Notes: North Carolina ties abound on Champions Tour

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THE SCHEDULE: The 2008 Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn is the 24th of 29 Charles Schwab Cup events on the 2008 Champions Tour schedule. This year's official Champions Tour season concludes with the Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Sonoma, Calif., October 30-November 2.

DATES: September 8-14, 2008 PURSE: $1,700,000 ($255,000 to the winner)

SITE: Rock Barn Golf & Spa (Jones); Conover, North Carolina

PAR: 36-36 -- 72 YARDS: 7,090

COURSE DESIGNER: Robert Trent Jones, Jr./2002

FORMAT: 78 professionals, 54-hole stroke-play event with no cut.

DEFENDING CHAMPION: R.W. Eaks defeated Jay Haas and Rod Spittle by two strokes.

Roberts

CHARLES SCHWAB CUP: This is the 24th of 29 events in the season-long competition, with 255 Charles Schwab Cup points going to the winner, along with additional points for top-10 finishers based on a per-thousand-dollars-won basis (ex. $180,000 = 360 points). The winner of the season-long competition receives a $1-million payout, with additional prizes awarded to the next four players. Double points will be awarded at the season's final major championship, the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship, as well as the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship. Loren Roberts earned the Charles Schwab Cup last year, beating out Jay Haas, the 2006 Schwab Cup winner, by 165 points. Haas currently leads Bernhard Langer by 98 points and Fred Funk is 269 points behind after 23 official events.

TELEVISION: The Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn will be televised by the GOLF CHANNEL and all three rounds will be shown live from 1:00-3:30 p.m. (ET). Brian Hammons will host the telecast with Frank Nobilo joining him in the booth to provide analysis. World Golf Hall of Fame member Donna Caponi-Byrnes and former PGA Championship winner John Mahaffey will be out on the course calling the action and Dave Marr will do greenside interviews behind the 18th green.

ABOUT ROCK BARN: Located in Conover, N.C., Rock Barn Golf & Spa is recognized as one of the best semi-private golf membership clubs in the region. The facility features two championship 18-hole golf courses, including the tournament course, designed by Robert Trent Jones, Jr. The layout was his first in the Carolinas and was named the best new course in North Carolina by North Carolina Magazine and rated as America's fourth best upscale public course by Golf Digest. The 1,300-acre Rock Barn development was originally established in 1969 and Rock Barn Properties, Inc. acquired the property in 1997.

GIVING BACK: Proceeds from this year's Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn will again support local charities in Catawba County. The tournament has donated over $600,000 to local charities in its five-year existence and The Corner Table, an annual beneficiary of the tournament since 2004, was chosen as the Champions Tour 2006 Charity of the Year.

Eaks

2007 GREATER HICKORY CLASSIC AT ROCK BARN RECAP: R.W. Eaks redeemed himself in Hickory last year. One year after suffering a playoff loss to Andy Bean at Rock Barn, R.W. Eaks held off Jay Haas and Rod Spittle for his second victory in 2007. Eaks held a three-stroke lead over Spittle entering the final round and extended his margin to six strokes at the turn. Eaks bogeyed No. 11 and No. 15 and was forced to scramble for par at Nos. 14, 16 and 17. That opened the door for Jay Haas who made six birdies overall in his final round. Haas came to the last hole with an outside chance to tie Eaks, but his eagle pitch on the par-5 18th hole ended up five feet away from the hole. After Haas made his birdie, Eaks hit the final green in two and two-putted for birdie and a two-stroke win.

TOURNAMENT STORYLINES...

PLAYER OF THE YEAR HONOR UP FOR GRABS: Jeff Sluman's win at the Walmart First Tee Open At Pebble Beach made him the eighth player with a pair of victories on the Champions Tour this year, the most multiple winners on the circuit since 2000. Sluman, who debuted on the Champions Tour last year at the Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn, now has a chance to earn Player of the Year honors should he be able to capitalize on his recent success over the remainder of the season. Four players in this year's field have a chance to claim their third victory of 2008 at Hickory. In addition to Sluman, Jay Haas, Scott Hoch and Denis Watson have an opportunity to win their third title this season and get a leg up in the Player of the Year race.

GAINING GROUND: Can Jay Haas widen his lead in the Charles Schwab Cup race? Haas currently leads an idle Bernhard Langer by 98 points and the odds are good that he will increase the margin after the dust settles in Hickory. Haas has finished among the top 10 in all three of his previous appearances in the Hickory event, including a victory in 2005 and a T2 last year. Fred Funk is currently in third place in the 2008 Schwab Cup race and can jump over Langer into second place should he win the event. Funk trails Haas by 259 points in the season-long race.

