Week 2 Approach Shots: Allianz Championship

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FULL FIELD IN FLORIDA: The Champions Tour returns to South Florida this week for the first full-field event of the season with the third playing of the Allianz Championship, February 13-15, at the Old Course at Broken Sound Club in Boca Raton, Fla.

Quick facts

WHAT: Second of 26 official Charles Schwab Cup events WHEN: Feb. 13-15 WHERE: Boca Raton, Fla. COURSE: Old Course at Broken Sound Club WHAT'S AT STAKE: $1.7 million ($255,500 to the winner) TV: 12:30-2:30 p.m. ET Friday on GOLF CHANNEL; 1:00-4:00 p.m. ET Saturday-Sunday on GOLF CHANNEL KEY LINKS: Tee Times | Scores | Power Rankings | Tournament site

The stellar 79-player field that tees off on Friday for the Champions Tour's 30th season collectively has some of the most accomplished and recognizable players in golf. Thirty-nine players have won 101 major championships on both the PGA TOUR and Champions Tour and the entire field has a total of 837 wins between both Tours.

There are also 10 World Golf Hall of Fame members competing this week, including the Champions Tour's 2008 Rookie and Player of the Year, Bernhard Langer, who lives just down the road from the Old Course. The two-time Masters Champion is coming off his fifth Champions Tour win two weeks ago at the season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Joining Langer in the field are fellow Hall of Fame members Ben Crenshaw, Hubert Green, Hale Irwin, Tom Kite, Larry Nelson, Gary Player, Nick Price, Curtis Strange and Lee Trevino.

PLAYER NOTES: Scott Hoch is unable to defend his title this week after having to withdraw due to lingering soreness in his left hand.

Jay Haas, winner of the 2008 Charles Schwab Cup, is looking for his first victory in a PGA TOUR-sanctioned event in the state of Florida. A nine-time winner on the PGA TOUR and a 10-time winner on the Champions Tour, Haas is a combined 0-112 in the state.

It's a star-studded field that includes some new faces making their debut in the tournament. That group includes Dan Forsman, Ken Green, Mike Goodes, Gene Jones, Sandy Lyle, James Mason, Blaine McCallister, Larry Mize, John Morse, Mark O'Meara, Joey Sindelar, Hal Sutton, Robert Thompson and Lee Trevino.

HELLO HAL: The Allianz Championship marks Hal Sutton's return to competitive golf in his first full year on the Champions Tour. Sutton, 50, an eight-time winner on the PGA TOUR, played his first two Champions Tour events last fall at the Administaff Small Business Classic in Houston and the AT&T Championship in San Antonio.

"It was fun," said Sutton. "I saw my peers. I wanted to see what it was like. I stuck my toe in the water."

It was so much fun that Sutton has already committed to playing four consecutive events starting in Boca Raton followed by the ACE Group Classic next week in Naples and the Champions Tour's two California events in March. Sutton has his sights on playing 15 to 20 events in 2009.

SUNSHINE SWING: The $1.7 million Allianz Championship is the first of three Champions Tour events to be played in the Sunshine State in 2009, and the first of two in a row in February. Following the Allianz Championship will be the ACE Group Classic, hosted by Peter Jacobsen (February 16-22) at the new TPC Treviso Bay in Naples.

After back-to-back March events in Southern California, the Toshiba Classic (Mar. 2-8) and AT&T Championship (Mar. 9-15), and a stop in the Dominican Republic for the Cap Cana Championship (Mar. 30 - April 6), the Champions Tour returns to Florida for the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am, (April 13-19) in Lutz, Fla.

Weather forecast for the Allianz Championship

FRIDAY, Rd. 1 SATURDAY, Rd. 2 SUNDAY, Rd. 3 Partly cloudy Temp: 81 high/64 low Partly cloudy Temp: 81 high/63 low Partly cloudy Temp: 80 high/63 low

DTN/Meteorlogix is the official weather provider of the PGA TOUR. For more information, click here

Allianz Championship snippets

Welcome to the Tour: Russ Cochran will make his Champions Tour debut this week as he looks to become the first lefty to win on the Tour since Bob Charles claimed the last of his 23 titles at the 1996 Hyatt Regency Maui Kaanapali Classic. More on Cochran Exciting finish? The Old Course at Broken Sound ranked 20th out of 29 courses in 2008 with an average score of 71.254, yet No. 18 was the easiest finishing hole for the second straight year last season. There were eight eagles and 141 birdies during the event and just 13 bogeys in 2008. Inside the Course How does he do it? Gary Player, the oldest active player, bettered his age in all three rounds in Hawaii last month. The 73-year-old has now bettered his age 12 times in his career and matched it 12 times. He's not the oldest player to do so. In 1994, 78-year-old Jerry Barber shot 74-75-69 at the Kroger Senior Classic. Make or break: If Ken Green doesn't succeed on the Champions Tour in 2009, he might have to do something he's never done before -- get a job. The five-time PGA TOUR winner begins his season-long quest to keep playing at this week's Allianz Championship. More on Green File under 'Things that don't make sense': Nick Price hasn't won since 2002 and has yet to capture a title on the Champions Tour since joining in 2007. He's making progress, though, and hoping to turn it around at this week's event near his home. More on Price