NEWS
 
Eligible players list finalized for 2007 MasterCard Championship at Hualalai
Nov. 8, 2006
 

KAUPULEHU-KONA, Hawaii -- With another exciting Champions Tour season ending at last month’s Charles Schwab Cup Championship, the list of eligible players for the 2006 MasterCard Championship at Hualalai is now final.

Thirty-eight players have qualified to compete in the Champions Tour’s first event of the 2007 season, Jan. 15-21 at Hualalai Golf Course in Ka’upulehu-Kona, Hawaii. Eight of the 38 are first-time winners on the Champions Tour, thus first-time qualifiers for the Championship.

The field will be finalized with up to four additional invitees whose careers include a minimum of 30 combined (PGA TOUR/Champions Tour) career victories or 15 combined victories including a minimum of one major championship.

The list of 38 eligible players includes:
Andy Bean * - Peter Jacobsen - Mike Reid
Brad Bryant * - Mark James - Loren Roberts
Allen Doyle - Tom Jenkins - Eduardo Romero *
David Edwards * - Mark Johnson - Scott Simpson *
David Eger - Tom Kite - Des Smyth
Fred Funk * - Bruce Lietzke - Craig Stadler
Bob Gilder - Mark McNulty - Ron Streck
Stewart Ginn - Gil Morgan - Jim Thorpe
Jay Haas - Pete Oakley - Bobby Wadkins
John Harris * - Jerry Pate * - Tom Watson
Morris Hatalsky - Don Pooley - D.A. Weibring
Hale Irwin - Tom Purtzer - Fuzzy Zoeller
John Jacobs - Dana Quigley
* First-Time Winners

The MasterCard Championship at Hualalai features winners of Champions Tour major championships of the last five years (2002-2006) and winners of Champions Tour official money cosponsored and approved tournaments of the last two years (2005-2006), plus four tournament invitees.

The Hualalai property includes a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course and a five-star Four Season Hotel. The event will be played on the Big Island course for the 11th year in a row.

Loren Roberts defeated Don Pooley by one stroke and shattered the all-time Champions Tour record in relation to par last January with his score of 25-under-par 191.

The MasterCard Championship at Hualalai will air live on The Golf Channel on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 19-21.