NEW FACES IN HICKORY: Eight former PGA TOUR winners will make their first appearance in the Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn this year. Among those scheduled to compete are: Fulton Allem (3 wins), Phil Blackmar (3 wins), Dan Forsman (5 wins), Ken Green (5 wins), Gary Hallberg (3 wins), Mike Hulbert (3 wins), Mark Wiebe (2 wins) and Mike Nicolette (1 win).

HALL OF FAME FOURSOME: Four members of the World Golf Hall of Fame will also compete in this year's event (Tom Kite, Larry Nelson, Nick Price and Curtis Strange) in Hickory. The four have combined to win nine major championships on the PGA TOUR and all but Nelson earned at least one PGA Player of the Year award in their career.

MAKING THE GRADE: Two players with ties to North Carolina have earned exempt status for the remainder of the 2008 regular season after starting the year as non-exempt players. Gene Jones, a native of High Point, N.C., and Mike Goodes from Reidsville, N.C., are now among the top-30 on this year's money list and will play in all remaining co-sponsored full-field events from the Current Year Official Money Category. Jones has been among the top-10 in seven of 16 events and finished T4 at the Commerce Bank Championship and solo fourth at the 3M Championship. Goodes has four top-10 performances in 15 events this year, including a runner-up finish at the last major on the Champions Tour, the JELD-WEN Tradition.

Thorpe

PLAYERS EYEING SPOTS AT CHARLES SCHWAB CUP CHAMPIONSHIP: With only five events remaining before the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, there are a number of players battling for a berth in the season-ending event (top-30 money winners after the AT&T Championship) in Sonoma, Calif. A year ago, the 30th spot went to Jim Thorpe with $605,038 and two years ago Mark McNulty claimed the last spot into the Sonoma event with $614,459. A total of 25 players have already exceeded the $600,000 figure this year but Thorpe, last year's Schwab Cup Championship winner, currently sits at No. 40 on the money list, $119, 477 short of a return trip for the season-ending event.

VAUGHAN EXPERIENCING BITTERSWEET SEASON: Bruce Vaughan, this year's Senior British Open Championship winner, is enjoying his finest season of his professional career but has also dealt with some health issues and a personal tragedy earlier in the year. Vaughan, a two-time winner on the Nationwide Tour in 1994 who was partially-exempt on the Champions Tour at the start of the year, has already earned over $250,000 more than all of last year. A product of Hutchinson, Kan., Vaughan learned the fundamentals of the game from Ralph Terry, the former pitcher for the New York Yankees who played the Champions Tour in the late '80s/early '90s. Vaughan had several knee surgeries early in the year and then tragically lost his mother, Maxine, in a car accident in early June.

FUNK, McNULTY WARMING UP: Fred Funk, the Champions Tour's Player of the Month for August, is looking for his first career victory in North Carolina and comes into this year's event in Hickory having registered three top-5 performances in his last four events, including a win at the JELD-WEN Tradition, his first major championship. Mark McNulty had only one top-10 finish in the first half of the season, but he's posted six top-10s in his last nine starts and was T4 at the recent Walmart First Tee Open At Pebble Beach. Funk finished T25 in his first trip to the Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn last year. McNulty's best effort in Hickory was a T14 in 2005.

EAKS DEFENDS: R.W Eaks will defend a title for the second time on the Champions Tour at this year's Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn. Earlier this year, Eaks defended at the Dick's Sporting Goods Open and finished T46 in Endicott, N.Y.

WHO'S NEXT TO BREAK THROUGH?: Andy North, Jeff Sluman and Bruce Vaughan have been the only first-time winners on the Champions Tour thus far in 2008 but both Jay Haas and Andy Bean earned their first Champions Tour titles at the Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn. Is this the year for another first-time winner?

Hoch

EVENT HAS DEFINITE NORTH CAROLINA FLAVOR: There are a number of players on the 2008 Champions Tour with ties to the state of North Carolina. That group includes: Mitch Adams (Cary), Chip Beck (Fayetteville native), David Eger (attended North Carolina, lives part-time in Charlotte), Bruce Fleisher (lived for a period in Wilmington), Mike Goodes (Reidsville), Jay Haas (Wake Forest product; brother Jerry is golf coach there), Walter Hall (resides in Clemmons), Gary Hallberg (Wake Forest), Morris Hatalsky (partner in the Trillium Links & Lakes Club in Cashiers, NC), Scott Hoch (born in Raleigh/Wake Forest), Gene Jones (Rocky Mount native), Curtis Strange (Morehead City/Wake Forest), Leonard Thompson (born in Laurinburg/Wake Forest), Jim Thorpe (born in Roxboro) and Chris Tucker (Charlotte, NC).

