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Watson, Chappell, Hoffman highlight field in Vegas (Nov 1, 2017)
The PGA Tour returns to the United States this week for the fifth event in its Fall Series schedule with the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, which begins play on Thursday at TPC Summerlin in the northwest suburbs of Las Vegas.
Two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson, a nine-time winner on the PGA Tour, headlines a field of 144 players that includes eight players inside the top 30 in the FedExCup standings. It also includes three -- Kevin Chappell, Anirban Lahiri of India and Las Vegas resident Charley Hoffman -- who recently competed in the Presidents Cup.
The roster of players will compete for 72 holes on the par-71, 7,255-yard course and vie for the total purse of $6.8 million, $1.224 million of which will go to the winner along with 500 FedExCup points.
Seven other major winners -- Ernie Els and Retief Goosen of South Africa, Fiji's Vijay Singh, Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland, Geoff Ogilvy of Australia and Americans Webb Simpson and Jimmy Walker -- are also playing this week.
Defending champion at this event is Australian Rod Pampling, who drained a 32-foot birdie putt on the final hole to win the 2016 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open by two strokes over Brooks Koepka. Third-round leader Lucas Glover posted a 2-under 69 to finish three strokes back.
At the age of 47 years, 1 month and 14 days, Pampling became the oldest champion of this event. In a Tour dominated by 20-somethings, 25 and under, especially, he was one of the season's outliers with his winning performance.
"That's the beauty of golf," Pampling said. "The older players on Tour might not feature as often as the young guys do, but when we're there, we have a chance. We know how to win, so the experience comes rushing back. So the key is just when it comes, you know, we're prepared for that and we can, hopefully, take advantage of it, which I did last year."
Las Vegas native A.J. McInerney was among the crowd but was not injured during the massacre at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival on Oct. 1 that left 58 people dead and 546 injured. He is among the field this week on a sponsors' invite for his first career PGA Tour start.
That night, the former UNLV golfer shielded his girlfriend from danger as bullets flew overhead. Later, after evacuating the premises, McInerney returned in his truck to help evacuate other concertgoers.
McInerney played a full season on the Web.com Tour last year, but did not finish in the top 25.
"To play my first PGA Tour event in my hometown is amazing," McInerney said. "I dreamed about this since I was 15 or 16. Having a good finish here this week would be great for my career.
"In the midst of everything that's happened over the last month or so to get the chance to play here this week and kind of play for Las Vegas, and just see all these people out here in the Vegas community come together, it's an opportunity that I'll never forget."
The Shriners Hospitals for Children Open will be the season-debut for Watson, who has dropped to 63rd in the world and was 75th in last year's FedExCup standings.
"I was not scheduled to play until Phoenix (in February 2018)," Watson said. "As I kept practicing, I felt my game was where I wanted it to be and my wife saw that. She had her (knee) surgery (which was supposed to keep Watson away from the Tour until 2018). She said you want to go play, don't you? And I said, yeah, I really do.
"But I'm supposed to take this time off because I'll miss it more. She said, 'Vegas is a great place. Why don't you go there and support it?' So she gave me the pass to come."
Watson is making his third start in this event, his first since he tied for 14th in 2007.
"Last time I played, we played both courses (along with TPC Las Vegas, which is just across the highway) so it was nice getting back out there today and seeing the course," Watson said. "Obviously with a tragedy and stuff happening around here, this is a good spot for me to come back and be here and play and be a part of this city again."
The Shriners Hospitals for Children Open is part of the PGA Tour's wraparound schedule that bridges two years with 49 events including the FedExCup playoff events. The Tour season includes eight events during the fall of 2017, all of which will award FedExCup points.
With a break after The RSM Classic, the season will resume in January with the traditional swing through Hawaii before moving to the West Coast.
