Course Source: Olivier Breaud International Golf Course, Palmilla Resort

Course Source: Olivier Breaud International Golf Course, Palmilla Resort










Tom LaMarre, The Sports Xchange April 22, 2013 2:10 AMThe SportsXchange


IN THE PUBLIC EYE: Olivier Breaud International Golf Course d'Antimaono in Papara, Tahiti.

THE LAYOUT: California-based designer Bob Baldock found his way to Tahiti in 1968 and carved a sporty championship course out of the jungle across the road from the beach on the south coast of the island, not far from the Paul Gaugin Museum and Botanical Gardens.

Baldock, whose more than 350 courses in California, Nevada and Hawaii include the Shore Course at Monterey Peninsula Country Club in Pebble Beach, designed a challenging par-72 course that stretches 6,944 from the professional tees, 6,550 from the men's tees and 6,370 for women.

The Tahiti Open, an event on the Australasian PGA Tour, is held every June at Olivier Breaud.

Brett Ogle of Australia, winner of the 1994 Hawaiian Open and 1993 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am on the PGA Tour, won the Tahiti Open in 1986, and Simon Owen of New Zealand, who tied for second behind Jack Nicklaus in the 1978 British Open at St. Andrews, claimed the title in 1991.

It's not exactly Magnolia Lane at Augusta, but the picturesque, narrow drive into Olivier Breaud International Golf Course is lined by mombat trees, whose fruit resembles a cumquat.

OWNER, GENERAL MANAGER: Skip Anderson.

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE: Anderson, a transplanted Floridian, used to say he had the best golf course for 2,500 miles in every direction. That's because this layout about 20 miles from the Tahitian capital of Papeete was the only one in this part of the South Pacific until recently.

But it's not so remote that it's off the golf map. Arnold Palmer passed through in the 1970s on a business trip with golf powerbroker Mark McCormack, founder of IMG, and played the course.

Most memorable at Olivier Breaud is as difficult a set of par-3 holes as any golfer might want to play. Anderson can remember only a single hole in one on this quartet since he came to Tahiti in 1982.

The second hole is 209 yards through the trees, No. 8 is a tight 196 yards, the 14th hole is a challenging 216 yards from an elevated tee to a narrow green guarded by three bunkers and a large gully, and No. 17 is 214 yards to a green surrounded by bunkers.

Another hole to be reckoned with is No. 7, rated No. 1 on the card, a par 4 that measures 462 yards to a green protected by a wide creek. Balancing out the difficulty of the course are two relatively short par-5s and No. 4, a very reachable, 255-yard par 4 from an elevated tee.

The course finishes with a par 5 that measures 559 yards, with a large lake and creek coming into play down the left side some 200 yards off the tee. The approach shot must be precise, with several large bunkers surrounding the green.

Anderson bought the corporation that has a contract with the Tahitian government to run the golf course, which now has a legitimate pro shop and an open-air restaurant that serves three meals a day prepared by a French chef.

OTHER COURSES IN THE AREA: There were no others until the first nine holes of Moorea Green Pearl Golf Club in Temae, created by Nicklaus Design, opened early in 2007, with the second nine opening later in the year.

The course's location near the ferry dock at Vaiare and the Temae airport have created tourism golf packages on Tahiti and Moorea.

This magnificent golf resort was the first new course in Polynesia in 35 years. South Pacific Golf Resort Development, headquartered in Papeete, is planning to build a 5-star, 154-room hotel and a hotel residential housing estate with 84 rooms and suites, adjacent to the course

WHERE TO STAY: Most Americans visiting Tahiti stay at the Beachcomber Intercontinental Resort, the Sheraton Tahiti, Le Meridien Tahiti or the Sofitel Maeva Beach.

On neighboring Bora Bora are the Hotel Bora Bora, the Bora Bora Lagoon Resort and the Pearl Beach Resort.

On Moorea are the Beachcomber Intercontinental Moorea, the Sheraton Moorea, Moorea Pearl Resort, the Sofitel Ia Ora and the Moorea Village Hotel.

The larger neighboring islands can be reached from Papeete by ferry several times a day.


Princess Cruises and Radisson Seven Seas cruise through French Polynesia on a regular basis and ships from other cruise lines also call at Papeete on longer voyages.

