Southern Farm Bureau Classic keeps hopes alive
BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2006 Southern Farm Bureau Classic | Preview | 27 Sep 2006
It is crunch time for many on the USPGA Tour and this week’s Southern Farm Bureau Classic will offer the one of the few remaining chances, especially given the weakened nature of the field, to advance their money list cause.
The tournament is into its 13th year at the Annandale Golf Club in Madison, Mississippi although the event has its origins as far back as 1968. It was played at the Hattiesburg Country Club until 1993 when the switch was made to the Jack Nickalus designed Annandale Golf Club.
The Annandale Golf Club was built in 1981 under the design of Jack Nicklaus and redesigned seventeen years later by Nicklaus again. Much of the redesign involved the reshaping of the bunkering and the stripping and replacing of the original Penncross grasses with the current G2 Bent.
The event is back to its normal time slot this season after last year’s event was delayed due to the impact of Hurricane Katrina on the Annandale layout.
The defending champion is Heath Slocum, who defeated both Loren Roberts and Carl Pettersson by two shots with Roberts just missing the chance to win on both the PGA and Champions Tours in the same season. Slocum has had a poor run of late and despite his good form on the course he might just struggle.
With many of the PGA Tour’s leading players away in England, the favourite in 2006 is likely to be the 2004 winner Fred Funk who although now eligible for the Champions Tour, has made his last thirteen cuts on the PGA Tour in 2006. These are the type of courses and events that appear to fit Funk’s game so he might yet show the whippersnappers a thing or two this week. Funk had also won at Annandale Golf Club in 1998.
Shaun Micheel is a player good enough to beat Tiger Woods at Wentworth two weeks ago before finishing runner up to Paul Casey and was good enough to run second to Woods at the PGA last month. At a time when he was not playing at anywhere near the level he is in 2006, Micheel was able to run fifth in this event last year so the signs are there for a good week for the resurgent 37-year-old.
Bo Van Pelt has played just average in recent weeks but the last time he played at this venue his last round of 65 was the best of the day and moved him to a share of fifth.
Shigeki Maruyama has been improving in recent weeks and did play well in patches last year in this event. He has put together some very good individual rounds in recent weeks and might be on the verge of his first win in nearly three years.
John Senden has already proven that he is capable of winning on the USPGA Tour with his first US PGA Tour victory coming at the John Deere Classic earlier this season. He has played this golf course reasonably well in the past and he could add to an already impressive season on the 2006 PGA Tour.
Bernhard Langer did well in his only time to the event in 2003 when 13th and he has had a couple of good solid weeks of late. The ex-Ryder Cup captain will have been inspired by the victory the European had last week and may well challenge.
Glen Day has played well on the Nationwide Tour this season being twice runner up in the last few months. While this is another level he has played well enough here in previous years to be a possible factor at very juicy odds.
Of the Australasians other than Senden, Steve Elkington, Mark Hensby, David McKenzie, who had his best PGA Tour finish last week when 7th in Texas, Greg Chalmers, Steve Bowditch, Grant Waite and Craig Perks are in the field.
Photo – Anthony Powter
