DOWN THE FAIRWAYS This week's pro golf events

WORLD GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS
NEC Invitational
Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.
Course: Firestone Country Club, South Course (7,230 yards, par 70), Akron.
Purse: $6 million. Winner's share: $1.08 million.
Television: ESPN (Thursday-Friday, noon-2 p.m., 5-7 p.m.) and CBS (Saturday, 2-6 p.m.; Sunday, 2:30-6:30 p.m.).
Last year: Australia's Craig Parry won his first PGA Tour title, beating Fred Funk and Robert Allenby by four strokes at Sahalee in Sammamish, Wash.
Last week: Shaun Micheel became the fifth straight first-time winner in a major championship, capping a two-stroke victory in the PGA with a 7-iron shot to 2 inches. Chad Campbell finished second.
Notes: Tiger Woods swept the 1999-01 tournaments at Firestone. He won by 11 strokes in 2000, matching the course record with a 61 en route to a tournament-record 21-under 259 total. In 2001, he outlasted Jim Furyk with a birdie on the seventh extra hole. Woods tied for 39th in the PGA at 12-over 292, leaving him winless in six majors. ... British Open champion Ben Curtis will marry Candace Beatty after Saturday's round. ... Jose Maria Olazabal also shot a 61 in his 12-stroke victory in the 1990 World Series of Golf. He won the 1994 event on Firestone's North Course. ... The par-5 16th hole has been lengthened 42 yards to 667 yards and the par-4 14th is 467 yards, 49 yards longer than it played in 2001. ... The Deutsche Bank Championship is next week at the TPC of Boston, opposite the European tour's BMW International Open in Germany.
LPGA TOUR
Wachovia Classic
Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.
Course: Berkleigh Country Club (6,197 yards, par 72), Kutztown, Pa.
Purse: $1.2 million. Winner's share: $180,000.
Television: The Golf Channel (Thursday, 2-5 p.m.; Friday-Sunday, 1-2:30 a.m., 2-5 p.m.; Monday, 2-3:30 a.m.).
Last year: South Korea's Se Ri Pak set tournament records with her closing 63 and 21-under 267 total. Angela Stanford finished second, three strokes back.
Last week: Pak won the Jamie Farr Kroger Classic for the fourth time, holding off compatriot Hee-Won Han and Columbia's Marisa Baena by two strokes in Sylvania, Ohio.
Notes: Tournament host Betsy King has 34 victories in her Hall of Fame career. ... Annika Sorenstam, the 1996 and 1997 winner, is skipping the tournament. ... Karrie Webb tops the field along with King, 1999 winner Mi Hyun Kim, U.S. Women Open champion Hilary Lunke, Beth Daniel and Meg Mallon. Suzy Whaley also is playing. ... Former Tulsa star Stacy Prammanasudh led the Futures Tour money list with $57,760 to earn one of five 2004 LPGA Tour exemptions available on the developmental circuit. Soo Young Moon was second, followed by Candy Hannemann, Ju Kim and Reilley Rankin. ... The State Farm Classic is next week in Springfield, Ill., followed by the John Q. Hammons Hotel Classic in Tulsa, Okla.
PGA TOUR
Reno-Tahoe Open
Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.
Course: Montreux Golf and Country Club (7,473 yards, par 72), Reno, Nev.
Purse: $3 million. Winner's share: $540,000.
Television: The Golf Channel (Thursday-Sunday, 8-10:30 p.m.).
Last year: Former UNLV star Chris Riley won his first tour title, edging Jonathan Kaye with a par on the first playoff hole.
Last week: Shaun Micheel became the fifth straight first-time winner in a major championship, capping a two-stroke victory in the PGA with a 7-iron shot to 2 inches. Chad Campbell finished second.
CHAMPIONS TOUR
Allianz Championship
Schedule: Friday-Sunday.
Course: Glen Oaks Country Club (6,799 yards, par 71), West Des Moines, Iowa.
Purse: $1.5 million. Winner's share: $225,000.
Television: The Golf Channel (Friday-Saturday, 5-7:30 p.m., 11 p.m.-1 a.m.; Sunday, 5-7:30 p.m.; Monday, midmight-2 a.m.).
Last year: Bob Gilder won the third of four 2002 titles, beating South Africa's John Bland by a stroke.
Last week: Jim Thorpe won the Long Island Classic for his sixth senior title, matching the tour record with a 10-under 60 in the second round. Gilder finished second, a stroke back.
-- Associated Press