Stars absent at Buick Championship

BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2006 Buick Championship | Preview | 28 Jun 2006

The Buick Championship hopefully gets the USPGA Tour back on schedule after a severely disrupted week last week at the Booz Allen event in Maryland.

The tournament is now into its 16th year at the Pete Dye and Bobby Weed redesigned TPC at River Highlands in Cromwell just outside Hartford and the event has earned a reprieve from the scrapheap of PGA Tour events with the announcement of a new sponsor in 2007 and the availability of a summer date amongst the Fed Ex Cup events.

The tournament is being played two months earlier this year than the August date it has enjoyed in the past. As a result of its proximity to the likes of the US Open and last week’s Booz Allen Classic and the fact that the purse is well below the average of Tour in 2006, the field is lacking some of the stars that have played here on occasions.

The likely favourite is the previous winner Stewart Cink, but at number 43 in the world he is hardly star power. Cink has played well enough of late for a successful return to one of his favourite venues to not be a great surprise. His record at this venue, even aside from his victory in 1997, has been very good.

Zach Johnson has played well at the TPC in his two showings including when third in 2004. He missed the cut at the US Open but he was not alone amongst good players in that regard and his form prior was first class.

South African Trevor Immelman is such a classy player that even given that it is his first time to this event he could do well. He has played beautifully over the last two months or so and his first win in the US can not be too far away.

The same could be said for Australian Nick O’Hern who last week in the extended Booz Allen Classic earned his best ever USPGA Tour finish and his biggest cheque on the PGA Tour. This is a golf course that suits all comers and does not necessarily favour the big hitter. In that regard the craftsman that O’Hern is could prosper. Like Immelman it seems his first USPGA Tour win is not far away and if it was on this course it would be no great surprise.

Kenny Perry seems to be getting back closer to where he was before an injury and surgery set him back and he has the record at this event to suggest that it might just be this week that gets him back into contention. His 13th place last week was promising. It might be a bit much to expect last week’s winner Ben Curtis to be in contention this week after such a long time staving off rivals last week but he did finish 4th in this tournament last year and might go on with the form he showed in Maryland.

Kevin Sutherland might seem a strange pick at first but a look at his form on this golf course might change that view. He has not been exactly brilliant in 2006 but he has not been bad either. His affinity with the TPC will go a long way towards yet another good finish.

Woody Austin, Billy Andrade and Jeff Maggert are others who might show up amongst the less favoured players
Aside from O’Hern, the Australians are headed by Aaron Baddeley, while Peter Lonard, Steve Elkington, Nathan Green, Stephen Leaney, Mathew Goggin and Greg Chalmers all get starts.