ON THE FAIRWAYS \ This week's events
PGA TOURByron Nelson ChampionshipIrving, Texas
Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.Courses: TPC Four Seasons Resort Las Colinas (7,022 yards, par 70) and Cottonwood Valley Course (7,030, par 70).Purse: 6.3 million. Winner's share: 1,134,000.Television: Golf Channel (Thursday-Friday, 3-6 p.m., 8:30-11:30 p.m.) and CBS (Saturday-Sunday, 3-6 p.m.)Last year: Brett Wetterich won his first PGA Tour title, finishing with a 68 for a one-stroke victory over Trevor Immelman.Last week: Nick Watney won the Zurich Classic in New Orleans for his first tour title, beating Ken Duke by three strokes.Notes: Nelson died Sept. 26. He was 94. ... Tiger Woods, the 1997 winner, is skipping the tournament. ... Phil Mickelson, the 1996 champion, tops the field along with 2003 winner Vijay Singh and 2004 champion Sergio Garcia. ... The final two rounds will be played on the TPC course. Cottonwood Valley's No. 1 green is shaped like Texas, complete with an Oklahoma bunker and Gulf of Mexico pond. ... The Wachovia Championship is next week in Charlotte, N.C., followed by The Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
LPGA TOURCorona ChampionshipMorelia, Mexico
Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.Course: Tres Marias Residential Golf Club (6,600 yards, par 73).Purse: 1.3 million. Winner's share: 195,000.Television: None.Last year: Mexican star Lorena Ochoa won for the first time in four LPGA Tour starts in her home country, finishing at 20-under 272. Paraguay's Julieta Granada finished second, five strokes back. The tournament was played in October.Last event: Brittany Lincicome won the Ginn Open on April 15 for her second tour title, closing with an even-par 72 in windy conditions to beat Ochoa by a stroke. Ochoa finished with a 77.Notes: Ochoa, the LPGA Tour player of the year last season, passed the injured Annika Sorenstam for the top spot in the world rankings Monday. Sorenstam, sidelined by a ruptured disk in her back, had topped the list since the rankings began in February 2006. Ochoa won the Safeway International last month in Arizona for her 10th career victory, and leads the money list with 584,870 in six starts. ... Sweden's Carin Koch won the inaugural tournament in 2005. ... Meaghan Francella won the MasterCard Classic last month near Mexico City, beating Sorenstam in a playoff. ... The SemGroup Championship is next week in Broken Arrow, Okla., followed by the Michelob ULTRA Open in Williamsburg, Va., and the Sybase Classic in Clifton, N.J.
PGA EUROPEAN TOURSpanish OpenMadrid
Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.Course: Centro National de Golf (7,242 yards, par 42).Purse: 2.72 million. Winner's share: 453,165.Television: Golf Channel (Thursday-Friday, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 8:30-11:30 a.m., 6:30-9 p.m.)Last year: Sweden's Niclas Fasth won at San Roque, beating England's John Bickerton on the fourth hole of a playoff.Last week: France's Raphael Jacquelin won the BMW Asian Open in China for his second European tour victory, leading from start to finish for a two-stroke victory over Denmark's Soren Kjeldsen.
NATIONWIDE TOURHenrico County OpenGlen Allen, Va.
Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.Course: The Dominion Club (7,201 yards, par 72).Purse: 450,000. Winner's share: 81,000.Television: Golf Channel (Thursday, 1-3 p.m.; Friday, 2:30-4:30 a.m., 1-3 p.m.; Saturday, 2:30-4:30 a.m., 1-4 p.m.; Sunday, 1:30-3:30 a.m., 1-4 p.m.; Monday, 1:30-3:30 a.m.)Last year: Matt Kuchar won for the first time since the PGA Tour's 2002 Honda Classic, beating Paul Claxton with a birdie on the third hole of a playoff.Last week: Scotland's Martin Laird won his first Nationwide Tour title, birdieing the final hole for a one-stroke victory over Justin Bolli and Jeremy Anderson in the Athens Regional Foundation Classic. Laird led wire-to-wire.
Associated Press
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