Tour operators provide transportation from your hotel or cruise ship to the golf course.

ON THE WEB: www.worldgolf.com/course-reviews/south-pacific/olivier-breaud-golf.htm; www.international-golf-olivier-breaud-tahiti.com.



THE LAST RESORT: Palmilla Resort in Los Cabos, Mexico.

THE LAYOUT: The first Jack Nicklaus-designed course in Latin America, opened in 1992, is one befitting the elegant Palmilla -- one of the great hotels of the world that was a hideaway for the likes of President Eisenhower, John Wayne and Bing Crosby in days gone by.

Palmilla Golf Club, managed by Troon Golf, is located in the foothills of the Sierra de la Laguna Mountains and has views of the Sea of Cortez on virtually every spectacular hole.

The Palmilla course is known as the "Grand Dame of Los Cabos golf."

The course plays to roughly 6,900 yards, with a rating 74.3 and slope of 144 from the back tees, no matter which combination of the Ocean, Mountain and Arroyo nines the golfer takes on.

The Arroyo Nine and the Mountain Nine are of traditional Mexican design, and Jack Nicklaus said creating the newer Ocean Nine was like "designing desert mountains by the sea."

There is 600 feet of elevation change on the first six holes of the Ocean Nine, which runs right down to the rocky coast.

CLUB MANAGER: Jason Ballog.

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE: There was no golf in Los Cabos -- a world-class sport-fishing destination -- until the early 1990s, but now there are seven places to play, and 63 of the 144 holes have Golden Bear tracks on them.

Golf at Palmilla is like playing a great desert course -- arid weather, target golf -- only with the Sea of Cortez as a backdrop.

The most unique hole is No. 5 on the Mountain Nine, a 401-yard par-4 on which the drive must carry 150 yards across a canyon to a plateau fairway. The approach shot is downhill across another abyss to a green nestled in a box canyon.

Most spectacular is the third hole of the Ocean Nine, a par-5 that plays 485 yards downhill to within a few steps of the beach. The drive from an elevated tee must carry the old highway and a dry wash, with magnificent homes lining the cliffs.

High point of the facility comes on the Arroyo Nine at the 566-yard par-5, which offers a panoramic view of the Sea of Cortez.

OTHER COURSES IN THE AREA: About 10 miles down the road from Palmilla is another Nicklaus creation, the Ocean Course at Cabo del Sol, which the best golfer of all-time has called "The greatest piece of golf property on earth." Tom Weiskopf, Nicklaus' former teammate on the golf team at Ohio State, added the Desert Course at Cabo del Sol in 2001.

Also located on the 18-mile tourist corridor from Cabo San Lucas to San Jose del Cabo are the Nicklaus-designed El Dorado Golf Club; Querencia Golf Club, which was Tom Fazio's first venture outside the United States; Cabo Real Golf Club, designed by Robert Trent Jones II; the Raven Golf Club, formerly Cabo San Lucas Country Club, designed by Pete Dye and featuring the longest hole in Baja, at 620 yards; and the 9-hole Campo de Golf Los Cabos, a municipal layout (with plans to add a second nine) in San Jose del Cabo that was the first course in the area when it opened in 1991.

Los Cabos was the site of the PGA Senior Slam five times. Raymond Floyd won in 1995 on the Ocean Course at Cabo del Sol and repeated at Cabo Real in 1996, Hale Irwin won at Palmilla in 1997, and Gil Morgan won on the Ocean Course at Cabo del Sol in 1998 and at Cabo Real in 1999.

WHERE TO STAY: The Palmilla Resort, which has been one of the most elegant beach hideaways in the world since 1956, was given an $80-million renovation a few years ago by One&Only Resorts. Palmilla annually is listed among the World's Best Golf Resorts by Travel & Leisure. It is located minutes from Cabo San Lucas on the southernmost tip of Baja California, Mexico, where the Pacific Ocean meets the Sea of Cortez.

Among the many other resorts in Los Cabos are the Fiesta Americana Grand Resort, the Sheraton Hacienda del Mar Resort, the Westin Regina Resort, Las Ventanas al Paraiso, the Crown Plaza Los Cabos, the Fiesta Inn Hotel, the Presidente Inter-Continental Los Cabos Resort, the Grand Baja Resort and Spa, the Playa Grande Resort, the Hotel Twin Dolphin, the Pueblo Bonito Rose Resort, the Casa del Mar Golf and Spa, and the Villa del Palmar Beach Resort.

