Champions Tour E-Notebook: 3M Championship In his last four starts, Loren Roberts has finished (in order), 1-2-3-T4. He'll be in Minnesota this week for the 3M Championship. Craig Stadler might be owed one at the TPC Twin Cities. He's finished second in the event in each of the last three seasons despite breaking par in all nine of his rounds at the 3M Championship. Bruce Summerhays' streak of consecutive events played ended last week at 166 when he failed to tee it up at the Senior British Open. His streak is the third longest in Champions Tour history behind Dana Quigley's 278 and Mike McCullough's 177. ![]() Tom Watson won the Senior Open Championship by a single stroke over Stewart Ginn and Mark O'Meara last week. (WireImage) Look out for Tom Watson at the 2009 Senior British Open. With win last week at Muirfield, Watson has won the Senior British Open in 2003, 2005 and 2007. The win provided Watson with double Charles Schwab Cup points and he's now fifth in the year-long competition. Jay Haas regained the top spot, but is just 42 points ahead of Brad Bryant. The 3M Championship has been held since 1993 and is one of the longest-running events on the Champions Tour in one metropolitan area. Only seven other Champions Tour tournaments have been played a longer time span in one city. This week's event is the seventh at the TPC Twin Cites after Bunker Hills Golf Club in Coon Rapids served as the venue for the first eight years. Jay Haas, last year's Champions Tour Player of the Year, Scott Hoch, an 11-time winner on the PGA TOUR, and seven-time PGA TOUR champion Peter Jacobsen highlight the group of new players who will be at this week's 3M Championship. Other PGA TOUR veterans making their first appearances at the TPC Twin Cities include Chip Beck, Denis Watson, Kenny Knox and Donnie Hammond. World Golf Hall of Famer Tom Watson will also play in the 3M Championship for the first time since 2001 when he tied for 10th. Watson is fresh off his third victory at the Senior British Open. On the PGA TOUR, Watson played in the 1991 U.S. Open at Hazeltine and tied for 16th as well as the 2002 PGA Championship at Hazeltine (tied for 48th).
Tom Kite, the 2004 3M Championship winner, hopes for more success in Minnesota this week. Kite has finished among the top five for three consecutive years and comes into this week having been in the 60s in nine of his last 12 rounds on the TPC Twin Cities layout. Craig Stadler has finished second at the 3M Championship in each of the last three years. Stadler has been under par in all nine rounds he's played, with six scores in the 60s. In 2004, Stadler finished one stroke back of Tom Kite after missing a 15-foot eagle putt on the last hole that would have sent the event into a playoff. In 2005, Stadler tied for second along with Lonnie Nielsen, one stroke back of Tom Purtzer. Again, Stadler had a chance to send the event into overtime but missed an eagle putt on the final green. Last year, Stadler and Brad Bryant finished two strokes behind David Edwards. However, Stadler missed a chance to briefly tie Edwards for the lead Sunday when his 10-foot birdie putt at No. 18 missed. In his three appearances in Blaine, Stadler's tournament scoring average is 12-under 204 or 68.0 per round. David Edwards will try to successfully defend a title for the first time in his career when he tees it up in Minnesota this week. Edwards won four official tournaments on the PGA TOUR, and the closest he ever came to successfully defending was when he tied for fourth at the 1994 MCI Heritage Golf Classic on Hilton Head Island, SC. Edwards' victory last year came at 50 years, 3 months, 19 days, making him the youngest winner on the 2006 Champions Tour. His 54-hole score of 12-under 204 was the highest by a winner in a 3M Championship since Wayne Levi won in 2003 with an 11-under 205 total. |