Wednesday, November 16, 2005
LPGA TOURADT ChampionshipWest Palm Beach, Fla.
Schedule: Thursday-SundayCourse: Trump International Golf Club (6,509 yards, par 72)Purse: $1 million. Winner's share: $215,000Television: The Golf Channel (Thursday, 3-5 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 1-2:30 a.m., 3-5 p.m.; Sunday, 1-2:30 a.m.) and ABC (Sunday, 1-3 p.m.)Last year: Annika Sorenstam won the season-ending tournament for her eighth LPGA Tour victory of the year, beating Cristie Kerr in a playoff. Sorenstam also won the 1997 tournament in Las Vegas and the 2002 event at Trump International.Notes: Sorenstam is coming off a victory two weeks ago in the Mizuno Classic in Japan. With the victory, she became the first player in LPGA Tour history to win a tournament five straight times. The Swedish star has nine LPGA Tour victories in 19 starts this year to push her career total to 65. She also won a European tour event this year in Sweden. ... The top 30 players on the money list qualified for the event, with Karine Icher ($442,681) edging Laura Davies ($434,589) for the final spot. ... Rookie Paula Creamer has two LPGA Tour victories and also won two events this year in Japan. She's second on the money list with $1,495,447.
JAPAN GOLF TOURDunlop PhoenixMiyazaki, Japan
Schedule: Thursday-SundayCourse: Phoenix Country Club (6,901 yards, par 70)Purse: $1.7 million. Winner's share: $340,000Television: NoneLast year: Tiger Woods won his first stroke-play title since October 2003, finishing with a 16-under 264 total for an eight-stroke victory.Notes: Woods is coming off consecutive second-place finishes in the PGA Tour's season-ending Tour Championship and the HSBC Champions last week in China. He will play the PGA Grand Slam and Skins Game next week and finish the season Dec. 8-11 in the Target World Challenge. ... Jim Furyk also is in the field along with U.S. Open winner Michael Campbell, Colin Montgomerie, Robert Allenby, 2001 winner David Duval and two-time champion Thomas Bjorn. ... Michelle Wie will play in the tour's Casio World Open next week in Kaimon.
WORLD GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPSAlgarve World CupVilamoura, Portugal
Schedule: Thursday-SundayCourse: Victoria Golf Club (7,173 yards, par 72)Purse: $4 million. Winners' shares: $700,000 per playerTelevision: ESPN (Thursday-Friday, 8 a.m.-3 p.m.) and ABC (Saturday, 4:30-7 p.m.; Sunday, 3-6 p.m.)Format: Two-man teams representing 24 countries. First and third rounds, best ball; Second and fourth, alternate shot.Top teams: Australia, Mark Hensby-Peter Lonard; England, Luke Donald-David Howell; Ireland, Padraig Harrington-Paul McGinley; South Africa, Tim Clark-Trevor Immelman; Spain, Sergio Garcia-Miguel Angel Jimenez; United States, Stewart Cink-Zach Johnson.Last year: England's Donald and Paul Casey closed with an 8-under 64 in alternate-shot play to beat Spain's Garcia and Jimenez by a stroke at Real in Seville, Spain.Notes: The United States has won 23 times, the last by Tiger Woods and David Duval in 2000 in Argentina. ... The International Golf Association ran the event from its inception in 1953 as the Canada Cup through 1999. ... Arnold Palmer designed the Victoria course.
Associated Press
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