ON TOUR \ This week's golf events

PGA TOURChallenge SeasonThe Skins GameLa Quinta, Calif.
Schedule: Saturday-SundayCourse: Trilogy Golf Club at La Quinta (7,085 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, 3:30-6 p.m.)Players: Tiger Woods, Annika Sorenstam, Fred Couples and Adam Scott.Notes: Woods and Sorenstam won tournaments last week. Woods took the Dunlop Phoenix in Japan, his first stroke-play victory since October 2003. Sorenstam won the LPGA Tour's season-ending ADT Championship, beating Cristie Kerr in a playoff. The Swedish star won 10 tournaments this year, eight on the LPGA Tour. ... Couples has earned a record $2.875 million in 10 appearances in the made-for-TV competition. He beat Colin Montgomerie 5 and 3 on Sunday in the UBS Cup to finish 3-0 in the United States' victory. ... Scott is skipping the Australian Open to play in the event. ... Major champions Phil Mickleson, Vijay Singh, Retief Goosen and Todd Hamilton will play in the PGA Grand Slam of Golf on Tuesday and Wednesday at Poipu Bay in Hawaii.
AUSTRALIAN GOLF UNIONAustralian OpenSydney, Australia
Schedule: Thursday-SundayCourse: The Australian Golf Club (7,229 yards, par 71)Purse: $1.14 million. Winner's share: $307,000Television: The Golf Channel (Thursday, 1-5 a.m., 9 p.m.-3 a.m.; Friday-Saturday, 9 p.m.-3:30 a.m.)Notes: The tournament was first played in 1904, also at The Australian. Arnold Palmer, the 1966 winner, tops the former champions participating in the 100th anniversary celebration. ... Two-time champion Aaron Baddeley is in the field along with Lonard and fellow Australian stars Stuart Appleby, Robert Allenby and Craig Parry. Baddeley won as an amateur in 1999 at Royal Sydney and successfully defended his title as a pro in 2000 at Kingston Heath. ... Gary Player won the event a record seven times, one more than Jack Nicklaus. ... The Australian PGA is next week at Coolum, followed by the MasterCard Masters at Huntingdale.
PGA TOURChallenge SeasonShinhan Korea Golf ChampionshipJeju, South Korea
Schedule: Thursday-SundayCourse: Jeju-Jungmun Golf Club (6,562 yards, par 72)Purse: $3.5 million. Winner's share: $1 million.Television: USA (Friday, 7:30-9:30 p.m.), ESPN (Saturday, 7:30-9:30 p.m.) and ABC (Sunday, 7:30-9:30 p.m.)Notes: The tournament is the first PGA Tour-sanctioned Challenge Season event in Asia. ... South Korean star K.J. Choi is in the 36-player field along with 2004 PGA Tour winners Zach Johnson and Mark Hensby, major champions Nick Faldo, Mark Calcavecchia and Rich Beem and European stars Miguel Angel Jimenez and Padraig Harrington.
PGA EUROPEAN TOUR/ASIAN TOURChina OpenShanghai, China
Schedule: Thursday-SundayCourse: Shanghai Silport Golf Club (7,073, par 72)Purse: $1 million. Winner's share: $180,000Television: The Golf Channel (Thursday-Sunday, 9 a.m.-noon)Notes: European Ryder Cup player Paul McGinley and 1999 British Open champion Paul Lawrie top the field for the first event on the 2005 PGA European Tour schedule. ... The European and Asian tours will team again next week for the Hong Kong Open, and the European circuit will join the Southern Africa Tour the following week for the Dunhill Championship in South Africa.
Associated Press