PGA: This Week in Golf, September 10th – 13th

September 8th, 2009

PGA TOUR – BMW CHAMPIONSHIP, Cog Hill Golf & Country Club, Lemont, Illinois

The eligible field of players has been trimmed to just 70 for the third event of the FedEx Cup playoffs, the BMW Championship.It will be narrowed even further following this week’s event, with only the top 30 in the standings moving on to the Tour Championship, which begins Sept. 24 after a rare one-week break in the schedule.Last year, Camilo Villegas captured his long-anticipated first career PGA Tour victory with a two-under 68 in the final round, holding off a hard-charging Dudley Hart to win the BMW Championship by two shots.Villegas moved to No. 2 in the playoff standings following the win, but was statistically unable to overtake Vijay Singh for the FedEx Cup and its $10 million top prize.Singh, who won the first two playoff events last year, simply had to finish four rounds at the Tour Championship to claim the lucrative title. As there is no cut in the playoff finale, Singh easily kept his position at the top — even as Villegas claimed his second-straight victory.There is no cut at the BMW Championship either, so all 70 players in the field this week will have four rounds to make something happen. Forty of them will not move on.Steve Stricker overtook Tiger Woods for the No. 1 spot in the playoff standings after winning the Deutsche Bank Championship on Monday. Woods fell to No. 2 in the standings and was followed by Barclays winner Heath Slocum, Zach Johnson and Scott Verplank.Following the Tour Championship in two weeks, the No. 1 player in the standings will earn the $10 million bonus. Second place receives $3 million, third gets $2 million, fourth earns $1.5 million and fifth place receives $1 million.Villegas got up and down for par to defeat Sergio Garcia on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff to win last year’s Tour Championship, taking second in the playoffs to Singh.To follow this week’s action at Cog Hill, tune in to Golf Channel on Thursday and Friday, and NBC on the weekend.

EUROPEAN TOUR MERCEDES-BENZ CHAMPIONSHIP, Golf Club Gut Larchenhof, Cologne, Germany

Robert Karlsson had nine top-10 finishes worldwide and was among the hottest players in golf heading into last year’s Mercedes-Benz Championship.Only one thing was missing from a season that saw Karlsson place in the top-10 in three consecutive majors — a victory.The lanky Swede broke free of his close-but-no-cigar streak with a two-shot win at Gut Larchenhof, posting a one-under 71 in the final round to finish at 13-under 275. It was his first win in two years and the eighth of his career on the European Tour. He claimed No. 9 in his next start, winning the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in a three-way playoff.Karlsson’s win made for a nice story, but this tournament is all about the Germans.Four-time Mercedes-Benz champion and Hall of Famer Bernhard Langer will lead a home contingent in Cologne that also includes red-hot Martin Kaymer and Alex Cejka. Langer, who spends most of his season playing on the Champions Tour, won the tournament in 1989, 1991, 1997 and 2001.Golf Channel will have coverage of all four rounds this week beginning at 9:30 a.m. (et) on Thursday and Friday and at 8 a.m. both weekend days.Next week is the Austrian Golf Open, where Jeev Milkha Singh won last year.

LPGA TOUR NW ARKANSAS CHAMPIONSHIP, Pinnacle Country Club, Rogers, Arkansas

Seon-Hwa Lee closed with a four-under 68 in the final round last year, making birdie on the final hole to win by one shot over hard-charging Jane Park and Meena Lee.Seon-Hwa Lee finished at 15-under 201 to capture her fourth LPGA Tour win and second of the season.Park, playing in one of the first groups out Sunday, fired a 10-under 62 in the final round to vault up the leaderboard and tie Meena Lee for second place.This is only the third year of the tournament. It made its debut in 2007 under unique and unfortunate circumstances as the first full-length LPGA Tour event shortened to 18 holes.Persistent weather problems left the tour with no choice but to cancel two of the rounds. Stacy Lewis, then an amateur, was not credited with an official win after finishing atop the leaderboard with a seven-under 65.Golf Channel has coverage of all three rounds this week beginning at 12:30 p.m. (et) on Friday and at 1 p.m. on both weekend days.Next week is the Samsung World Championship, where Paula Creamer won last year.

NATIONWIDE TOUR UTAH CHAMPIONSHIP, Willow Creek Country Club, Sandy, Utah

Brendon Todd shot a four-under 67 in the final round last year to capture his first Nationwide Tour win.Then a 23-year-old rookie, Todd finished at 22-under 262 for a six-stroke victory over six players.Todd made it to the PGA Tour but has struggled, missing 13 cuts in 18 starts — including seven in a row. He has also played twice on the Nationwide Tour, with his best finish a tie for 50th place at the Athens Regional Foundation Classic in April.He will be in the field this week looking to become the first player in tour history to successfully defend a title.Golf Channel has coverage of all four rounds beginning at 6:30 p.m. (et) the first three days and at 7 p.m. on Sunday.Next week is the Boise Open, where Chris Tidland won last year.

UNITED STATES GOLF ASSOCIATION WALKER CUP MATCH, Merion Golf Club (East Course), Ardmore, Pennsylvania

The Walker Cup Match, to be played on Saturday and Sunday this week at historic Merion Golf Club, pits two teams of amateur players against each other — one from the United States and one from Great Britain & Ireland.The match is contested every two years, alternately in the U.S. and Great Britain/Ireland, between teams with no more than 10 players.The U.S. retained the Cup with a one-point victory in Northern Ireland in 2007.

USGA SENIOR AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP – The Beverly Country Club, Chicago, Illinois

George “Buddy” Marucci, Jr. defeated George Zahringer, 2-up, to win last year’s USGA Senior Amateur Championship. Marucci, the U.S. Walker Cup captain, collected his first USGA championship after coming close 13 years earlier at the 1995 U.S. Amateur Championship, where he lost to a young Tiger Woods.The championship, played for the first time in 1955, is open to amateurs 55 and older.

USGA SENIOR WOMEN’S AMATEUR – The Homestead (Cascades Course), Hot Springs, Virginia

Diane Lang rolled to a 6 & 5 victory over Toni Wiesner last year to claim her third USGA Senior Women’s Amateur championship in four years.The Jamaican-born Lang won the first hole at Tulsa Country Club and never trailed in the final match. She also captured the championship in 2005 and ’06.Started in 1962, the Senior Women’s Amateur is open to female amateurs 50 and older.

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