ON THE WEB: www.palmillagc.com/index.html.

Golf notebook: Jimenez returns from skiing injury

Golf notebook: Jimenez returns from skiing injury










Tom LaMarre, The Sports Xchange April 22, 2013 2:10 AMThe SportsXchange


Miguel Angel Jimenez, out all season because of a broken right shinbone sustained skiing in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Spain over the Christmas holidays, made his return last week by playing in the Open de Espana for the 25th time.

Jimenez, who turned 49 in January, became the oldest winner in European Tour history when he captured the UBS Hong Kong Open last November. That came one week before he tied for 16th in the DP Dubai World Championship, his final event of 2012.

"My leg is improving daily," said Jimenez, a 19-time winner on the European Tour who fell 27 spots to 81st in the World Golf Rankings during his absence. "I work out every morning in the gym and I'm actually a little ahead of schedule on my rehab.

"I am not 100 percent fit, but I want to test myself and see how I feel. ... I'd hate to miss the chance of playing at El Saler."

The Spanish Open was the 599th event of his career on the Euro circuit and was played on Parador de El Saler Golf Course in Valencia, not far from his home in Malaga.

Jimenez, nicknamed "The Mechanic," shot 76-74 -- 150 and missed the cut by four strokes in his return.

--Inbee Park of South Korea moved to No. 1 in the Rolex Women's World Rankings one week after capturing the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the second major championship of her career and second title of 2013.

The 24-year-old moved past Stacy Lewis, whose No. 1 ranking lasted four weeks, becoming the second South Korean and eighth player overall to take the top spot since the rankings were instituted in February of 2006.

"This is a very big day in my golf career," Park said when the rankings were released at the beginning of last week before the start of the Lotte LPGA Championship at Ko Olina Golf Club in Kapolei, Oahu, Hawaii.

"I'm so happy to share it with my family, who are here in Hawaii with me. It's nice to reach this goal, but I know a lot of players are close to No. 1. It gives me something else to play for every week."

Park, who won the LPGA Thailand in February, captured two events on the LPGA Tour last year and finished second six times, in addition to leading the money list with $2,287,080 and earning the Vare Trophy for the low scoring average of 70.212.

Lewis dropped to second, an average of 0.04 points per event behind Park in the rankings, which are determined on a formula covering the last two years, and Tseng Yani of Thailand remained No. 3.

Annika Sorenstam of Sweden was the first No. 1 player in the rankings and held the top spot for 61 weeks, followed by Lorena Ochoa of Mexico (158), Ai Miyazato of Japan (12), Cristie Kerr (5), Jiyai Shin of South Korea (25), Tseng (109), Lewis (4) and Park.

In her first tournament at No. 1, Park finished in a tie for fourth last week in the Lotte LPGA Championship.

--Guan Tianlang of China, who two weeks ago became the youngest player in Masters history and the youngest to make a cut on the PGA Tour, has accepted a sponsor's exemption into the Zurich Classic in New Orleans this week.

The 14-year-old Guan, who qualified for the Masters by winning the Asia-Pacific Amateur champion, earned low amateur honors at Augusta National by finishing 58th at 73-75-77-75 -- 300, 12-over-par, despite being assessed a controversial one-stroke penalty for slow play in round one.

"They didn't give me a lot of advice, but Mr. Ben Crenshaw said just play my own game and have fun," Guan said after the Masters. " ... It's a great week for me, and I learned a lot from the top players, and it's an honor to play with the top players here, and I learned a lot and had fun."

Guan had no three-putts on the treacherous greens at Augusta and nothing worse than a bogey on his scorecards.

A year ago, he spent a month in New Orleans and worked on his game at Lakewood Golf Course, not far from TPC Louisiana, site of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

"I'm really happy to come back (to New Orleans) this year," Guan said. "Every tournament I want to play well. I just want to have fun and hopefully post a good score."

Guan was planning to return home to Hawaii before receiving the sponsor's exemption to his first regular-season PGA Tour event.

--Despite a setback late last month, Thorbjorn Olesen of Denmark has earned enough money on the PGA this season to earn special temporary membership on the circuit.

