E-Notes: Week of August 21, 2007 How about this start for the threesome of D.A. Weibring, Peter Jacobsen and Bob Gilder in the second round of last week's JELD-WEN Tradition? Weibring holed out a wedge for an eagle two and both Jacobsen and Gilder chipped in. That's no putts for the group. This has been quite a year for Zimbabwe on the Champions Tour. Of the first four majors contested this year, two have been won by natives of the South African country -- Denis Watson at the Senior PGA Championship and Mark McNulty at the JELD-WEN Tradition. Coming off a tie for fourth last week at the JELD-WEN Tradition, Tom Kite enters the Boeing Classic on a high note. Given his track record the past two seasons in Seattle, Kite might be the man to beat this week. He's the defending champ at the Boeing Classic and finished second the previous year. The victory for McNulty earned him a five-year exemption into the season-opening MasterCard Championship and moved him into 12th place in the Charles Schwab Cup competition. Jay Haas remains in first, 194 points ahead of Brad Bryant. Nick Price and Mark O'Meara, two long-time standouts on the PGA TOUR, are in this week's Boeing Classic, their first appearance in a PGA TOUR-affiliated event in the area since 1998. Nine years ago, the duo tied for fourth at the PGA Championship at Sahalee Country Club. Price started with rounds of 70-73 but rebounded with rounds of 68-65 on the weekend to claim his top-10 finish. O'Meara was consistent all four days, recording three rounds in the 60s and a round of 70. He was one of only five players in the field to shoot par or better all four days. Scott Simpson's hold on the Boeing Classic tournament scoring record lasted less than 24 hours as Tom Jenkins matched Simpson's 11-under 61 in Sunday's final round a year ago. Jenkins' 61 was his low round as a professional, surpassing his previous low of 62 in the final round at the 2002 Kroger Senior Classic. In 2006, Jenkins was tied for 59th after the first round and eventually tied for third. Four players have each posted six consecutive sub-par rounds in two appearances in the Boeing Classic. Defending champion Tom Kite leads the group, which also includes Keith Fergus, Walter Hall and Bruce Summerhays. The most-difficult and easiest holes have been the same the last two years at the TPC at Snoqualmie Ridge. No. 1 remains the easiest, with scoring averages of 4.551 in 2005 and 4.450 in 2006 when the par-5 ranked as the eighth-easiest on the Champions Tour. The ninth hole remains the most difficult, with a scoring average of 3.235 in 2005 and 3.169 in 2006. In 2006, 17 players in the starting field of 78 made birdie or better all three days on No. 1, while on No. 9, Keith Fergus was the only player to make birdie all three days. D.A. Weibring, Danny Edwards, Jim Thorpe and R.W. Eaks all registered two birdies on the hole. Going back to 2005, Bobby Wadkins and Mike San Filippo have made birdies on No. 1 in all six rounds, while Ron Streck has made five birdies and one eagle. Prior to the Boeing Classic, the Greater Seattle area was the home of a previous Champions Tour event -- the GTE Northwest Classic. The event ran from 1986-1995 and was held at the Inglewood Country Club in Kenmore. Here is a list of that event's champions: Bruce Crampton (1986); Chi Chi Rodriguez (1987); Bruce Crampton (1988); Al Geiberger (1989); George Archer (1990); Mike Hill (1991); Mike Joyce (1992); Dave Stockton (1993); Simon Hobday (1994); Walter Morgan (1995). |