winners have included Peter Thomson, David Graham, Graham Marsh, Scott Simpson, Greg Norman, Seve Ballesteros, Davis Love III, Darren Clarke and Justin Rose.........Japan’s elite have also prospered here, with Isao Aoki claiming the title five times and Jumbo Ozaki four, including three straight from 1995-97.........This year’s foreign contingent is a bit less glamorous, but does include two noteworthy youngsters, Northern Ireland’s 18-year-old Rory McIlroy and American teenager Tad Fujikawa.

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Asian Tour:  GS Caltex Maekyung Open

Site: Nam Seoul Country Club  -  Seoul, Korea
Yards: 6,962     Par: 72
Defending: Kyung-Tae Kim 270  (defeated Wen-Chong Liang by 5)
Field:   World Top 25: None    Other Notables: Thaworn Wiratchant.

Notes: With the European Tour returning to the Continent until autumn, here begins the smaller-field events which fill out the Asian Tour’s summer schedule.........Suffice to say that a victory here will not jack up one’s Official World Ranking standing too tremendously.

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LPGA Tour:  SemGroup Championship Presented by John Q. Hammonds

Site: Cedar Ridge Country Club  -  Broken Arrow, OK
Yards: 6,602     Par: 72
Defending: Mi Hyun Kim 210  (defeated Juli Inkster in a playoff)
Field:   Ranked: The entire Rolex top 20 except Annika Sorenstam (2), Suzann Pettersen (3), Karrie Webb (5), Ji-Yai Shin (7), Se Ri Pak (12), Sakura Yokomine (17) & Yuri Fudoh (19).

Notes: This event offers the possibility of history being made as world number one Lorena Ochoa returns to action after a week’s rest, and will attempt to become the third player ever to win five consecutive LPGA starts (following Nancy Lopez and Annika Sorenstam).........Curiously, Sorenstam, a three-time winner here (2002, ’04 & ’05) will be absent from the field, as will number three Suzann Pettersen and number five Karrie Webb.........This will be the eighth edition of the SemGroup Championship and the fifth consecutive year it will be played at the Joe Finger-designed Cedar Ridge Country Club.

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Champions Tour:  FedEx Kinko's Classic

Site: The Hills Country Club  -  Austin, TX
Yards: 6,879     Par: 72
Defending: Scott Hoch 201  (defeated D.A. Weibring by 2)
Field:   Ranked: The entire Charles Schwab Cup to 20 except Bernhard Langer (1), Tom Watson (4), Andy North (17) & Vicente Fernandez (18)   Other Notables: Isao Aoki, Ben Crenshaw, Hubert Green, Sandy Lyle, Gil Morgan, Larry Nelson, Mark O’Meara, Ian Woosnam & Fuzzy Zoeller.

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Elsewhere...
Aside from the LPGA, the three other major women’s tours are also in action: the Ladies European ventures north for the Aberden Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open, the JLPGA gathers for the Crystal Geyser Ladies, and the KLPGA contests the Phoenix Park Classic.  On the male side, the Nationwide Tour remains in the Southeast, playing the South Georgia Open, while the European Challenge Tour also ventures south, to the Banco Popular Moroccan Classic.

Lorena Ochoa's vacation takes much of the luster out of the week, a fact little compensated for field-wise at either the Byron Nelson or the BMW Asian Open.  A quiet week then.  Perhaps...

PGA Tour:  EDS Byron Nelson Championship

Site: TPC Four Seasons Resort Las Colinas  -  Irving, TX
Yards: 7,166     Par: 70
Defending: Scott Verplank 267  (beat Luke Donald by 1)
Field:   World Top 25: Adam Scott (10), Rory Sabbatini (12), Trevor Immelman (15), Sergio Garcia (17) & Luke Donald (18)   Other Notables: Paul Azinger, Steve Elkington, Justin Leonard, Corey Pavin.

Notes: Predictably, the Byron Nelson has suffered a marked drop in the quality of its field since the 2006 death of its Hall-of-Fame namesake.........The event, which has often been played over two adjoining courses, will now be contested over the recently re-designed  TPC course at Las Colinas, a much-altered layout this time fully renovated by D.A. Weibring.........Weibring states that “our goal was to honor the legacy of Byron Nelson,” and that “we created a cleaner, more defined course that incorporates traditional tee, bunker and green elements throughout. PGA TOUR players will be faced with more shot options from tee to green, creating additional drama for spectators and TV viewers. At the same time, for resort guests and Sports Club members, we created a very playable layout for all skill levels".........What, exactly, that has to do with Byron Nelson’s legacy remains a mystery, but in any event, the boys will certainly be playing a new golf course this year (which also renders the below aerial largely historical).