The 23-year-old Olesen had 60 days to accept, but wasted no time in signing on late last week.

Olesen's tie for sixth in the Masters, five strokes behind winner Adam Scott, was his second top-10 finish of the season on the PGA Tour and lifted his 2013 earnings to $632,300.

That's more than the $474,295 that Brendon Todd earned while finishing 150th on the 2012 money list, making Olsesen eligible for the special temporary membership, which would mean he can accept unlimited sponsor's exemptions on the PGA Tour for the rest of the year.

Olesen shot 68-68 on the weekend at the Masters to record his second top-10 finish in four career starts in the majors, following a tie for ninth last year in the Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St. Annes.

By finishing in the top 12 in the first major of the year, Olesen also earned a return trip to Augusta next year.

"It's a dream for me," said Olesen, who bounced back from a 6-over-par in the first round. "It's lovely to be here at a major and especially at the Masters. It's a great golf course and the atmosphere here is amazing.

"I definitely learned a lot about the greens. I missed a lot of putts the first round and it got better and better every day. So that was good. I felt like I hit the ball very good every day, actually."


After finishing seventh in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Olesen was forced to withdraw from the Shell Houston Open because of whiplash following a 10-over-par 82 in the first round after being involved in an auto accident the night before.

Olesen, who claimed his first European Tour victory at the Sicilian Open last year, climbed to No. 34 in the World Golf Rankings following his finish in the Masters.

The Dane is having a big season on both major tours, as he tied for second at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship and tied for third at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic on the Middle East Swing of the Euro Tour.

Olesen is in the field the week for the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano of Spain, who tied for 20th in the Masters, also has joined the PGA Tour on a special temporary membership.

Fernandez-Castano has played five times on the U.S. tour this season and earned $592,020, thanks to a tie for third in the Arnold Palmer Invitational and a tie for ninth in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship.

To earn a PGA Tour card for next season, Fernandez-Castano and Olesen must earn more than the player who finishes the year 125th on the money list, as Nicolas Colsaerts of Belguim and David Lynn of England did in 2012.

--Jamie Donaldson of Wales missed the cut in his first Masters, but he took home more than simply a rewarding experience and a trophy from his initial trip to Augusta National.

Donaldson is hoping it will lead to a full-time gig on the PGA Tour.

The 37-year-old earned an engraved cut-glass bowl for making a hole-in-one with a 7-iron from 180 yards on the sixth hole in the first round, the 24th ace in tournament history and the first at No. 6 since Chris DiMarco's in 2004.

"It's funny as it's a tough shot, with the pin high up on the right side," said Donaldson, who has claimed two victories on the European Tour and six in his professional career. "So you don't know whether to take it on or sort of play just short left, so you've got a putt up the hill.

"It was pretty much trying to land the ball in a cup on a car roof. It was very special. Making an ace on a hole where you would accept par any day of the week is incredible and a memory I will treasure."

Donaldson, whose first victory after nearly 12 seasons on the Euro Tour came last year in the Irish Open, shot 74-75 -- 149, 5-over-par, and missed the weekend by a single shot despite carding birdies on the last two holes of his second round.

However, the couldn't overcome double bogeys on the ninth and 16th holes.

"For most of Friday I was making the cut, but Jason Day came in with that late birdie, which knocked out all the 5-overs," said Donaldson, who was keeping his eye on the scoreboard. "That's the way it goes sometimes, but you shouldn't be on the cut line hoping to get in. You simply need to play better golf.

" ... The Augusta experience overall was very special and the course was even better than seeing it on TV. The greens are more undulating than it looks on the television and the course itself is very hilly. The course itself is very much like Wentworth, only Americanized."

Donaldson was planning to try to earn his PGA Tour card at qualifying school late last year, but decided to concentrate on the Euro Tour because he was getting close to the top 50 in the World Golf Rankings, which would put him in the majors and other top tournaments.

The move paid off when he shot 4-under-par 68 in the final round to beat Justin Rose and Thorbjorn Olesen of Denmark by one stroke earlier this year to win the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

That put him inside the top 50, qualifying him for the majors and the four World Golf Championships, plus the Players Championship, and giving him an avenue toward earning his PGA Tour card.

