Date: March 13, 2008
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Aussies Around The World: Weekend Preview

Source: PGA Tour Australasia US PGA TOUR: Arnold Palmer Invitational, Bay Hill Club & Lodge, Orlando, Florida AUSTRALIAN FIELD: Stuart Appleby, Jason Day, Steve Elkington, Mathew Goggin, Nathan Green, Richard Green, Matt Jones, Peter Lonard, Geoff Ogilvy, Rod Pampling, John Senden. 2007 CHAMPION: Vijay Singh (Fiji) NOTES: Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson headline the field this week. Woods won the event four years in a row from 2000. He has won seven of his last eight tour events. A victory by Tiger Woods this week would give him 64 in his career. That would tie Ben Hogan for third on the all-time list. Stuart Appleby has finished second twice at the Bay Hill Invitational and comes into this weeks event after finishing 10th at last week s POD s Championship. Appleby has had five top 10 results from five starts on the US tour this season and is currently the leading Australasian on the Money List in 19th place with US$820,975. Nathan Green follows Appleby in 22nd place. After missing the first two cuts this year, Green has made five in a row, including a 3rd at the Honda Classic and a T11 at the Buick Invitational. He also led the putting stats at last week s POD s Championship. Queenslander Rod Pampling won this event two years ago and after a slow start to the year, he comes into this week with two top ten results in his past two events. He tied for eighth at the PODS Championship and had a good run at the World Golf Championships – Accenture Match-Play Championship getting to three rounds, losing to Vijay Singh after 25 holes. As fourth alternate Peter Lonard got a late call up to the restricted field event after three of the players in the pro am field on Wednesday failed to make their tee times. When the preceding three alternates including John Daly were not on site, Lonard got the call up. Defending Champion World No 11 Vijay Singh will provide tough competition. In 15 career starts in the tournament, Singh has never missed a cut and has six Top-10 finishes. He has finished second three times. A victory by Vijay Singh this week would give him 32 career wins (20 of those were after his 40th birthday) and put him first on the all-time list of international winners. His last win on TOUR came at the 2007 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard. EUROPEAN/ASIAN TOUR: Ballantines Championship, Pinx GC, Jeju Island, South Korea AUSTRALIAN FIELD: Scott Barr, Marcus Both, Adam Blyth, David Bransdon, Tony Carolan, Gavin Flint, David Gleeson, Adam Groom, Scott Hend, Unho Park, Terry Pilkadaris, Gary Simpson, Scott Strange, Kane Webber. 2007 CHAMPION: New Event NOTES: The Ballantine s Championship is a new event for 2008 with a prize purse of US$2.9 million It is the first European Tour event to be held in Korea and will be held at the Pinx Golf Club on the island of Jeju which is famous for its strong wind and with the season changing from winter to spring looks like it will live up to its reputation. Winner of the 2008 Sony Open in Hawaii, world number 5, (US based) K.J.Choi will headline the event alongside 2007 Open Champion Padraig Harrington, who is currently No.10 in the world and has previously won titles in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Also in the field are four other European Tour players who have tasted victory on Asian soil in the past two years – Spain&aposs Jos Manuel Lara, Mikko Ilonen of Finland, Frenchman Rapha l Jacquelin and Johan Edfors of Sweden. Australasian Tour member and current Asian Tour Money Leader New Zealand s Mark has pulled out of the Ballentine&aposs Championship this week. After cementing sixth place on the European Tour Order of Merit after the Maybank Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur, Brown automatically qualified for the USD$8,000,000 WGC Accenture Match Play in two weeks and will head home to NZ before travelling to the US for his maiden start. Scott Strange heads the 17 strong Australasian contingent in this week s event. Strange is currently fourth on the Money List after four events with his best result T2 at the prestigious Johnnie Walker Classic. 27 year old Aussie Kane Webber shot his best round of 65 and finished in a tie for third place last week at the Malaysian Open. Webber is 8th on the Money List, the next best placed Australasian behind Strange. His last three results have included: T3 SAIL Open, T17 Johnnie Walker Classic & T3 (the leading Australasian) at the Malaysian Open. 25 year old Korean Kim Young Kyu earned his starting slot in the 132-man field in unusual fashion by winning a reality TV show. He triumphed in the Road to the Ballantine s Championship , a made-for-TV knockout tournament in which young Korean players battled it out for the right to line up with the stars. CHAMPIONS TOUR: AT&T Champions Classic, Valencia CC, Valencia, California AUSTRALIAN FIELD: Wayne Grady, Graham Marsh 2007 CHAMPION: Tom Purtzer (USA) LPGA TOUR: MasterCard Classic, Bosque Real CC, Mexico City, Mexico AUSTRALIAN FIELD: Sarah Jane-Kenyon, Sarah Oh, Anna Rawson. 2007 CHAMPION: Meaghan Francella FUTURES TOUR: Bright House Networks Open, Cleveland Heights GC, Lakeland, Florida AUSTRALIAN FIELD: Rachel Bailey, Dana Lacey 2007 CHAMPION: Lori Atsedes TELEVISION COVERAGE: EUROPEAN/ASIAN TOUR: Ballantine s Championship Thu 13 Mar – Round 1 – LIVE from 4.30pm (FOX SPORTS 3) Fri 14 Mar – Round 2 – LIVE from 4.30pm (FOX SPORTS 3) Sat 15 Mar Round 3 – SDD from 10.00pm (FOX SPORTS 2) Sun 16 Mar – Final Round – LIVE from 4.00pm (FOX SPORTS 2) USPGA: Arnold Palmer Invitational Fri 14 Mar – Round 1 – LIVE from 6.00am (FOX SPORTS 2) Sat 15 Mar – Round 2 – LIVE from 6.00am (FOX SPORTS 2) Sun 16 Mar – Round 3 – LIVE from 5.30am (FOX SPORTS 1) Mon 17 Mar – Final Round – LIVE from 5.30am (FOX SPORTS 1) Champions Tour: AT & T Classic Sun 16 Mar – Round 2 – SDD from 7.00pm (FOX SPORTS 3) Mon 17 Mar – Final Round SDD from 4.30pm (FOX SPORTS 3)