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European & Asian Tours:  BMW Asian Open

Site: Tomson Shanghai Pudong Country Club  -  Shanghai, China
Yards: 7,326     Par: 72
Defending: Raphael Jacquelin 278  (beat Soren Kjeldsen by 2)
Field:   World Top 25: Henrik Stenson (13)   Other Notables: Thomas Bjorn, Michael Campbell, Retief Goosen, David Howell, Miguel Angel Jimenez & Martin Kaymer.

Notes: Raphael Jacquelin defends in this, the seventh playing of the Asian Open.........This is the final event jointly sanctioned by the European and Asian Tours during the spring and summer schedules, with the tours not teaming up again until late November's Hong Kong Open.........Previous champions here include Padraig Harrington (2002), Miguel Angel Jimenez (2004) and Ernie Els (2005).

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Japan Tour:  Tsuruya Open

Site: Yamanohara Golf Club  -  Hyogo, Japan
Yards: 6,778     Par: 71
Defending: Brendan Jones 268  (beat Massy Kuramoto, Hirofumi Miyase & Takuya Taniguchi by 2)
Field:   World Top 25: None    Other Notables: Ryo Ishikawa, Toshi Izawa, Shingo Katayama, Tommy Nakajima, Jet Ozaki, & Jumbo Ozaki.

Notes: Week two of the J Tour season brings the 15th playing of the Tsuruya Open, where Australia's Brendan Jones is a two-time defending champion, and a three-time winner overall.........Also scheduled to compete are a pair of older J Tour legends, 53-year-old Tommy Nakajima and the inimitable Masashi "Jumbo" Ozaki.

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Sunshine Tour:  Vodacom Origins of Golf Gauteng

Site: Pretoria Country Club  -  Pretoria, South Africa
Yards:     Par:
Defending: Hennie Otto 210  (beat James Kamte by 4)
Field:   World Top 25: None    Other Notables: Desvonde Botes, Hennie Otto & James Kamte.

Notes: The second of the six-event off-season Vodacom series, this visit to Pretoria features two of the tournament's three past champions, Desvonde Botes (2005) and the defender, Hennie Otto.........The rest of the field, however, is typically off-season lean - though our favorite son, PowerHouse McIntyre is scheduled to appear.

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LPGA Tour:  Stanford International Pro-Am

Site: Fairmont Turnberry Isle Resort & Club  -  Aventura, FL
Yards: 6,244     Par: 71
Defending:
Field:   Ranked: The entire Rolex top 20 except Lorena Ochoa (1), Ji-Yai Shin (7), Sakura Yokomine (17) & Yuri Fudoh (19)    Other Notables: Laura Davies, Nancy Lopez, Meg Mallon, Jan Stephenson & Yani Tseng.

Notes: The rest of the LPGA gets their first chance in more than a month to play for something other than 2nd, as Lorena Ochoa is taking the week off.........This is the inaugural playing of the Stanford International which, for the moment at least, will make its home at the expansive Turnberry development, situated just five miles north of Miami Beach.........The pro-am segment of the event will be played over the initial 54-holes, which will be contested over both of Turnberry's courses.........The pros will then finish up on their own on Sunday.........Despite Ochoa's absence, the field is a strong one, boasting 46 of the LPGA's top 50 players.

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Champions Tour:  Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf

Site: Savannah Harbor Golf Resort  -  Savannah, GA
Yards: 7,087     Par:72     
Defending: Jay Haas 207  (beat Tom Kite in a playoff)
Field:   Ranked: The entire Charles Schwab Cup to 20 except Tim Simpson, Vicente Fernandez and Fulton Allem   Other Notables: Billy Casper, Bob Charles, Dow Finsterwald, Doug Ford, Gene Littler, Bobby Nichols & Lee Trevino (among others).

Notes: On the positive side, this is the event which, after beginning as a 54-hole best-ball tournament in 1978, sparked the formation of the Champions Tour.........On the negative side, its present format - with multiple age divisions, some playing before the pro-am, others after - is ridiculously hard to keep track of.........Two certainties: 1) The primary or "Legends" division returns to team play, after being contended in an individual format since 2001, and 2) The Legends remains special as the rare place that largely retired stars like Billy Casper, Doug Ford, Gene Littler, etc. can still be seen.

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Elsewhere...
The JLPGA visits the legendary Fuji course at the Kawana Hotel Golf Club for the 16th playing of the prestigious Fujisankei Classic, while the KLPGA plays their fourth event, the unendingly named MBC Tour MC Square Cup Crown CC Ladies Open.  The Futures, meanwhile, ventures south to McAllen, Texas for an event with an even better name, the Jalapeno Classic.  On the male side, the Nationwide Tour returns to one of its more established stops, the Henrico County Open, and the Europeran Challenge Tour returns from South America for the Open Cotes d’Amour Bretagnes.  The Canadian Tour, on the other hand, continues to play everywhere but Canada, moving from California to the Corona Mazatlan Mexican PGA Championship.