PGA TOUR E-Notes - Week of August 13, 2007
 
Aug. 14, 2007

You might want to look for an international winner this week at the Wyndham Championship. Five of the last 10 winners of the Greensboro event have been from outside the U.S. including players from New Zealand, Namibia, Sweden, Japan and South Korea.

This is the final week to qualify for the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup and all the bubble boys are on hand in Greensboro. Marco Dawson currently holds down the 144th and final spot, but he's only 102 points ahead of #145 Eric Axley. In fact, all 11 players between 140th place (Michael Putnam) and 150th (Mathias Gronberg) are entered this week with just 273 points separating them. By the way, 22nd place at the Wyndham Championship is worth 280 points.

After a disappointing playoff loss at the 2006 Senior British Open, Argentine Eduardo Romero atoned by winning the JELD-WEN Tradition. Romero will defend his first title on the Champions Tour this week, a year after becoming only the second international player to claim the JELD-WEN Tradition, joining Australian Graham Marsh (1999). Romero and fellow countryman Roberto De Vicenzo are the only two players from Argentina to win a senior major. De Vicenzo won the first U.S. Senior Open in 1980.

This week, players will be competing for double Charles Schwab Cup points, and they'll be playing for a $2,600,000 purse. Only the U.S. Senior Open and the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship offer this amount, the largest on the Tour.

The final push to make the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup is this week at the Wyndham Championship, the final event of the PGA TOUR Regular Season. At the completion of the Greensboro, N.C., event, the top 144 point earners will gain entrance into The Barclays, the first of four Playoff tournaments. Last week at the PGA Championship, Tiger Woods clinched the Regular Season title.

A year ago, Davis Love III halted a three-year winless streak when he captured a two-stroke victory over Jason Bohn at Forest Oaks Country Club. Love is safely inside the top 144, at No. 77.

While a number of players have realistically earned enough money to earn their 2008 PGA TOUR cards, that's not stopping them from continuing to play and play often. This week at the Xerox Classic in Rochester, NY, all 19 players who have won Nationwide Tour events are entered in the third-year event at Irondequoit Country Club. Roland Thatcher continues to lead the money list, while a little over $14,000 separates Greg Chalmers in 25th place on the money list from Esteban Toledo in 30th.

The Presidents Cup teams were finalized on Monday and the International team boasts 10 players among the Top 25 in the world while the U.S. team has eight players in the Top 25.

Who made the biggest strides in making the Presidents Cup this year? Hunter Mahan began the year as the 219th ranked player in the world and has climbed all the way to 49th. He was one of Jack Nicklaus' Captains picks.

Who made the biggest strides in the final week of Presidents Cup qualifying? Woody Austin went from 18th in the U.S. team standings all the way to 10th with his runner-up effort at the PGA Championship.

Was it just a coincidence? Monday was International Lefthanders Day, and International Team Captain Gary Player made Nick O'Hern and Mike Weir his two Captains picks. Both are lefties.

After 20 players qualified on points for their respective Presidents Cup teams, Jack Nicklaus, the U.S. captain, and Gary Player, captain of the International team, rounded out their respective teams with captains' selections. For the U.S., Tiger Woods, Jim Furyk, Phil Mickelson, Zach Johnson, Charles Howell III, David Toms, Scott Verplank, Steve Stricker, Stewart Cink and Woody Austin earned positions based on points, with Lucas Glover and Hunter Mahan gaining the nod from Nicklaus.

The International team's automatic qualifiers were Ernie Els, Adam Scott, Vijay Singh, Geoff Ogilvy, Rory Sabbatini, K.J. Choi, Retief Goosen, Angel Cabrera, Trevor Immelman and Stuart Appleby. Player selected Nick O'Hern and Mike Weir as his captain's choices.

PRESIDENTS CUP TOP 10S
United States Team
Position Player Points Hometown
1 Tiger Woods 28,925,684 Orlando, Fla.
2 Jim Furyk 15,556,781 Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
3 Phil Mickelson 12,787,012 Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.
4 Zach Johnson 9,073,914 Lake Mary, Fla.
5 Charles Howell III 7,415,779 Orlando, Fla.
6 Scott Verplank 7,406,171 Edmond, Okla.
7 David Toms 7,373,140 Shreveport, La.
8 Steve Stricker 7,059,465 Madison, Wis.
9 Stewart Cink 6,996,578 Duluth, Ga.
10 Woody Austin 6,661,765 Derby, Kan.
International Team
Position Player Points Country
1 Ernie Els 7.67 South Africa
2 Adam Scott 6.48 Australia
3 Vijay Singh 5.88 Fiji
4 Geoff Ogilvy 5.49 Australia
5 K.J. Choi 5.09 South Korea
6 Rory Sabbatini 4.96 South Africa
7 Retief Goosen 4.47 South Africa
8 Trevor Immelman 4.24 South Africa
9 Angel Cabrera 4.16 Argentina
10 Stuart Appleby 3.21 Australia