E-notes: Mahan returns to the scene of a 62

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Jun. 17, 2008
By Dave Lancer, PGA TOUR Staff

Hunter Mahan won last year's Travelers Championship after finishing second the previous year. He's the fourth player in the history of the event to perform that feat joining Wayne Levi (1989-90), Nick Price (1992-93) and Greg Norman (1994-95).

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Mahan

One more on Mahan: He closes well at the Travelers Championship. He's shot 65 in the final round in each of the last two seasons.

This streak will continue. Hale Irwin remains the last player to win the U.S. Open and then win the following week. Irwin accomplished this back in 1990.

Several players made quantum leaps in the FedExCup standings thanks to their finishes at the U.S. Open. Runner-up Rocco Mediate had the biggest leap going from 127th all the way to 48th (+79), while Lee Westwood gained 52 spots to reach 72nd and Eric Axley jumped up 30 places to 125th on the list.

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Woods

With his U.S. Open victory, Tiger Woods now has 13 wins in his native state of California. He's won two U.S. Opens, six Buick Invitationals, two World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championships, one Mercedes-Benz Championship, one AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and one World Golf Championships-CA Championship.

When Justin Leonard ousted Robert Allenby from the playoff recently at the Stanford St. Jude Classic, it snapped Allenby's perfect playoff record of 10-0 worldwide and 3-0 on the PGA TOUR. It also erased the Shell Houston Open's claim of being the only event on TOUR with two former champions sporting unblemished multiple tournament playoff records. Allenby won the Shell Houston Open in 2000 while Phil Blackmar won in 1997 and ended his TOUR career with a 3-0 playoff mark.

By winning in 2007, Hunter Mahan became the 13th player to win his first PGA TOUR title at the Travelers Championship. Others who have achieved that feat in the last 15 years include Stewart Cink (1997), Brent Geiberger (1999) and J.J. Henry (2006).

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Triplett

Kirk Triplett still holds the TPC River Highlands' 18-hole record. Triplett shot a 9-under 61 in 2000. Hunter Mahan came close to Triplett's record in 2007. He opened the tournament by shooting a 62 -- that is the lowest first-round score in tournament history. Mahan's 62 matched Fred Funk's 62 -- the lowest starts by eventual winners in 2007. Funk won the Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya.

In his last two Travelers Championship starts, Hunter Mahan tied for second in 2006 and won in 2007. He's pocketed $1,467,200 in those two starts. In the previous three tournaments, Mahan joins Woody Austin and Nick Watney as players who have recorded two top-10s. Austin, the 2004 champion, tied for ninth in 2005 and tied for fifth in 2006. Watney tied for ninth in both 2005 and 2006. Watney missed the cut in 2007, while Austin tied for 43rd. Mahan did not play in 2005.

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