ON TOUR Golf events this week

PGA TOUR
Skins Game
Schedule: Saturday-Sunday.
Course: Landmark Golf Club, Indio, Calif. (7,068 yards, par 72).
Purse: $1 million (Nos. 1-6, $25,000 each; Nos. 7-12, $50,000; Nos. 13-17, $70,000; No. 18, $200,000).
Television: ABC (Saturday, 4:30-7 p.m.; Sunday, 3-6 p.m.).
Players: Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Mark O'Meara and Fred Couples.
Last year: Greg Norman swept all 18 skins, sending Woods, Colin Montgomerie and Jesper Parnevik home empty-handed.
Notes: The made-for-television event, in its 20th year, has dropped the validation system used last year that required players to follow up a skin by tying for the low score on the next hole. ... Woods' Target World Challenge is next week at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks. ... Mickelson, making his first appearance in the event, will join Woods in the Sherwood field, then team with David Toms in the World Cup in Mexico. ... Couples won in 1995, 1996 and 1999. ... Norman is playing in the Australian PGA after declining an invitation to defend his title. ... The PGA Tour final qualifying tournament is next week at PGA West in La Quinta.
INTERNATIONAL
Nedbank Golf Challenge
Schedule: Today-Sunday.
Course: Gary Player Country Club, Sun City, South Africa (7,700 yards, par 72).
Purse: $4,060,000. Winner's share: $2 million.
Television: None.
Field: Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, South Africa; Sergio Garcia, Spain; Padraig Harrington, Ireland; Jim Furyk, Chris DiMarco, Bob Estes, United States; Nick Price, Zimbabwe; Colin Montgomerie, Scotland; Michael Campbell, New Zealand; Robert Allenby, Australia; Darren Clarke, Northern Ireland.
Last year: Garcia won golf's richest prize, beating Els in a playoff. Garcia closed with a 63 to make up six strokes on Els and won with a 20-foot birdie chip on the first extra hole.
Notes: Els, the 1999 and 2000 winner, has broken 70 in his last 12 rounds in the tournament. He set the tournament record of 25 under in 1999, and was 20 under each of the last two years. ... Harrington won the Asian Open, the official start of the 2003 European tour season, last week in Taiwan. ... Garcia is coming off a second-place finish in the Dunlop Phoenix in Japan. ... Goosen led the European tour in earnings for the second straight year. ... The Vodacom Players Championship is next week at Royal Cape.
AUSTRALASIAN PGA TOUR
Australian PGA Championship
Schedule: Today-Sunday.
Course: Hyatt Regency Resort Course, Coolum, Australia (6,852 yards, par 72).
Purse: $560,000. Winner's share: $101,000.
Television: The Golf Channel (Today, 9 p.m.-2 a.m.; Friday, 8 p.m.-2 a.m.; Sunday, 1-7 a.m.).
Last year: Australia's Robert Allenby successfully defended his title, holding off countryman Geoff Ogilvy by a stroke at Royal Queensland in Brisbane.
Last week: Australia's Steve Allan won the Australian Open, beating Rich Beem and countrymen Craig Parry and Aaron Baddeley by a stroke at Melbourne's Victoria Golf Club.
Notes: Allenby is skipping the tournament to play in the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa. ... Greg Norman, the 1984 and 1985 winner, is paired with John Daly in the first two rounds. Daly is honoring a promise to his late mother to complete his three-week trip to China, Taiwan and Australia. Lou Daly died last week of lung cancer. ... Australia's Stuart Appleby shot a course-record 63 in his 1999 Coolum Classic victory. ... The MasterCard Masters is next week at Huntingdale in Melbourne.
PGA EUROPEAN TOUR/ASIAN PGA TOUR
Hong Kong Open
Schedule: Today-Sunday.
Course: Hong Kong Golf Club, Composite Course (6,466 yards, par 69).
Purse: $700,000. Winner's share: $117,000.
Television: The Golf Channel (today-Sunday, 2-4 p.m.).
Last year: Spain's Jose Maria Olazabal closed with three consecutive birdies for a 64 and a one-stroke victory over Norway's Henrik Bjornstad.
Last week: Ireland's Padraig Harrington won the Asian Open in Taiwan, beating India's Jyoti Randhawa by a stroke.
Notes: The tournament is co-sanctioned by the European and Asian tours, with the event counting as the second tournament of the 2003 European schedule. ... Olazabal tops the field along with England's Nick Faldo and Denmark's Thomas Bjorn. ... A turf disease forced officials to reconfigure the composite layout, with six new holes being used this year. ... The Asian tour will be in Malaysia next week for the Volvo Masters of Asia.
-- Associated Press