Boeing Media Guide - PGA TOUR Media

TOURNAMENT NOTES AND STORYLINESTELEVISION: Coverage of this year’s Boeing Classic will be live on GOLF CHANNEL Friday coverage will air from3:30-5:30 p.m. Saturday coverage will air from 3:30-6:30 p. m. with Sunday’s final round being shown live from 4:00-6:30 p.m. David Marr III will call the action from the booth with PGA TOUR veteran Curt Byrum providing analysis.Former PGA TOUR players John Mahaffey, Billy Ray Brown and Mark Lye provide on-course commentary.2009 FIELD THE STRONGEST EVER: This year’s Boeing Classic field has commitments from seven members of theWorld Golf Hall of Fame (Isao Aoki, Ben Crenshaw, Tom Kite, Bernhard Langer, Larry Nelson, Nick Price,Gary Player). The current commitment list for this year’s event also includes 16 players who have won a combined33 major championships on the PGA TOUR. The current field list has 729 total wins on both the PGA TOUR (373) andChampions Tour (356).NEW FACES IN BOEING CLASSIC: This year’s Boeing Classic currently has eight players committed who will benew to the Champions Tour’s Seattle event. Headlining the group of eight are Bernhard Langer and Jay Haas, Nos.1-2 on the 2008 money list and the last two Players of the Year on the Champions Tour. Langer did not play in Seattleat the 1998 PGA Championship at Sahalee, while Haas finished T40 that year. Among the other first-time participantsat TPC Snoqualmie Ridge are: Joey Sindelar, Fulton Allem, Olin Browne, Larry Mize, Blaine McCallister andEngland’s Mark James.HARDEST/EASIEST: After ranking as the eighth (2005), 11th (2006) and second (2007) most difficult hole, the par-4 11th hole at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge played as the hardest in last year’s event. With a stroke average of .238 overpar, the hole yielded just 15 birdies and Mark O’Meara made the only eagle there in Round 2. The par-5 18th holeplayed as the easiest last year with a stroke average of 4.710 (-.290). The finishing hole at TPC Snoqualmie Ridgeyielded three eagles and 79 birdies. In the 2008 tournament, there were a total of 832 birdies and 18 eagles made.THE CHAMPIONS TOUR IN WASHINGTON: Prior to the Boeing Classic, the Greater Seattle area was the home ofa previous Champions Tour event—the GTE Northwest Classic. The event ran from 1986-1995 and was held atSahalee CC (1986) in Redmond and Inglewood Country Club (1987-95) in Kenmore. Here is a list of that event’schampions: Bruce Crampton (1986); Chi Chi Rodriguez(1987); Bruce Crampton (1988); Al Geiberger (1989);George Archer (1990); Mike Hill (1991); Mike Joyce (1992); Dave Stockton (1993); Simon Hobday (1994);Walter Morgan (1995).A DECORATED FIELD*: The most impressive field in the tournament’s five-year history is also a decorated group oflegendary players. Their honors and achievements include:•Seven World Golf Hall of Fame Members•33 PGA TOUR Majors (earned by 16 players)•89 majors on both Tours (33/56)•729 total wins (373-PGA TOUR / 356-Champions Tour)THIS AND THAT: In the first four years of the Boeing Classic, no first-round leaders/co-leaders have gone on tovictory and David Eger (2005) is the only co-leader after two rounds who has gone on to win this event….There hasnot been a hole-in-one made in the previous four Boeing Classics….There have been a total of eight eagles made atthe driveable par-414th hole in the previous four years and Japan’s Hajime Meshiai has made two of them. PhilBlackmar made the last deuce at No. 14 during the 2008 event…Three players have finished among the top-20 in allfour Boeing Classic tournaments – Andy Bean, Keith Fergus, D.A.Weibring. Of the three, only Fergus hasrecorded a top-5 (2nd in 2006)…Denis Watson (2007) is the youngest winner in tournament history (51 years, 10months, 8 days) while Tom Kite’s victory last year made him not only the tournament’s oldest winner, but also theChampions Tour’s oldest victor in 2008 (58 years, 8 months, 15 days)…Although he eventually won the 2007 event ina playoff, Denis Watson carded three consecutive rounds of 69 in regulation. That made him the last player to winafter shooting the same score each day over 54 holes. Before Watson’s victory, Steve Veriato had been the lastwinner to record the same score over three days at the 2001 Novell Utah Showdown.*Based on field as of 8/21/0916