Golf

19th Hole

By BOB HARIG
Published October 12, 2006

Divots

Spanning the Globe: The European Tour announced its 2007 schedule this week, and it will play a record 50 events that count toward the money title. Seven - the four major championships and three World Golf Championship events - also count on the PGA Tour, with six played in the United States. European events will be played in Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Russia, Ireland and, of course, Britain, which will have eight events, led by the Open Championship at Carnoustie, Scotland. China will have nearly as many, with six scheduled tournaments, including the season opener next month. Yes, that's right. A mere two weeks after the 2006 season concludes on Oct. 29, the 2007 season begins at the HSBC Champions on Nov. 9.

Closed Shop: Those who participate in this year's Champions Tour Qualifying Tournament will be striving for a far different goal than their predecessors. Instead of attempting to earn one of seven fully exempt spots on the 2007 tour (or one of six partially exempt positions), those who make it through Q-School will have only the right to qualify for tournaments on Monday. In other words, the tour is making it more difficult for club pros and those who had little or no previous PGA Tour success. PGA Tour and Champions Tour winners not otherwise exempt will automatically be eligible for the Monday qualifiers. The top 30 and ties from the tournament also will get to play on Mondays. From there, seven to nine spots will be available each week. And if a player doesn't make it through Q-School? There will be pre-qualifying events for every tournament, just to get into the Monday qualifier.

Quotable

"I certainly learned a big lesson this year because I wanted the Ryder Cup so bad that I let it get in the way of everything else I was doing. So it's nice to be back challenging for the lead and pulling it off rather than finishing 15th all the time. " - Davis Love, after the Chrysler Classic of Greensboro on Sunday, his first win on the PGA Tour in three years

Stat of the week

Love, whose win at the Chrysler Classic was the 19th of his career, has 29 runnerup finishes, the most of any active player.

[Last modified October 12, 2006, 01:46:50]