"I have to play well in the tournaments I play this year to get enough money to earn a PGA Tour card for next year," said Donaldson, who is playing next month in the Players Championship, followed by the U.S. Open in June, and is looking for sponsor's exemptions into any other tournaments.

"I think I played three tournaments (on the PGA Tour) last year and I've already played more this year (five) in the States. That's where the highest standard of golf is, so that's where you have to go.

"The world ranking points are bigger and you're playing against the best players in the world. Everything about it is set up slightly differently than what I'm used to. To be a better golfer, I've got to play against the best all the time."

Donaldson was No. 35 in the World Golf Rankings last week, which should ensure that he will play in all four majors in one season for the first time this year.

The Welshman showed what he can do last year when he tied for seventh in the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island.

--Dick Hart, who captured one of the longest playoffs in PGA Tour history, died recently at the age of 77 in Covington, La.

Hart, a native of Salem, Mass., who joined the PGA Tour in 1959, beat Phil Rodgers with a par on the eighth hole of a sudden-death playoff at Cape Fear Country Club to win the 1965 Azalea Open in Wilmington, N.C.

During his PGA Tour career, Hart made 78 cuts while serving full-time as head professional at Hinsdale Golf Club in Hinsdale, Ill., a position he held for 43 years. During that stretch, he qualified for the U.S. Open five times.

Hart played in the PGA Championship for 10 consecutive years and his 36-hole score of 66-72 -- 138 not only led the 1963 PGA at Dallas Athletic Club, it was the low two-round score of in tournament history until that point. Hart finished in a tie for 17th in Dallas, with Jack Nicklaus claiming the Wanamaker Trophy.

Inducted into the Illinois PGA Hall of Fame in 1990, Hart captured the Illinois Open and Illinois PGA Championship three times each and the Illinois Match Play Championship twice. He scored eight holes in one during his career.

"(Dick was) a real leader in the IPGA's history," said PGA pro Dan McGuire, vice president of business development at Blue Golf.

Hart was preceded in death by his wife, Joyce Hain Hart. He is survived by his daughter, Dalyce Burvant, and two sons, Rick and Ross, along with five grandchildren. His family held a private service.

The family asked that memorial contributions be made to the American Cancer Society or the American Heart Association.

Inside The Ropes: Watson still seeks cure for Masters hangover

Inside The Ropes: Watson still seeks cure for Masters hangover










Tom LaMarre, The Sports Xchange April 22, 2013 2:10 AMThe SportsXchange


Bubba Watson's one-year reign as defending Masters champion is over and he enjoyed the ride as much, if not more, than most first-time major champions.

Watson is playing this week in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, his first tournament since tying for 50th in the Masters two weeks ago and then putting the Green Jacket on his successor, Adam Scott.

"You know, it's been a crazy year, a great year, golf and off the course," said Watson, whose life might be starting to get back to some sort of normal. "But you know, coming back, it was fun, defending champ, I got to bring a guest, so my wife played 18 holes with me on Sunday (before the tournament). What a dream, what an honor.

"So for me, no, I don't see that I'm a hero, a great of the game. But to myself, I can see that I can see that I can compete at a high level at certain moments. You know, I'm not as consistent as some of the guys, I'm not up there every year, but any moment I have a chance to win.

" ... So it was fun, it was a blast."

Things haven't been the same for Watson since his hook shot out of the trees on the second playoff hole at Augusta National led to an unlikely par that beat Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa.

When he returned to Augusta, he didn't go back and try to recreate that shot from the pine straw on the 10th hole, but he's been in plenty of other places since becoming a major champion.

In the year following his surprise victory in the Masters, Bubba made two whirlwind media tours of New York, one right after winning and the other the week before defending his title.

His life already had been altered drastically when he and his wife, Angie, adopted an infant son, Caleb, right before the first major of 2012, and he recently moved his family from Scottsdale, Ariz., to Orlando, Fla.

Also in the last year, Watson bought the original General Lee, the Dodge Charger from the television series "Dukes of Hazzard," and taped his second "Golf Boys" video with Ben Crane, Rickie Fowler and Hunter Mahan.

Bubba signed a big endorsement deal with Oakley, and made the news when he filmed a video driving the company's new hovercraft golf cart.

And he hasn't won a golf tournament.

