ON TOUR | This week's pro golf events

LPGA TOUR/LADIES EUROPEAN TOUREvian MastersEvian, France
Schedule: Today-Saturday.Course: Evian Masters Golf Club (6,171 yards, par 72).Purse: $2.5 million. Winner's share: $375,000.Television: The Golf Channel (Wednesday, 5-7 p.m., 9:30-11 p.m.; Thursday, 5-7 p.m., 9-11 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 5-7 p.m., 9:30-11:30 p.m.).Last year: Juli Inkster won her 30th LPGA Tour title, finishing with a tournament-record 21-under 267 total for a six-stroke victory over Hee-Won Han.Notes: Meg Mallon, coming off consecutive victories in the U.S. Women's Open and Canadian Women's Open, is in the strong field along with 2000 and 2002 winner Annika Sorenstam and 14-year-old Michelle Wie. Wie is skipping the U.S. Girls' Junior to make her first appearance in a professional event in Europe. ... Tournament officials put Sorenstam and Wie in consecutive groups. Sorenstam will play with Mallon and Se Ri Pak, and Wie will join Grace Park and Lorena Ochoa. ... The Women's British Open, the final major championship of the season, is next week at Sunningdale. ... The tournament became an official LPGA Tour event in 2000.
CHAMPIONS TOURPGA EUROPEAN SENIORS TOURSenior British OpenPortrush, Northern Ireland
Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.Course: Royal Portrush Golf Club, Dunluce Course (6,822 yards, par 72).Purse: $1,620,600. Winner's share: $255,730.Television: TNT (Thursday-Friday, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.) and ABC (Saturday-Sunday, 2-3:30 p.m., will air 3-4:30 PDT)Last year: Five-time British Open champion Tom Watson won at Turnberry in Scotland, beating England's Carl Mason on the second hole of a playoff. Watson closed with a 64 and got into the playoff when Mason finished regulation with a double bogey.Notes: The U.S. Senior Open is next week at Bellerive in St. Louis. ... The tournament, first played in 1992, became an official Champions Tour event last season, giving the tour five majors. ... Watson is playing a week after withdrawing from the British Open because of a shoulder injury. ... Eduardo Romero, Mike Reid and Ron Streck after making their Champions Tour debuts, while Peter Jacobsen, Ben Crenshaw, Jerry Pate and Andy Bean also are making their first appearances in the event. ... Royal Portrush also was the tournament site from 1995-99. Scotland's Brian Barnes won in 1995 and 1996, followed by Gary Player in 1997, Wales' Brian Huggett in 1998 and Ireland's Christy O'Connor Jr. in 1999. ... New Zealand's Bob Charles, the 1989 and 1993 winner, is the only player to appear in all 17 previous Senior British Opens.
PGA TOURU.S. Bank ChampionshipMilwaukee
Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.Course: Brown Deer Park Golf Course (6,759 yards, par 70).Purse: $3.5 million. Winner's share: $630,000.Television: USA (Thursday-Friday, 4-6 p.m.) and CBS (Saturday-Sunday, 3-6 p.m.).Last year: Kenny Perry won for the third time in four starts, beating Steve Allan and Heath Slocum by a stroke.Notes: Loren Roberts won in 1996 and 2000, setting records in 2000 with a 24-under 260 total and eight-stroke margin. ... Ryder Cup hopeful Scott Verplank is the top money winner in the field at No 18 ($1,727,827), and K.J. Choi (21st), Perry (27th) and Wisconsin player Jerry Kelley (30th) are the only other top-30 players. Skip Kendall, Steve Stricker and J.P. Hayes also grew up in Wisconsin. ... Shigeki Maruyama, skipping the tournament, won in 2001 to become the first Japanese player to win a PGA Tour event on the mainland. ... The Buick Open is next week in Grand Blanc, Mich., followed by The International in Castle Rock, Colo., and the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits.
NATIONWIDE TOURCanadian PGA ChampionshipCambridge, Ontario
Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.Course: Whistle Bear Golf Club (7,305 yards, par 72).Purse: $450,000. Winner's share: $81,000.Television: The Golf Channel (Thursday, 2:30-5 p.m.; Friday, midnight-2 a.m., 2:30-5 p.m.; Saturday, midnight-2 a.m., 1:30-4 p.m.; Sunday, midnight-2 a.m., 2-4:30 p.m.; Monday, midnight-2 a.m.)Last year: Tom Carter beat Jason Bohn on the first hole of a playoff at DiamondBack in Richmond Hill, Ontario. Carter added victories in Springfield, Mo., and Calgary, Alberta, to earn an in-season promotion to the PGA Tour as a three-time winner.Notes: The tournament, first played in 1912, became a Nationwide Tour event in 2001. Lee Trevino won the 1979 and 1983 titles, and other winners include Arnold Palmer (1980), Raymond Floyd (1981), Lanny Wadkins (1978), Jim Thorpe (1982) and Steve Stricker (1993). .. Points tops the money list with $290,896, followed by Brendan Jones ($290,558), Jimmy Walker ($253,805), Ryuji Imada ($239,307) and Justin Bolli ($217,292). The top 20 at the end of the season will earn 2005 PGA Tour cards. ... Jonathan Byrd's victory Sunday in the B.C. Open was the 150th PGA Tour win by former Nationwide Tour players.
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