European Tour heads down under
EUROPEAN TOUR
MASTERCARD MASTERS, Huntingdale Golf Club, Melbourne, Australia - The European Tour heads down under this week for the MasterCard Masters.
 Michael Campbell tops a field loaded with Australians and New Zealanders. |
The event is co-sanctioned by the European Tour and the PGA Tour of Australasia and will be part of the European Tour’s schedule for the second time.
With the World Cup also taking place this week, the field is without last year’s winner Justin Rose. Rose will team with Ian Poulter as England’s representatives at the World Cup.
The field will be stacked with Australians and New Zealanders. Topping that group is former U.S. Open winner Michael Campbell.
He will be joined in the field by PGA Tour regulars Aaron Baddeley, Robert Allenby, Stuart Appleby, 2006 winner John Senden and Rod Pampling as well as Nick Flanagan, who won three Nationwide Tour events in 2007 to earn an automatic promotion to the PGA Tour.
The Golf Channel will have tape-delayed coverage of all four rounds. The European Tour shifts to New Zealand next week for the New Zealand Open at The Hills Golf Club. Nathan Green won there last year.
WORLD CUP
OMEGA MISSION HILLS WORLD CUP, Mission Hills Golf Club (Olazabal Course), Shenzhen, China - Two-man teams representing 28 countries are in China this week for the World Cup. The event features two days of foursomes and two days fourball action. Several players, including American Arron Oberholser and Spaniard Jose Maria Olazabal, have pulled out of the event due to injuries. Their withdrawals has opened up spots for other players to represent their countries. The Unites States team will now be Heath Slocum and Boo Weekley, while Spain will be represented by Jose Manuel Lara and Miguel Angel Jimenez.
Last year in Barbados, the German duo of Bernhard Langer and Marcel Siem combined to par the first playoff hole to defeat Scotsmen Marc Warren and Colin Montgomerie.
Germany’s team this year will be Alex Cejka and Martin Kaymer, while Warren and Montgomerie will team up again for Scotland.
The Golf Channel will broadcast live action of all four rounds.
PGA TOUR
LG SKINS GAME, Indian Wells Golf Resort (Celebrity Course), Indian Wells, California - One of the staples of the Silly Season, the Skins Game, takes place this week at Indian Wells.
The field includes Fred Couples, who owns several Skins Game records including most skins won. He will be paired with Masters champion Zach Johnson, Brett Wetterich and defending champion Stephen Ames.
Couples collected nine skins last year, while Ames won eight. However, Ames earned $590,000 to $385,000 for Couples. John Daly won the other skin as 2005 winner Fred Funk got shut out.
This marks the 25th playing of this event and Couples will be appearing for the 14th time.
The Skins game will be televised on ABC on Saturday and Sunday.
The PGA Tour’s next off-season event is probably its most important. The final stage of the PGA Tour’s Qualifying Tournament runs from November 28th to December 3rd.
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