NEWS

PGA TOUR Weekly E-Notes
 
May. 29, 2007
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PGA TOUR Staff
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Nick Watney ranks in the top 10 in Total Driving. (Feldman/WireImage)

  • In Rory Sabbatini's third-round 62 last week at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, he needed only 19 putts. In fact, he needed only 13 putts in his first 14 holes in his career-best putting performance. If you start with his final four holes in the second round, Sabbatini went 18 holes and needed only 17 putts.

  • Mark Hensby has battled a foot problem since the beginning of the 2006 season, but finished in a tie for 12th last week at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial for his best effort since a tie for 5th at the 2005 John Deere Classic.

  • The FedExCup points race could be in for a shakeup this week at the Memorial Tournament as 26 of the Top 30 players on the list are entered, including nine of the Top 10.

  • The reach of the game has become extraordinary. Take a look at the current Official World Golf Ranking -- there are 24 countries with a player ranked in the Top 100. Included in that number are places you might not always associate with golf -- Austria, China, Thailand, France and Colombia, among others.

  • You would think that if you are among the Top 10 in Total Driving (distance and accuracy), you would probably be among the Top 10 in Greens In Regulation. To date, however, only Nick Watney ranks in the Top 10 in Total Driving and Greens in Regulation. He's fifth in both categories.

  • Ben Curtis has made the longest putt on TOUR this year -- 100 feet, 1 inch -- on the 14th hole during the recent PLAYERS Championship. There have been 105 putts of 50 feet or more made this season.

  • One of the keys to Carl Pettersson's victory in 2006 at the Memorial Tournament presented by Morgan Stanley was his ability to get up and down from the furrowed bunkers. He was seven for nine (77.8 percent) compared with his 2006 season average of 53.1 percent.

  • The PGA TOUR experimented with furrowed bunkers at the 2006 Memorial Tournament. Entering the tournament a year ago, the TOUR average sand-save percentage was 49.1 percent, while the 2006 Memorial Tournament field averaged 43.8 percent. These were the round-by-round averages for the week: 36.03 percent, 49.76 percent, 41.1 percent and 40.2 percent.

  • Three players have made the Memorial Tournament their first PGA TOUR victory: Keith Fergus (1981), Kenny Perry (1991) and Tom Lehman (1994).

  • Ernie Els is 13-of-13 in cuts made at the Memorial Tournament and is one of four players in tournament history to have played in the event at least 10 times and never missed a cut. After winning the event in 2004, Els has tied for 45th and tied for 68th the last two years. The 2004 Memorial Tournament victory was Els' last TOUR win in the U.S.

  • Only eight times has a player managed to record four rounds in the 60s at the Memorial Tournament: Bart Bryant (2005), Tiger Woods (2001), Fred Couples (1998 and 2004), Steve Elkington (1995), Tom Lehman (1994), Paul Azinger (1993) and Hal Sutton (1986). Only Couples in 2004 and Elkington failed to win.

  • While the Memorial Tournament has always had an international field, only five different international players have won the event: David Graham (Australia, 1980), Greg Norman (Australia, 1990, 1995), Vijay Singh (Fiji, 1997), Ernie Els (South Africa, 2004) and Carl Pettersson (Sweden, 2006).

  • The Memorial Tournament's Captains Club will honor former PGA Championship winner Dow Finsterwald and Louise Suggs this week. Suggs, 83, co-founded the LPGA and won 58 tournaments during her playing career. Finsterwald, 77, an Ohio University graduate, won 12 times on the PGA TOUR.

  • In the history of the Memorial Tournament, only five players in their 40s have won. They include: Jack Nicklaus (1984), Greg Norman (1995), Tom Watson (1996), Kenny Perry (2003) and Bart Bryant (2005). Watson is the oldest champion at 46 years and 271 days.

  • There have been four playoffs in the 31-year history of the Memorial Tournament. After posting a final-round, 4-over-par 76, Roger Maltbie went extra holes to edge Hale Irwin at the inaugural event in 1976. Jack Nicklaus defeated Andy Bean in the next playoff in 1984. Kenny Perry topped Hale Irwin on the first extra hole in 1991 and, in the process, earned his first PGA TOUR title. In 1992, David Edwards went two holes to defeat Rick Fehr in the most recent playoff.