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By Lauren Deason
PGATOUR.com Editorial Coordinator

SUNRIVER, Ore. -- During the past two majors on the PGA TOUR, Mother Nature weaved her way into the story as much as Tiger Woods, Padraig Harrington and John Daly.

"Too cold," said the shivering, damp-to-the-bones crowd of the weather at the Open Championship at Carnoustie in mid-July.

Lonnie Nielson is looking for his first major win. (Getty Images)

"Too hot," cried the media, players and fans at the PGA Championship in steamy Tulsa, Okla., in early August.

On the Champions Tour -- to borrow a second from Goldilocks here -- the conditions could only be deemed "just right" this week, as the fourth major of the season takes place amidst highs around 80 degrees and lows in the mid-40s in Central Oregon.

"It's my first time ever in Oregon and I'd heard how beautiful it was so I came in with high expectations and it exceeded those," Fred Funk said on Tuesday. "Hopefully the weather will continue to be as good as it is now."

Count D.A. Weibring as another fan of the upcoming events on the West Coast with the Tour traveling from Oregon to Washington to California over the next three weeks.

Though he's thankful the weather has remained hot and dry in Texas, where Weibring is working on renovations to TPC Las Colinas, the cool mornings -- where a light jacket is needed and the air has a crisp, fall-like smell -- and the sunny afternoons in the Northwest are a welcome break from the dog days of summer.

"I really like this West Coast Swing -- it's a great time of year to play out here when it's not so hot," said Weibring. "I played the front nine on Monday with a little breeze and beautiful weather. ... It's crystal clear with a view of the mountains -- it looks like a great place for the JELD-WEN Tradition."

With worries about weather and its subsequent threats to health and sanity out of the way, the 79 players participating in the 72-hole event can focus on getting adjusted to a new tournament venue for the JELD-WEN Tradition this year. The 19-year-old tournament -- which offers a whopping 780 Charles Schwab Cup points to the winner -- moved from its four-year home at the Reserve Vineyards & Golf Club's South Course near Portland, Ore., to Crosswater Golf Club at Sunriver Resort this season. From 1989 to 2002, the Tradition was held in Arizona but moved up to JELD-WEN's home state when the company became the title sponsor in 2003.

Though these golfing veterans are used to adjusting to new places, it still takes a little more practice to get to know a new venue. As Lonnie Nielsen noted, most of the Champions Tour players arrived on Monday this week and have played several practice rounds apiece -- something that's "rare on this Tour".

"It takes a little more time to get used to...trying to figure out the pin placements, strategy, where the misses should be," said Nielsen, who has a slight advantage over the field since he actually played a tournament at Sunriver back in 2001. The former club professional, who earned his first Champions Tour win several weeks ago at the Commerce Bank Championship, tied for 35th at the PGA Professional National Championship in '01.

"We haven't had any wind yet this week like we had in 2001. We had a lot of it last week so I remember several holes differently. Number 10 was so tough in the wind and now it's not so hard," Nielsen recalled. "If we do get wind it will change this course dramatically. And if I do have any advantage, it will come with the wind since a lot of guys haven't seen it."

As the only player to have seen the course in tournament conditions -- plus coming off a recent stretch of a win-tie for 11th-third-tie for fourth-tie for 16th -- Nielsen has high hopes for the Tradition, where he lost in a playoff to Eduardo Romero last year.

"It's a fairly generous course off the tee and I'm not always a straight hitter but I'm long, so I can use the driver a lot which helps me," Nielsen said. "It would be a dream come true as a longtime club professional to win a major, where the conditions are extreme tests for every part of your game."

The 2001 PGA Professional National Championship isn't the only tournament of note to be played at the course recently, as the 2007 edition of the PGA Professional National Championship took place in late June, the USGA Women's Senior Amateur will be played there in early September and the 2006 NCAA Division I Men's National Championships occurred at Sunriver. John Daly and Fred Couples also teed it up there in Shell's Wonderful World of Golf back in 1999.

But most of the players are experiencing the course for the first time and offered their initial impressions.

"I can see where Crosswater gets its name -- there are a lot of hazards out there. Probably at least 20 out of the 36 shots you hit have some sort of hazard involved," said Tom Watson.

Boasting more hazards than a putt-putt course, Crosswater has not one but two rivers running through it -- the Little Deschutes and the Big Deschutes -- plus grassy wetlands, tall pines and an ever-changing wind. The only thing missing is an erupting volcano, though the course offers plenty spectacular views of part of the Cascade Mountains which still contain active volcanoes.

"The course here, there's such a variety to it. There are huge greens and tiny greens," said Watson. "It's like the 12th hole at Augusta National Golf Club with a variety of shots in that respect."

"The course is in beautiful shape. It's very diverse," agreed Jay Haas, who said the course has a Castle Pines Golf Club-like feel but is definitely its own unique venue. "On some holes the greens are huge and some are tiny; some have movement, others are flat; some have long greens, others are shallow depth-wise. The fairways are immaculate and there are generous driving areas off the tee which leads to aggressive play and hopefully birdies by me and the others.

"I'm anxious to get started. With a new course there's apprehension about what to expect. Practice is practice but game time is totally different...When I first come to a course I tend to notice all of the troubles and how difficult it could be. It's usually not as hard as I think, but I think this one will be pretty tough...I don't see 63s or 64s happening."

Playing at 7,436 yards for the JELD-WEN Tradition, the Bob Cupp-designed course is one of the longest in the country and sits at an elevation of 4,100 feet. In the higher altitude, players might feel a little Bubba Watson-ish this week as their shots will carry farther.

Big-hitting Romero thinks he has a shot to successfully defend his title -- despite the venue change -- because the forgiving fairways allowed him to crush his driver as far as 340 yards on Wednesday.

"I came out to practice yesterday and I think this is fantastic -- it's the best course we've played all year in my personal opinion," said Romero.