Sunday, July 14, 2002
The networks will broadcast the event for two hours each day.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
VIENNA -- Once again, the Giant Eagle LPGA Classic will be televised live over ESPN and ESPN2 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The coverage will be six hours long -- two hours for each day of the tournament.
The Giant Eagle Classic is part of the State Farm LPGA Series, now in its third year.
The Series features 10 LPGA tournaments and includes a $250,000 bonus pool for the players.
Players finishing in the top 20 in the designated events earn points for the bonus pool and the points are tripled in the series' final event, the State Farm Classic which will be held Aug. 29-Sept. 1 in Springfield, Ill.
Annika Sorenstam won the 2001 series pool.
ESPN will broadcast the event from 2 to 4 p.m. Friday and ESPN2 will broadcast from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday and 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday.
Broadcast team
Terry Gannon will host the event, with Mary Bryan as the color commentator. The on-course commentators are Bill Kratzert and Alice Ritzman.
Gannon, a broadcaster for 13 years, joined ABC Sports in 1991 as an commentator for college basketball. He has also handled ABC's figure skating coverage, play-by-play for college basketball and college football, which he has done since 1993.
He has also hosted the Tour de France and called play-by-play for the Little League World Series.
Kratzert served as an on-course reporter for many of ESPN and ESPN2 events of the PGA Tour and LPGA.
He turned professional in 1974. His final PGA Tour appearance came in 1997 at the AT & amp;T Pebble Beach Pro Am. His best season on tour was in 1978 when he finished eighth on the money list.
He has three PGA victories -- the Sammy Davis Jr. Greater Hartford Open in 1977, the Greater Milwaukee Open in 1980 and the Pensacola Open in 1984. He was also a member of the winning team in the Walt Disney National team championships in 1976.
The University of Georgia graduate won the 1968 Indiana Amateur in 1969 and was inducted into the Indiana Golf Hall of Fame in 1993.
Mary Bryant is a former LPGA Tour player, while Ritzman is still an active member but has not played in the last several years.
Neither Bryant nor Ritzman have ever played in a tournament held in the Mahoning Valley.