|
CHAMPIONS - Allianz Championship Preview
From The Sports Network
| DATES: Friday, February 11th through Sunday, February 13th |
| SITE: The Old Course at Broken Sound, Boca Raton, Florida |
| COURSE ARCHITECT: Joe Lee (1978), Gene Bates - redesign (2004) |
| Hole-By-Hole: | 1 - Par 5 537 Yds | 10 - Par 4 396 Yds | |
| 2 - Par 4 410 Yds | 11 - Par 5 535 Yds | |
| 3 - Par 3 172 Yds | 12 - Par 4 401 Yds | |
| 4 - Par 4 342 Yds | 13 - Par 4 345 Yds | |
| 5 - Par 4 409 Yds | 14 - Par 3 207 Yds | |
| 6 - Par 5 568 Yds | 15 - Par 4 453 Yds | |
| 7 - Par 4 290 Yds | 16 - Par 3 203 Yds | |
| 8 - Par 3 169 Yds | 17 - Par 4 434 Yds | |
| 9 - Par 4 429 Yds | 18 - Par 5 507 Yds | |
| ------------- | ------------- | |
| 36 3,326 Yds | 36 3,481 Yds | |
| Annual: | 5th |
| Television: | Golf Channel - Friday -- 12:30-2:30 p.m. (et), |
| | - Saturday -- 6:30-9:30 p.m. (et) - taped, |
| | - Sunday -- 7-9:30 p.m. (et) - taped |
| Defending Champion: | Bernhard Langer |
| Runner-Up: | John Cook |
| Tournament Record: | 199 (Bernhard Langer, John Cook, 2010) |
| 36-Hole Record: | 131 (Tim Simpson, Tommy Armour III, 2010) |
| Course Record: | 63 (Craig Stadler, 2007) |
| Total Purse: | $1,800,000 |
| Shares: | 1st Place - $270,000; 2nd Place - $158,400; 3rd Place - $129,600 |
| 2010 Finish |
| Player | Score | Player | Score |
| Bernhard Langer * | 199 | Loren Roberts | 202 |
| John Cook | 199 | Mike Reid | 202 |
| Joey Sindelar | 200 | Tim Simpson | 202 |
| Gene Jones | 201 | Five players at | 203 |
| Tom Lehman | 202 | | |
| Past Allianz Championship Winners |
| Year | Winner (Score) -- Runners-Up |
| 2010 | *Bernhard Langer (199) -- John Cook |
| 2009 | Mike Goodes (201) -- Fulton Allem |
| 2008 | Scott Hoch (202) -- Brad Bryant, Bruce Lietzke |
| 2007 | Mark James (201) -- Jay Haas |
| Top Contenders in the Field |
| Player | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | | | | | | |
| Bernhard Langer | --- | T-35 | 3rd | Won | | | | | | |
| John Cook | --- | T-6 | T-12 | 2nd | | | | | | |
| Joey Sindelar | --- | --- | T-21 | 3rd | | | | | | |
| Loren Roberts | T-6 | 17th | T-21 | T-5 | | | | | | |
| Mike Reid | T-9 | --- | --- | T-5 | | | | | | |
| Tom Lehman | --- | --- | --- | T-5 | | | | | | |
| Jay Haas | 2nd | T-6 | T-18 | T-9 | | | | | | |
| Tommy Armour III | --- | --- | --- | T-9 | | | | | | |
| Mike Goodes | --- | --- | Won | T-16 | | | | | | |
| Tom Jenkins | T-24 | T-42 | T-4 | T-16 | | | | | | |
| Russ Cochran | --- | --- | T-7 | T-16 | | | | | | |
| Mark McNulty | --- | T-11 | T-18 | T-22 | | | | | | |
| Keith Fergus | T-6 | T-6 | T-36 | T-22 | | | | | | |
| Corey Pavin | --- | --- | --- | T-34 | | | | | | |
| Gil Morgan | T-43 | T-18 | T-4 | T-40 | | | | | | |
| Hale Irwin | --- | T-18 | T-47 | T-40 | | | | | | |
| Allen Doyle | T-9 | T-11 | T-60 | T-40 | | | | | | |
| Dana Quigley | T-6 | T-42 | T-36 | T-47 | | | | | | |
| Jeff Sluman | --- | T-18 | T-36 | T-50 | | | | | | |
| Tom Purtzer | T-31 | T-15 | T-52 | T-50 | | | | | | |
| Sports Network Selections |
| Pick to Win - John Cook |
| Darkhorse - Michael Allen |
| |
| Last Week's Pick to Win (Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson) - Finished 1st |
| Last Week's Darkhorse (Ben Crenshaw and Fuzzy Zoeller) - Finished tied for 3rd |
| |
| NOTES: |
|
The Champions Tour travels to Florida this week for the Allianz Championship
