Seven of the top 10 players on the money list are competing this week at the Jack Nicklaus-designed TPC at Snoqualmie Ridge.
SNOQUALMIE, Wash. (Sports Network) — The Champions Tour begins a three-week stay on the West Coast with the second edition of the Boeing Greater Seattle Classic. Seven of the top 10 players on the money list are competing this week, though the top three (Loren Roberts, Jay Haas, Brad Bryant) are not.
The purse this week totals $1.6 million, with the winner pocketing $240,000. The runner-up will get $140,800, while the third-place finisher will pocket $115,200.
The tournament returns to the TPC at Snoqualmie Ridge just east of Seattle. Jack Nicklaus designed the 7,264-yard, par-72 layout in 1999. It is ranked as one of the top 100 modern courses by Golfweek and was certified in the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program.
Last year, David Eger cruised to a three-stroke win thanks to a final-round, 5-under 67 that put him in the clubhouse at 17-under 199. Tom Kite also posted a final-round 67 to take second place at 14-under 202.
Eger ran home a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-4 third and made it two straight as he birdied the fourth from 15 feet away to get to minus-14 in the final round. He padded his lead with a birdie on the par-3 sixth and came back two holes later to birdie No. 8 from six feet out to move to 16-under, four shots clear of the field. He notched his lone back-nine birdie on the 11th and he cruised home with seven straight pars to claim victory.
Last year marked the first Champions Tour event in the Seattle area since the 1995 GTE Northwest Classic. That event ran from 1986 to 1995 and included such standout winners as Walter Morgan, Dave Stockton, Mike Hill, George Archer, Al Geiberger, Bruce Crampton and Chi Chi Rodriguez.
Kenny Knox will make his Champions Tour debut this week. Knox, who turned 50 on Tuesday, Aug. 15, is a three-time winner on the PGA Tour. Knox captured the 1986 Honda Classic, the 1987 Hardee’s Golf Classic and the 1990 Buick Southern Open.
Next week, the Champions Tour will stage its final major of the season, as money leader Loren Roberts defends his title at the Jeld-Wen Tradition at the Reserve Vineyards and Golf Club in Aloha, Ore. The final stop on the West Coast Swing will be Sept. 1-3 at the Wal-Mart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach, where Hale Irwin captured the 2005 event.
Your Privacy Choice