"I think when he won the Masters, it became overwhelming," said Ted Scott, Watson's caddie. "It's a real adjustment for a guy like Bubba. Bubba plays golf because he loves the game and it's fun. He's not saying, 'Hey, I can't wait to sign autographs and do all that other stuff.'

"He does it out of the kindness of his heart, but it's not something he looks forward to. I think some guys are better prepared to deal with the extra stuff that comes with success, but maybe the game of golf is harder for them.

"Before he was a winner, Bubba had a fan base because of his pink-shaftin', curvin', left-handed, kind of wild type play. Make him a Masters champ and there was kind of a frenzy. ... It just added to the pressure, and made it a lot more to deal with. So it really didn't surprise me that he wasn't out there competing to win every week."

In his 18 starts on the PGA Tour since donning the Green Jacket, Watson has finished in the top 10 only five times, and he also has missed the cut on four occasions.

It's not as bad as those numbers might indicate because he also has wound up in the top 25 in 13 tournaments and his finish at the Masters was his worst result other than those missed cuts.


"I think it's just golf," said Watson, who hopes to get his game back on track this week at TPC Louisiana, where he won two years ago and tied for 18th last year as defending champion in his first event after winning at Augusta.

"It goes a few years this way, a few years that way."

Bubba wasn't even fazed by hitting three balls into the water on the 12th hole in the final round of the Masters and taking a 10 on the treacherous par-3 hole at Amen Corner.

Kevin Na also hit three balls into the water and took a 10 on the same hole earlier in the day.

"So we tied, so we were even after that hole," Watson said in good humor after signing his scorecard for 5-over-par 77 as he ended his reign at Augusta, finishing with a smile on his face when he birdied No. 18.

"You know, it's funny, if you're not going to win, you've got to get in the record books somehow, so I'm a guy that got a double digit score on a par 3. When you look back at this week I had nine three-putts, three balls in the water on 12, a 10. So when you add all that up, a tie for 50th is a pretty good week."

And, as Bubba sees it, the end to a pretty good year.





COMING UP

PGA TOUR: Zurich Classic of New Orleans at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La., Thursday through Sunday.

TV: Thursday and Friday, 3-6 p.m. EDT on the Golf Channel; Saturday and Sunday, 1-2:30 p.m. EDT on the Golf Channel and 3-6 p.m. EDT on CBS.

LAST YEAR: Jason Dufner two-putted from 60 feet on the second playoff hole, tapping in from two feet, to turn back Ernie Els and claim his first victory on the PGA Tour a week before he was to be married. Duf closed with a two-under-par 70, allowing the Big Easy to catch him with a 67, before both missed seven-foot birdie putts on the first extra hole. Els drove into a fairway bunker on the second playoff hole and was forced to lay up, then barely missed his 19-foot birdie putt that would have prolonged the playoff. Dufner, who lost playoffs in 2011 to Mark Wilson at the Phoenix Open and Keegan Bradley in the PGA Championship, claimed his second victory a few weeks later at the HP Byron Nelson Championship and Els captured his fourth major title at the Open Championship in July at Royal Lytham & St. Annes.



CHAMPIONS TOUR: Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf at the Club at Savannah Harbor in Savannah, Ga., Friday through Sunday.

TV: Friday, 12:30-2:30 p.m. EDT; Saturday and Sunday, 1-3 p.m. EDT, on the Golf Channel each day.

LAST YEAR: Michael Allen and David Frost shot a better-ball total of 10-under-par 62 in the final round to win by one stroke over John Cook and Joey Sindelar. Frost chipped in for eagle on the 14th hole when his teammate Allen was out of the hole, which gave the team a two-stroke lead, and that turned out to be the difference. Moments later, Cook holed a 45-foot birdie at No. 18 to slice into the lead and complete a round of 61. However, Allen and Frost parred in, with Allen sealing the victory by two-putting for a par from 40 feet on the final hole in a heavy downpour, one week after he won the Encompass Insurance Pro-Am at TPC Tampa Bay.



LPGA TOUR: North Texas LPGA Shootout at Las Colinas Country Club in Irving, Texas, Friday through Sunday.

TV: Thursday, 12:30-2:30 p.m. EDT, Friday, 6:30-8:30 p.m. EDT, and Saturday and Sunday, 3-6 p.m. EDT, on the Golf Channel each day.

LAST YEAR: Inaugural event.