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PGA - Puerto Rico Open Preview
From The Sports Network
| DATES: Thursday, March 10th through Sunday, March 13th |
| SITE: Trump International G.C. (Composite Course), Rio Grande, Puerto Rico |
| COURSE ARCHITECT: Tom Kite and Bruce Bresse (2004) |
| Hole-By-Hole: | 1 - Par 4 449 Yds | 10 - Par 4 430 Yds | |
| 2 - Par 5 547 Yds | 11 - Par 3 192 Yds | |
| 3 - Par 4 386 Yds | 12 - Par 4 465 Yds | |
| 4 - Par 4 455 Yds | 13 - Par 4 410 Yds | |
| 5 - Par 5 535 Yds | 14 - Par 4 477 Yds | |
| 6 - Par 3 203 Yds | 15 - Par 5 600 Yds | |
| 7 - Par 4 448 Yds | 16 - Par 3 202 Yds | |
| 8 - Par 3 236 Yds | 17 - Par 4 411 Yds | |
| 9 - Par 4 450 Yds | 18 - Par 5 630 Yds | |
| ------------- | ------------- | |
| 36 3,709 Yds | 36 3,817 Yds | |
| Annual: | 4th |
| Television: | Golf Channel - Thursday -- 6:30-8:30 p.m. (et) - taped, |
| | - Friday -- 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. (et), |
| | - Saturday -- 6:30-9:30 p.m. (et) - taped, |
| | - Sunday -- 7:30-10:30 p.m. (et) - taped, |
| Defending Champion: | Derek Lamely |
| Runner-Up: | Kris Blanks |
| Tournament Record: | 269 (Derek Lamely, 2010) |
| 54-Hole Record: | 199 (Kevin Streelman, 2010) |
| 36-Hole Record: | 132 (Bo Van Pelt, 2008) |
| Course Record: | 63 (Derek Lamely, 2010) |
| Total Purse: | $3,500,000 |
| Shares: | 1st Place - $630,000; 2nd Place - $378,000; 3rd Place - $238,000 |
| 2010 Finish |
| Player | Score | Player | Score |
| Derek Lamely | 269 | Steve Wheatcroft | 272 |
| Kris Blanks | 271 | Steve Elkington | 273 |
| Brendon de Jonge | 272 | Woody Austin | 273 |
| James Nitties | 272 | Bryce Molder | 273 |
| Kevin Streelman | 272 | Chad Collins | 274 |
| | Bill Lunde | 274 |
| Past Puerto Rico Open Winners |
| Year | Winner (Score) -- Runners-Up |
| 2010 | Derek Lamely (269) -- Kris Blanks |
| 2009 | Michael Bradley (274) -- Jason Day, Brett Quigley |
| 2008 | Greg Kraft (274) -- Jerry Kelly, Bo Van Pelt |
| Top Contenders in the Field |
| Player | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | | | | | | | |
| Derek Lamely | --- | T-13 | Won | | | | | | | |
| Kris Blanks | --- | T-57 | 2nd | | | | | | | |
| Brendon de Jonge | --- | --- | T-3 | | | | | | | |
| Bryce Molder | --- | T-13 | T-7 | | | | | | | |
| Woody Austin | --- | --- | T-7 | | | | | | | |
| Bill Lunde | --- | --- | T-10 | | | | | | | |
| Paul Stankowski | mc | T-21 | T-12 | | | | | | | |
| Michael Bradley | --- | Won | T-15 | | | | | | | |
| Kevin Stadler | T-4 | T-44 | T-17 | | | | | | | |
| Shaun Micheel | T-21 | T-31 | T-45 | | | | | | | |
| John Merrick | T-13 | T-6 | T-68 | | | | | | | |
| Greg Kraft | Won | T-21 | mc | | | | | | | |
| Jerry Kelly | T-2 | T-9 | --- | | | | | | | |
| Angel Cabrera | --- | --- | --- | | | | | | | |
| Stewart Cink | --- | --- | --- | | | | | | | |
| Henrik Stenson | --- | --- | --- | | | | | | | |
| Sports Network Selections |
| Pick to Win - Stewart Cink |
| Darkhorse - Kent Jones |
| |
| Last Week's Pick to Win (Ben Crane) - Not in final field |
| Last Week's Darkhorse (Jimmy Walker) - Finished tied for 43rd |
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| NOTES: |
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The PGA Tour travels to the Isle of Enchantment this week for the Puerto Rico
Open. The top players in the world are in Florida this week at the
WGC-Cadillac Championship; therefore, there are only four players in the
top-100 of the world rankings in Puerto Rico. Stewart Cink, the 2009 British
Open champion, is the highest-ranked player in the field at 59th in the world.
He is joined by 2009 PLAYERS champion Henrik Stenson (70), two-time major
champion Angel Cabrera (83) and Bryce Molder (100). The 2008 tournament was
the first full-field sanctioned PGA Tour event held in Puerto Rico.
Last year, Derek Lamely fired weekend rounds of 63-66 to come from behind and
win the rain-delayed tournament. Lamely, who won for the first time on the PGA
Tour, completed the event at 19-under-par 269. Lamely's 63 in the third round
established a new course record and his 269 total was a new tournament record.
Lamely started the final round on the 10th tee four strokes behind Kevin
Streelman. He birdied the 13th from 12 feet out, then dropped in back-to-back
birdie efforts from the 16th to jump to 16-under. Streelman stumbled to a
double-bogey on the first to slip to 15-under, meaning Lamely was one ahead.
Lamely parred the 18th and first. He birdied the par-five second and came
right back with an eight-footer for birdie on the third to get to 18-under. He
moved to 19-under with a 10-foot birdie putt on the par-five fifth. He parred
the final four holes, then waited more than two hours to be named champion
after he was not caught by the rest of the field.
In 2009, Michael Bradley birdied the 18th hole and shot a two-under 70 in
the final round to win his first PGA Tour victory in 11 years. Bradley picked
up his third career win -- his first since the 1998 Doral-Ryder Open -- at
14-under-par 274.
Greg Kraft fired rounds of 69-66-69-70 to overtake third-round leader
Bo Van Pelt in 2008 and win the inaugural event. Kraft finished at 14-under-
par 274 for his first official tour title. He won the 1993 Deposit Guaranty
Golf Classic, but that was played opposite The Masters and not counted as an
official victory.
Seven former major champions are in the field this week: Cabrera (2007 U.S.
Open, 2009 Masters), Cink (2009 British Open), John Daly (1991 PGA
Championship, 1995 British Open), Todd Hamilton (2004 British Open), Lee
Janzen (1993 and 1998 U.S. Open), Shaun Micheel (2003 PGA Championship) and
Mike Weir (2003 Masters).
Trump International Golf Club, designed by Tom Kite, is the only 36-hole golf
facility in Puerto Rico where you can play in the Mountains, play along the
Ocean, play in the Palms and play among the Lakes. It's also the only golf
course in Puerto Rico with white silica sand bunkers. Relax in the clubhouse,
one of the largest in the Caribbean, and enjoy views of both the Ocean and the
El Yunque Rainforest. Trump International was originally called Coco Beach
Golf & Country Club. A portion of all four nines will be used to make up a
composite layout this week.
Several Puerto Rico residents are expected to compete, including Rafael
Campos. The San Juan native is a Virginia Commonwealth graduate and is playing
in his fourth Puerto Rico Open.
The PGA Tour moves to the west coast of Florida next week for the Transitions
Championship in Palm Harbor, where Jim Furyk captured his first PGA Tour event
since 2007 last year.
03/08 14:39:36 ET
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As of March 8, 2011, at 02:39 PM ET
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