GREATER HICKORY CLASSIC AT ROCK BARN TOURNAMENT RECORDS

Lowest 18 holes -- 63 (9-under) by Joe Inman, (2nd Round, 2003), Andy Bean (1st Round, 2006), R.W. Eaks (1st Round, 2007)

Lowest first 36 holes -- 129 (15-under) by R.W. Eaks (2007)

Lowest 54 holes -- 199 (17-under) by R.W. Eaks (2007)

Lowest opening-round score -- 63 (9-under) by Andy Bean (2006), R.W. Eaks (2007)

Lowest 2nd-round score -- 63 (9-under) by Joe Inman (2003)

Lowest final-round score -- 64 (8-under) by Doug Tewell (2004), Des Smyth (2005)

Lowest finish by a winner -- 64 (8-under) by Doug Tewell (2004)

Highest finish by a winner -- 70 (2-under) by R.W. Eaks (2007)

Lowest start by a winner -- 63 (9-under) by Andy Bean (2006), R.W. Eaks (2007)

Highest start by a winner -- 69 (3-under) by Doug Tewell (2004)

Largest 1st-round lead -- 4 strokes by Andy Bean (2006)

Largest 2nd-round lead -- 3 strokes by Bruce Fleisher (2004), R.W. Eaks (2007)

Largest margin of victory -- 2 strokes by Craig Stadler (2003), Jay Haas (2005), R.W. Eaks (2007)

Best come-from-behind-win -- 3 strokes by Doug Tewell (2004), Jay Haas (2005)

Wire-to-wire winners -- Andy Bean (2006), R.W. Eaks (2007)

Playoffs (1) -- (2006) Andy Bean defeated R.W. Eaks with a birdie on the first extra hole.

TOURNAMENT NOTES...

JARRETT THE HONORARY CHAIRMAN: Once again, Conover native and 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Champion Dale Jarrett will serve as Honorary Chairman for the event and will also host the sixth annual Dale Jarrett Shootout at the Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn. Jarrett will host a five-hole (Nos. 1, 2, 16, 17 and 18) shoot-out for charity on Tuesday, September 9th at 2 p.m. Among the other celebrities slated to participate are NASCAR drivers/officials Michael Waltrip, Kyle Petty, Dr. Jerry Punch, Bobby Labonte, Kasey Kahne and Elliott Sadler. Basketball's Billy Packer, Jay Bilas and former NBA player Dell Curry will also particiapate as well as former NFL coach Marty Schottenheimer.

9-11 REMEMBRANCE: To honor the victims of September 11, 2001, and to pay respect to the men and women, both civilian and military, who have served or are currently serving the United States, the tournament is again holding a special 9-11 "Sunset Remembrance Ceremony" on Thursday of tournament week at 7:00 p.m. on the 1st tee of the Jones Course.

GREAT GRAND CHAMPIONS PRO-AM: For the third consecutive year, many of the true legends of the game of golf return to Hickory for the Great Grand Champions Pro-Am. The event takes place on the Jackson Course at Rock Barn on Wednesday, September 10.

Morgan

INSIDE THE NUMBERS: Gil Morgan has reeled off 13 consecutive sub-par rounds on the Jones course at Rock Barn and Dana Quigley has a current streak of 10 straight sub-par scores on the course...Jay Haas made only one bogey in last year's event and played his last 43 holes of the tournament without a blemish...After making 19 birdies in the 2006 event, R.W. Eaks had 17 birdies and two eagles last year. For his last 36 holes in regulation at Rock Barn, Eaks is a cumulative 32-under-par. Eaks is also a cumulative 19-under on the par-5 holes at Rock Barn over the last two years (-10 in 2007, -9 in 2006). Last year, he was also the leader on the par-4 holes, playing them in 8-under for the week...Jay Haas holds the tournament record for best cumulative score on the par-4s at Rock Barn, playing them in 11-under in 2005 when he won... Jim Thorpe's 11-under-par total on the par-5s at Rock Barn in 2003 is also a tournament best....Jim Thorpe and Tom Kite both had a tournament-record 20 birdies in 2003 and that number was later matched by Jay Haas in the 2005 event...Of the players who have made more than two appearances at Rock Barn, Jay Haas boasts the best scoring average (67.56). Both Joe Ozaki and Loren Roberts have made two appearances in the event and their scoring average is 68.83.

