The 2009 Cap Cana Championship News & Notes

EVENT: The Cap Cana Championship, the 6th of 25 Charles Schwab Cup events.

DATES: March 23-29, 2009

SITE: Punta Espada Golf Club (Nicklaus Course), Cap Cana, D.R.

PAR: 36-36 — 72 YARDS: 7,260

COURSE DESIGNER: Jack Nicklaus/2006 (more info)

FORMAT: 78 players, 54 holes of stroke play, no cut

PURSE: $2,100,000 ($315,000 and 315 Charles Schwab Cup points to the winner)

2008 CHAMPION: Mark Wiebe (67-68-67—202/-14); won by four strokes over Vicente Fernandez. It was Wiebe’s second Champions Tour title. He also won the 2007 SAS Championship in his first start on Tour. He became the 12th player to win his debut.

TELEVISION: The event will be televised live on GOLF CHANNEL. Friday’s round is slated for 12:30-2:00 p.m.; while weekend play will be televised from 1:00-4:00 p.m. (All times are local).

2008 TOP-FOUR FINISHERS
Finish Name Score
1st Mark Wiebe 67-68-67—202 (-14)
2 Vicente Fernandez 69-72-65—206 (-10)
T3 Jay Haas 70-69-68—207 (-9)
T3 Craig Stadler 73-67-67—207 (-9)

THE 2009 SCHEDULE: The second annual The Cap Cana Championship is the sixth of 25 official events in 2009, concluding with the Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Sonoma, CA, October 26-November 1. This is the 30th year of the Champions Tour, and official prize money in 2008 is $49.9 million, with the average purse a record $1.96 million. When the Tour started in 1980, there were four events and total prize money was $475,000.

A RETURN TO THE CARIBBEAN: The second annual The Cap Cana Championship will be just the second TOUR-sanctioned event ever held in the Dominican Republic. The Champions Tour played an official-money event at the Hyatt Dorado Beach (East) in Puerto Rico from 1990-1993 and also co-sponsored four different unofficial events in the Caribbean over the years.

FIELD INCLUDES MAJOR CHAMPIONS AND HALL OF FAMERS: This year’s field includes 39 players, with 74 major victories either on the PGA TOUR or Champions Tour, led by Gary Player with 15 overall (nine PGA TOUR; six Champions Tour). Hale Irwin (three PGA TOUR; seven Champions Tour) owns 10 major titles. In addition, there are eight current World Golf Hall of Fame members entered—Hale Irwin, Tom Kite, Bernhard Langer, Larry Nelson, Greg Norman, Gary Player, Nick Price and Curtis Strange.

NORMAN SET FOR FIELD: World Golf Hall of Famer Greg Norman has committed to the event, and this will mark the first time he has played in a non-major event on the Champions Tour. He had made five previous starts on the Champions Tour, with his best effort a third place at the 2005 Senior British Open. He has finished in the top 10 in all five starts.

COURSE RANKED 11TH IN 2008: The Punta Espada Golf Club was the 11th-most difficult course on the Champions Tour in 2008 out of 29 venues. The field averaged 72.260 (+.260) for the week. Tournament winner Mark Wiebe was the only player in the 77-player field to post three consecutive rounds in the 60s at the 7,260-yard layout.

NO. 10 WAS MOST DIFFICULT: The most-difficult hole in 2008 was No. 10, and it yielded just 18 birdies during the 54-hole event. No. 18 ranked second, and Nos. 11 and 13 were third overall. The easiest hole was No. 6, with five eagles and 101 birdies. No player had multiple birdies on No. 10 during the tournament and three players (Tom Watson, Jeff Sluman and Mark Johnson) each had two at No. 18. On No. 11, the only player to post two birdies was Craig Stadler. Scott Hoch claimed the honor as the only player to have a pair at No. 13.

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