Boeing Media Guide - PGA TOUR Media

CHAMPIONS TOUR NOTES•No player has defended his title so far this year. The best finish by a defending champion thus far is a T8 by BruceVaughan (Senior British Open).•With his victory at the Triton Financial Classic, Bernhard Langer is the only player to go wire-to-wire in a ChampionsTour event in 2009. There were two wire-to-wire winners in the first 16 events in 2008. Mark Wiebe went wire-to-wireat the inaugural Cap Cana Championship and then Tom Watson/Andy North led start to finish at the Liberty MutualLegends of Golf.•Gary Player, Jim Colbert and Bob Charles are the only three players to match or better their age in 2009. The 73-year-old Player has bettered his age five times and matched it once, while Colbert has bettered his age once andmatched it once. Charles bettered his age in the opening round of the Senior British Open. Player earned thedistinction of doing it in all three rounds at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai.•R.W. Eaks and Jay Haas have both recorded double eagles this year. Eaks had his in the opening round of theMitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai (driver, 5-wood), 246 yards, No. 7), while Haas accomplished the feat inthe second round of the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf, using a driver, 3-wood from 272 yards on No. 11 at theWestin Savannah Harbor Golf Resort & Spa. In 2008, both John Cook and Bobby Wadkins had double-eagles in thefirst half of the year.•In the final round of the Senior British Open at Sunningdale, Curt Byrum made three eagles. It marked only the fifthtime in Champions Tour history that a player recorded three eagles in a round and was the first time since BruceLietzke at the 2003 MasterCard Championship at Hualalai..•Four of 16 events have been decided by playoffs. At the AT&T Champions Classic, Dan Forsman defeated Don Pooleywith the birdie-4 on the first extra hole, while at the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf, Bernhard Langer and TomLehman defeated Jeff Sluman and Craig Stadler with a par-4 on the second extra hole. The third playoff was in Iowaat The Principal Charity Classic. Mark McNulty defeated Fred Funk with birdie-3 on the fourth extra hole after NickPrice was eliminated on second extra hole with a par. At the Senior British Open, Loren Roberts defeated MarkMcNulty with a par on the third extra hole after Fred Funk was eliminated on the first extra hole.•Bob Gilder and Bernhard Langer both set new course records this year. Gilder fired a third-round 63 at the TPCTreviso Bay, site of The ACE Group Classic, and Langer’s final-round 64 at the Punta Espada Golf Club at The CapCana Championship set a new mark.•So far in 2009, four players all survived a double-bogey or more but still claimed their titles. Nick Price’s final-roundscorecard included three double-bogeys, but the World Golf Hall of Fame member survived those and another bogeyto win the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am for his first career win on the Champions Tour. Dan Forsman, Keith Fergusand Lonnie Nielsen also had a double-bogey on their scorecards but went on to win the AT&T Champions Classic. TheCap Cana Championship and the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open, respectively.•Lonnie Nielsen’s 24 birdies at the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open are the most by a player this year in a 54-hole event.Bernhard Langer had 23 at the season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai.Fred Funk’s 24 birdies atthe U.S. Senior Open at Crooked Stick were the most in a 72-hole event on the 2009 Champions Tour.•Tom Kite made birdie or better (nine birdies, one eagle) on 10 straight par-5s at the Mitsubishi Electric Championshipat Hualalai in January.•Five players (Don Pooley, Michael Turner, Roger Cameron, Chip Beck, Kirk Hanefeld) have all made holes-in-one sofar this year on the Champions Tour. Beck’s ace at the Senior PGA Championship made him one of just three players(Jim Thorpe, Dave Barr) to have recorded an ace on all three Tours.54