- Title: USA: PGA GOLF AT THE HAZELTINE NATIONAL GOLF CLUB IN CHASKA
- Date: 14th August 2002
- Summary: (S1) CHASKA, MINNESOTA, UNITED STATES (AUGUST 14, 2002)(REUTERS) 1. WIDE SHOT HAZELTINE NATIONAL GOLF CLUB 2. FLAG AT 13TH HOLE 3. COLIN MONTGOMERIE TEES OFF DURING PRACTICE ROUND 4. SHIGEKI MARUYAMA BUNKER SHOT DURING PRACTICE ROUND 5. DAVID TOMS SIGNS AUTOGRAPHS 6. TOMS INTERVIEW 7. (SOUNDBITE)(English) GOLFER DAVID TOMS SAYING "How many guys in the field this week, one hundred and forty four I mean there's a lot of guys who could win this golf tournament and what I've got to do is take care of myself and play the best I can and hopefully that will be good enough in the end. If it's not, I mean, I'm sure Tiger will be there, I'm sure there are a lot of players, the guys that are always there and I think you'll see some surprises this week also." 8. SERGIO GARCIA TEE SHOT AT 14TH HOLE DURING PRACTICE ROUND 9. GARCIA AT PRESS CONFERENCE 10. (SOUNDBITE)(English) SERGIO GARCIA SAYING "I've been doing pretty well this year, I've contended in all three majors and I had some good chances of winning and unfortunately I haven't come through but it will be something really, you know, really interesting and it will be great for me to be able to come out here and be able to win but, you know, we'll see. I like the course, so that's important, and, you know, if we get another good week we might have a chance." 11. PHIL MICKELSON HITS FAIRWAY SHOT DURING PRACTICE ROUND 12. MICKELSON AT PRESS CONFERENCE 13. (SOUNDBITE)(English) PHIL MICKELSON SAYING "I certainly would very much love to win this tournament. I've played well in PGA Championships and I value what the PGA Championship means to the game of golf and would love to win it and I think to have a truly great year I would need to win here." 14. JUSTIN ROSE AT DRIVING RANGE 15. PADRAIG HARRINGTON HITS FROM FAIRWAY DURING PRACTICE ROUND 16. HARRINGTON AT PRESS CONFERENCE 17. (SOUNDBITE)(English) PADRAIG HARRINGTON SAYING "I think at the Open Championship I probably had my head in the right place all week and that's probably the best, one of the best mental performances all week because as I said I did putt badly there and yet I was right up there at the end of the week so it's a combination of getting everything together. I don't think you can win a major without having it all together in the week and I think that's why they're so difficult to win." 18. JESPER PARNEVIK HITS FROM ROUGH DURING PRACTICE ROUND 19. PARNEVIK INTERVIEW 20. (SOUNDBITE)(English) JESPER PARNEVIK SAYING "Eh, it's more like a party than, it's huge crowds, it must be fifty-thousand people out here today, which is great, I mean I love it. Yeah it does, the rough is not too bad so I have a tendency to sometimes miss the fairways so you can hit the green from the fairways, from the rough I mean." 21. FLAGSTICK AT 18TH HOLE Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 29th August 2002 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: CHASKA, MINNESOTA, UNITED STATES
- City:
- Country: USA
- Reuters ID: LVABGUAGMKEINN8LLH5QIGL2M67B
- Story Text: David Toms will attempt to defend his PGA Championship
title when one of the strongest fields in recent memory tees
off on Thursday (August 15) at the Hazeltine National Golf
Club in Chaska, Minnesota.
While Tiger Woods will seek another piece of history,
rivals Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia will try to add their
names to the long list of major winners.
This could be their week, since a first-time major winner
has been crowned in 11 of the last 14 PGA Championships,
including last year, when David Toms edged Phil Mickelson by a
stroke.
The reason for the first-time winners may stem from the
event coming near the end of a long season, meaning many
players are worn down by the time mid-August rolls around.
Another reason is the venue, which is the least difficult
to play of the four majors. It is most similar to a U.S. Open
layout, with thick rough and quick greens, but not as
penalizing.
Mickelson has proved he is comfortable almost anywhere he
plays, but the second-ranked golfer in the world has never won
a major in 40 attempts.
"I do feel as though my game is ready, and I feel as
though I'm ready to come out on top, finally, in one of these
tournaments," said Mickelson, who has 21 career wins.
"Lefty" came as close as he ever has in a major last year
at the Atlanta Athletic Club, where he watched Toms sink a
10-foot par putt on the final hole of regulation to edge him
by a stroke.
Mickelson has had a handful of near misses in majors,
finishing second at the U.S. Open twice in the last four years
and third three times at The Masters.
This is his last chance this year, one in which he has won
twice and been second or third five times. Mickelson was
third at The Masters, second at the U.S. Open and 66th at the
British Open.
Running alongside Mickelson is the 22-year-old Garcia, who
is ranked fifth in the world but still is seeking his first
major title.
The Spaniard nearly won this event in 1999, finishing a
stroke behind Woods at Medinah Country Club. After the
tournament, it seemed like Garcia would win a major in no
time.
Garcia has just four top-10 finishes in 11 major
appearances since, but three have come this season. He was
eighth at Augusta and the British Open and fourth at the U.S.
Open.
Japanese hopes will mainly rest on Shigeki Maruyama, who
is seventh on the PGA's list of money winners this season.
While the world's best players don't always win the final
major of the season, it's rare that someone shocks the world,
as John Daly did as the ninth and final alternate in 1991.
Among the outsiders for the tournament is Briton Justin
Rose, 39th in the world rankings and quoted at 66-1 with the
bookmakers, on a par with compatriots Colin Montgomerie and
Darren Clarke.
Each of the last six first-time winners had won at least
five PGA Tour events before claiming the PGA Championship, and
two of them - Paul Azinger in 1993 and Davis Love III in 1997
had won 10 times.
That bodes well for Mickelson, Garcia and other PGA Tour
veterans, like Jim Furyk, Bob Estes and Chris DiMarco, who are
ranked in the top 20 but have never won a major title.
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