Allianz Championship: Final-Round Notebook  Champions Tour Media Official BOCA RATON, Fla. -- In his first start of the 2007 season at the Allianz Championship, Mark James claimed his third career victory on the Champions Tour and won for the first time since the 2005 ACE Group Classic in Naples. James' victory ended a winless streak of 30 tournaments. His first win on the Champions Tour came in a major championship at the 2004 Ford Senior Players Championship near Detroit.  Mark James (r) extended Jay Haas' non-winning streak in Florida. (Pete Fontaine/WireImage)
• A seven-time Ryder Cup player and captain of the European Team in 1999, James initially earned his exemption on the Champions Tour by finishing second to Mark McNulty at the 2003 Champions Tour National Qualifying Tournament at the TPC Eagle Trace in Coral Springs. • Mark James earned a check for $240,000 but, more importantly, he collected 240 Charles Schwab Cup points. At the end of the official season, the player with the most Schwab Cup points will earn a $1 million annuity. Through three official events in 2007, Hale Irwin still leads the Schwab Cup race with 290 points, followed by Loren Roberts with 262 points. Tom Kite is third with 249 points and both Mark James and Fred Funk are tied for fourth with 240 points. • Mark James, from England, became the first international player to win on the Champions Tour since Eduardo Romero of Argentina claimed the JELD-WEN Tradition near Portland, Ore., last fall. • Jay Haas is still snakebit in Florida. He's never won on either the PGA TOUR or Champions Tour in the state (0-104 official events). On Sunday, he equaled his best career finish in the Sunshine State, a T2 at the 2003 PLAYERS Championship. • Both Mike Reid and David Eger finished T9 and thus earned a berth in the ACE Group Classic in two weeks because top-10 finishers, not already exempt, earn berths in the following full-field event. Reid and Eger's inclusion in the ACE Group Classic field will reduce open-qualifying spots from nine to seven. • Fred Gibson, an open qualifier into the Allianz Championship, withdrew prior to the final round with a bad back. Gibson was at 4-over-par 148 (T68) through 36 holes. • Basil van Rooyen, the regular caddie for Mark McNulty, was the recipient of good fortune this week. When McNulty pulled out of the Allianz Championship early in the week with a bad back, van Rooyan was able to hook up with Mark James, the eventual tournament winner. Last week, James' normal caddie asked his boss for a week off to work the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am for Alejandro Canizares, who eventually missed the cut on the Monterey Peninsula. • Loren Roberts carded a 5-under 67 on Sunday and ran his string of sub-par rounds to 23 straight. Roberts' streak dates back to an opening-round 67 at the Wal-Mart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach last fall. • Nick Price finished T20 in his Champions Tour debut with a 54-hole total of 6-under 210. In his first start on the Champions Tour, Price hit 34 of 42 (81%) fairways and 44 of 54 (81%) greens in regulation, however, he also had 31 putts per day. • "It was lots of fun this week. My game left a little to be desired. I've got my work cut out for me. I need to take my game up a notch but it's been a great week. It's nice to feel wanted again," Price said. "South Florida is a great golfing place this time of the year and I thought the crowds this week were fantastic. I just didn't make enough putts. I would have liked to have played better in my debut." • The Old Course at Broken Sound played the hardest for the week in the final round (71.731). On Friday, the stroke average of the field was 71.367 and Saturday the field averaged 71.051. There were just 18 rounds in the 60s Sunday compared to 20 sub-70 scores Saturday and 22 on Friday. • David Edwards hit all 14 fairways on Sunday. Brad Bryant, R.W. Eaks, Nick Price, Vicente Fernandez and Jim Chancey all hit 16 of 18 greens in regulation. Bryant also hit the longest measured drive on Sunday, belting his tee shot on No. 18 336 yards. Scott Hoch and Mike Reid both had 11 one-putts. • Three eagles were made on par-4 holes on Sunday. Allen Doyle and Mike Reid eagled the driveable par-4 7th and Gil Morgan holed a shot from the fairway at the 342-yard No. 4. • Dan Pohl followed an eagle at No 6 with three consecutive birdies for the best-eagle streak of the 2007 season on the Champions Tour. Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. |
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