WHERE ARE THE ACES?: Gil Morgan has the only ace in tournament history when he made one on No. 9 in the final round of the 2005 event. Morgan used a 4-iron on the 201-yard hole.

SECOND-ROUND LEAD DOES NOT INSURE SUCCESS: In its brief five-year history, Andy Bean and R.W. Eaks are the only second-round leader to go on and win, doing so in each of the last two years. Second-round leaders in the three years prior to 2006 were not able to hold off challenges to win the title. In 2003, Larry Nelson led by one stroke over Joe Inman and Bob Gilder before Craig Stadler came from two strokes back to win. The following year Bruce Fleisher led Doug Tewell and Mark Lye by three strokes before Tewell closed with an 8-under-par 64 to nip Fleisher by one stroke. In 2005, Dana Quigley led Loren Roberts by a stroke and Jay Haas by two strokes after 36 holes. However, Haas closed with a 7-under-par 65, including birdies on the final three holes, to defeat Quigley by two strokes. Eaks and Bean are also the only first-round leaders to go on and win.

COURSE DIFFICULTY: Last year, the field averaged 71.538 (-.462) making it the 19th toughest course on the Champions Tour in 2007. In 2006, the field averaged 71.333 (-.667) on the Jones Course at Rock Barn, the 21st most difficult course on the circuit. In 2005, the field averaged 71.071 and in 2004, the field stroke average was 72.662. In the inaugural event in 2003, the field average was 71.026. For the third consecutive year, the par-4 11th hole played as the hardest. In 2007, the hole played to a stroke average of 4.299. In 2005, the hole produced a stroke average of 4.231 compared to 4.225 in 2006.

TOURNAMENT MONEY LEADERS: Jay Haas has earned more money at this event than any other player. Haas' total of $406,400 narrowly tops R.W. Eaks' sum of $396,389 at Rock Barn. Craig Stadler ranks third in event earnings with $346,554.

GILDER STREAK CONTINUES: Bob Gilder is the only Champions Tour player to tee it up in every event thus far in 2008. His appearance at the Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn will be his 117th consecutive event, a streak that began at the 2004 JELD-WEN Tradition and is the longest current run on the circuit. Dana Quigley holds the all-time record with 264 consecutive events played and 278 straight for which he's been eligible.

ON THIS DATE...

9/8/02 -- Bob Gilder wins his third title of the season in a playoff when he makes a birdie on the second playoff hole to defeat Tom Jenkins at the Kroger Classic near Cincinnati.

9/8/91 -- Successive birdies on Nos. 11-15 prove critical as Nick Price defeats David Edwards by one stroke for the Canadian Open title at Glen Abbey.

9/9/90 -- Joey Sindelar birdies the final hole in regulation at the Hardee's Golf Classic in Illinois and then defeats third-round co-leader Willie Wood with a par on the first playoff hole for his sixth career title.

9/10/78 -- Less than a year after winning his first Southern Open, Jerry Pate adds a second to his resume when he is a one-stroke winner over Phil Hancock, who closed with a 6-under-par 64.

9/11/94 -- Four weeks after his win in Tulsa, Nick Price won his sixth title of the campaign when he beat Mark Calcavecchia by one stroke at the Bell Canadian Open at Glen Abbey.

9/11/77 -- Gil Morgan wins his first PGA TOUR title when he is a five-stroke victor over Lee Elder at the B.C. Open.

9/11/83 -- Mark Lye wins his lone PGA TOUR title when he comes from eight strokes back on Sunday to win the Bank of Boston Classic in Sutton, MA. He shoots a final round 64.

9/12/04 -- Bruce Summerhays ends a victory drought of six years, 2 months and 7 days (209 starts) when he captures the Kroger Classic near Cincinnati age 60 years, 6 months and 28 days.

9/13/02 -- Bruce Fleisher ties the all-time Champions Tour scoring record with a 10-under-par 60 in the opening round of the RJR Championship in North Carolina.

9/14/97 -- Playing near his home in St. Louis, Hale Irwin records three bogey-free rounds on his way to a two-stroke win over Gil Morgan at the Boone Valley Classic.

9/14/97 -- Loren Roberts closes with a 7-under-par 64 to nip Bill Glasson by one stroke at the CVS Charity Classic in Massachusetts for his fifth title in the last four years. Roberts makes just one bogey over his final 62 holes at Pleasant Valley.