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E-Notes: Week of July 31, 2007
 
Jul. 31, 2007
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When Jim Furyk made a hole-in-one last Sunday and went on to win the Canadian Open, he became the first player in 22 years to accomplish that feat. The last player to make an ace in the final round on his way to victory was Joey Sindelar at the 1985 B.C. Open.

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While Vaughn Taylor is the only player who returned to defend his Reno-Tahoe Open title, winning in 2004 and successfully defending in 2005, the other Reno-Tahoe Open champions instead played in the opposite-field event, the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. Here's a look at how past Reno-Tahoe Open champions fared the following year in the Bridgestone Invitational: 
RENO-TAHOE OPEN CHAMPIONS
How they fared in the next year's Bridgestone Invitational
Year Winner At Bridgestone Invitational
1999 Notah Begay III T17 in 2000
2000 Scott Verplank T17 in 2001
2001 John Cook T28 in 2002
2002 Chris Riley T4 in 2003
2003 Kirk Triplett T69 in 2004
2005 Vaughn Taylor T18 in 2006

Who's the hottest player around? If you said Hunter Mahan, you might be right. He's finished in the Top-10 in each of his last four starts, including a victory at the Travelers Championship, and has climbed from 106th on the FedExCup points list to 12th.

One more on Mahan: In addition to moving up the FedExCup points list, Mahan is quickly climbing the Presidents Cup eligibility list. With just two weeks left before the teams are selected, Mahan is 14th on the U.S. list.

Brandt Snedeker is making a strong bid to earn Rookie of the Year honors. He's 25th on the FedExCup points list and leads all rookies with five Top-10 performances, including four of his last six starts.

There are only three weeks left to qualify for the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup and while time is short, it isn't too late to make a charge. Just last week, four players -- George McNeill, Bob Heintz, Ryan Palmer and Glen Day -- vaulted into the Top 144 with their play at the Canadian Open. McNeill gained 42 spots to 105th while Heintz picked up 33 places and is now 122nd. Day climbed 12 spots to 138th and Palmer made the biggest leap, improving 62 spots to 127th.

Tiger Woods has an impressive record at most TOUR events, but his record at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational is really extraordinary. In eight starts at the tournament he's won five times, finished second once and has never finished worse that T4. In 32 rounds, he's been in the 60s 23 times and is 83-under par.

In his first 103 career starts, Bob Heintz had two Top-10 finishes. In his next two starts, Heintz finished T5 two weeks ago at the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee and T5 last week at the Canadian Open.

World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational Notes

  • In 24 career World Golf Championship starts, Tiger Woods has 13 victories and 22 top-10 finishes. Including his two unofficial World Golf Championships-World Cup appearances, Woods has 14 wins. His earnings of $17,840,830 in the 24 official starts would equal No. 25 all-time on the PGA TOUR official money list.

  • The 2006 playoff between Tiger Woods and Stewart Cink was the second in the eight-year history of the event. The first came in 2001 when Woods defeated Jim Furyk in a seven-hole playoff. Woods' playoff record stands at 10-1, while Stewart Cink's playoff record is 1-2.

  • Lucas Glover and Jim Furyk both posted four rounds in the 60s in 2006, the 10th and 11th players to do so in tournament history.

  • Three Bridgestone Invitational rookies finished among the top-10 in 2006: Lucas Glover (tied for fourth), Arron Oberholser and J.J. Henry (tied for 10th).

  • In the second round a year ago, Jim Furyk posted an ace on the par-3, 206-yard 15th hole using a 6-iron. It marked the second hole-in-one in tournament history. Stewart Cink aced the 15th hole in the final round in 2000. Last week at the Canadian Open, Furyk made a hole-in-one in the final round on his way to victory. It was the third ace of his PGA TOUR career.

  • In the eight-year history of the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, Tiger Woods is the only player to enter the final round not holding the lead to come back to win. In 2001, Woods entered the final 18 holes two behind Jim Furyk before prevailing in a seven-hole playoff. Last year he was one stroke back of Stewart Cink after 54 holes, before defeating Cink in a four-hole playoff.

  • Stuart Appleby has competed in all 25 official World Golf Championships events?tops among all players since the series' inception in 1999. Appleby's best finish among the 25 was a tie for second at the 2003 CA Championship at the Capital City Club in Georgia.

  • Entering the Bridgestone Invitational, Padraig Harrington has competed in 24 consecutive official World Golf Championship events. He did not qualify for the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship in 1999 but has played in every subsequent event.

  • Tiger Woods has won $6,602,500 in eight starts at the World Golf Championships- Bridgestone Invitational, an average of $824,312.50 per start at the event.

  • In 32 career rounds at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, Tiger Woods has led following 14 of the rounds, including 14 of 28 at Firestone Country Club.

    • Reno-Tahoe Open Notes

  • Will MacKenzie was the fourth player to make the Reno-Tahoe Open his first PGA TOUR win. Notah Begay III (1999), Chris Riley (2002) and Vaughn Taylor (2004) also captured their first PGA TOUR victories in Reno.

  • A year ago, two sponsor's exemptions made the cut -- Jason Day and Scott Piercy. Day tied for 11th and took home $66,000 for his efforts. Day recently won his first Nationwide Tour title when he prevailed at the Legend Financial Group Classic and was second last week at the Nationwide Tour's Cox Classic. Piercy, a Las Vegas native who recently won $2 million when he captured the Ultimate Game, a tournament for non-touring pros held at the Wynn Las Vegas, tied for 63rd at the 2006 Reno-Tahoe Open. He won $6,300.

  • In the previous eight Reno-Tahoe Opens, six players have recorded three top-10 finishes. They are Woody Austin, John Cook, Steve Flesch, J.P. Hayes, Jonathan Kaye, Scott McCarron and Dennis Paulson. Of that group, only Cook, in 2001, has won at Montreux Golf and Country Club. Eleven other players have two top-10 finishes in Reno.

  • Prior to this year, only once before has a player ever returned to Montreux Golf and Country Club to defend his title and Vaughn Taylor put on quite a performance. Following his playoff win in 2004 over Steve Allan, Hunter Mahan and Scott McCarron, Taylor successfully defended his title with a three-stroke win over Jonathan Kaye.

  • Before last year, there had only been four holes-in-one since the tournament began in 1999. Then Yasaku Miyazato added two more -- in the same round. The Japan native aced the seventh and the 12th holes in the second round a year ago on his way to a tie for 21st. The other holes-in-one have come at No. 16 (Garrett Willis, fourth round, 2004; Tom Byrum, second round, 2002) No. 12 (Michael Long, second round, 2005) and No. 7 (Pat Perez, second round, 2002).

  • At least one sponsor's exemption has made it to the weekend every year since 2003, with Spike McRoy's tie for ninth in 2003 and Nick Watney's tie for 10th in 2002 the only top-10 finishes by players with those exemptions.

  • Bill Glasson and Joe Ogilvie hold the Montreux Golf and Country Club 18-hole record. Glasson shot a 10-under 62 in the second round in 2005, and Ogilvie matched that score last year with his final-round 62. Ogilvie began the day tied for 27th and eventually finished third. He earned $204,000. Ogilvie earned his first PGA TOUR title two weeks ago when he captured the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee.

  • Joe Ogilve had 26 birdies for the week last year, tying the tournament record for total birdies. He helped his cause by making 11 birdies during his round of 62.