in Boca Raton. John Cook will be trying to win his third consecutive
tournament. Cook captured the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship in
November and won the season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship in
January. He became the first player since Gil Morgan in 1997-98 to win the
final event in one season and the season opener in the next year. Cook enters
this tournament with a streak of 12 straight rounds in the 60s, which ties him
with Fred Couples (2010) for the second-best streak in Champions Tour history.
Cook can establish a new mark this week, as Hale Irwin holds the record with
13 straight rounds in the 60s in 1999.
Last year, Bernhard Langer holed out from a bunker for eagle on the first
playoff hole to defeat Cook and win this event. Langer and Cook played the
par-five 18th hole at The Old Course at Broken Sound for the first extra hole.
Cook was in the right rough off the tee and Langer was in the fairway. Cook
hit a great shot to 25 feet to reach the green in two. Langer's second plugged
in a greenside bunker and the advantage definitely appeared to be with Cook.
But Langer, the two-time Masters champion, blasted the ball out almost 10 feet
short of the cup. The ball rolled right into the center of the cup, prompting
a fist-pumping leap from Langer. Cook had a chance to continue the playoff if
he could hole the putt. He gave it a good run and it threatened the hole, but
ultimately ran by, giving the title to Langer. For the supplanted German, this
was a hometown victory. He has been a Boca Raton resident for decades and won
this title with supportive and familiar galleries. Cook and Langer finished
regulation at 17-under 199. The victory for Langer was his first of five wins
in 2010 on the way to his third straight Champions Tour Player of the Year
award.
In 2009, at the age of 52, Mike Goodes finally collected his first
professional victory as he fired a six-under 66 in the final round to come
from behind and win. He finished at 15-under 201 and won by a single stroke
over Fulton Allem. Goodes was a lifelong amateur who collected three titles
in his native North Carolina before giving the Champions Tour a chance.
This event is being played at The Old Course at Broken Sound, which is
considered one of the premier golf course communities in Palm Beach County.
One of two 18-hole tracks at the club, The Old Course features an abundance of
trees and rolling fairways that give it a similar feel to courses in the
Pinehurst, North Carolina area. It also features the largest stand of natural
Florida maple trees in the country.
The par-five 18th hole at The Old Course at Broken Sound was the easiest
closing hole on the Champions Tour in 2010 with a scoring average of 4.374. It
was also the fourth-easiest par five on tour last year.
The Champions Tour played in Boca Raton in the mid-1980s for three years.
Arnold Palmer won the Boca Grove Seniors Classic in 1983 and successfully
defended his title the following year when it was known as the Quadel Seniors
Classic. Gary Player won the Quadel Seniors Classic in 1985, becoming the
fifth man to win in his first Champions Tour start.
Next week, the elder circuit remains in the Sunshine State for the ACE Group
Classic in Naples, where Fred Couples captured the 2010 tournament.
02/08 15:37:03 ET
|
As of February 8, 2011, at 03:37 PM ET
|
|
|
