TEE TO GREEN  - AT&T CHAMPIONS CLASSIC

Weekly Update #6

VALENCIA COUNTRY CLUB, MARCH 10-16, 2008

February 26, 2008

COUNTDOWN – 2 WEEKS

WILL HOCH’S HOT STREAK CONTINUE IN CALIFORNIA?:  Scott Hoch has been the headliner over the last couple of weeks on the Champions Tour, winning the last two full field events.  With a break last weekend in tournament play and another this week before the tour heads to California, will the leader in Charles Schwab Cup points be able to stay hot?  That remains to be seen how the break will affect Hoch and his fellow competitors.  The question won’t be answered until he tees off March 7-9 in Newport Beach, Calif., followed by a trip to the AT&T Champions Classic March 14-16.  Hoch has committed to this year’s event at Valencia Country Club.  Last year, he had to withdraw from the event because of a nagging hand injury.  He spent most of the 2006 season rehabbing his left hand after surgery.  The owner of 11 PGA Tour victories, Hoch’s 2008 hot streak started three weeks ago when he won the Allianz Championship in Boca Raton, Fla.  He followed that up by winning The Ace Group Classic in Naples, Fla.  Hoch’s first Champions Tour win came last May in Texas at the FedEx Kinko’s Classic.

A “FRIENDLY” SKINS GAME:

It wasn’t a complete week of rest for some Champions Tour players as four of the game’s biggest names traveled to Hawaii for the Wendy’s Championship Skins Game.  Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson took the first-day lead in the alternate shot format with eight skins and $270,000.  Five of the skins were captured on the ninth hole at Royal Kaanapali when Watson hit his tee shot 15-feet above the hole on the par 3 and Nicklaus drained the putt.  Gary Player and Loren Roberts won the only other skin on the first day, netting $30,000.  Fuzzy Zoeller and his partner Peter Jacobsen, along with Arnold Palmer and his partner Jay Haas, were shut out on the first day.  The second day belonged to Zoeller and Jacobsen.  The duo opened with three consecutive birdies and three skins to climb back into contention.  They went on to win three more skins as play was extended one playoff hole, earning the most money, $320,000, in the two-day event.  Player and

Roberts finished with $150,000, while the Nicklaus/Watson team was shut out the second day to finish with $270,000.  Zoeller, Jacobsen, Haas and Roberts were able to keep their competitive fire burning with the appearance in the Skins Game, while their fellow regulars on the Champions Tour had the week off.  All of those players have committed to the AT&T Champions Classic.

THREE LETTER NAMES HAVE THE EDGE:  If you are a Tom or Joe, or Jim or Gil, or a Des, you have to like your chances at the AT&T Champions Classic.  Since 1996, the winning player of this tournament has a first name with just three letters:  Gil Morgan (1996, 97, 04), Joe Inman (1998, 99, 00), Jim Colbert (2001), Tom Kite (2002, 06), Tom Purtzer (2003, 07), Des Smyth (2005).

STROKE AVERAGE AT VCC:  Much has been discussed among the players about their fondness for Valencia CC, including how challenging it can be.  Since the tournament began on the 6,900-yard layout, players have averaged 73.288 strokes per 18 holes.  Interestingly, the winner of four of the seven events at VCC has reach double digits under par in claiming the title.  Jim Colbert started things off in 2001 with a -12 score, and then Gil Morgan established the tourney record for the events at VCC with a tourney best 14-under total in 2004.  Tom Kite equaled Colbert with a 12-under score in 2006, winning by a tourney-best five strokes.  Tom Purtzer and Loren Roberts finished 54 holes deadlocked at 10 under last year, with Purtzer winning.

TICKET SALES:

Tickets for this year’s 54-hole stroke play event are available for purchase online at www.attchampionsclassic.com.  Tickets, which start as low as $15, can be purchased  through one of the event’s Champions for Charity partners, including the Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital Foundation, Special Olympics Southern California/Santa Clarita Chapter, SCV Youth Project, Boys and Girls Club of Antelope Valley, Santa Clarita Valley Optimist Club, Los Angeles Junior Golf Foundation, Girl Scouts:  Joshua Tree Council and the following High School Golf Teams:  Canyon Girls Golf, Valencia Boys Golf, Hart Girls Golf, Chaminade Golf Team, West Ranch Golf Team, College of the Canyons Foundation and Total Golf Adventures.