Scott, Appleby commit to St. Jude
BY iseekgolf.com | US PGA Tour | 2007 Stanford St. Jude Classic | Preview | 28 May 2007
Adam Scott, Stuart Appleby and Sean O’Hair have committed to play in next month’s Stanford St. Jude Championship.
“These names certainly add more lustre to our field,” said Eric Mehl, SSJC executive director. “Adam and Stuart are both ranked among the top 50 players in the world, and Sean is making a big impact this year on the PGA Tour. We still have two weeks before the commitment deadline, and we already have one of the best fields we’ve ever had, so we are very excited.”
Scott, ranked No. 4 in the world rankings, gives the tournament five of the top 15 in the world rankings…a significant improvement over the field for the past few years. The 27-year-old Australian joins previously announced Top 15 players Vijay Singh (6), Retief Goosen (9), Sergio Garcia (11) and Padraig Harrington (12) Scott is defending champion of The TOUR Championship. He also won The PLAYERS Championship in 2004 and owns 11 victories world-wide. Scott is making his first Memphis appearance.
Appleby, 38, finished eighth on last year’s PGA TOUR money list after winning The Mercedes Championship and the Shell Houston Open. The Australian golfer played the Memphis event in 1996 and 1999. Appleby, ranked 22nd in the world, owns eight TOUR titles and is noted as one of the best putters on the circuit.
O’Hair , 24 from Lubbock, Texas, burst onto the scene in 2005 with a rookie-year victory at the John Deere Classic and an 18th-place finish on that year’s money list. He was in contention at The PLAYERS Championship last week and played in the final twosome with eventual winner Phil Mickelson, and eventually finished 11th. O’Hair is making his second Memphis trip after tying for 60th in 2005.
Almost half of the 20 winners on TOUR this year are playing in Memphis, including Mark Calcavecchia (The PODS Championship), Fred Funk (Mayakoba Classic, Cancun), Paul Goydos (SONY Open), Charley Hoffman (Bob Hope Chrysler Classic), Charles Howell III (Nissan Open, Los Angeles), Vijay Singh (Arnold Palmer Invitational, Bay Hill), Adam Scott (Shell Houston Open), Nick Watney (Zurich Classic, New Orleans), and Boo Weekly (Verizon Heritage, Hilton Head). Other players previously announced include defending champion Jeff Maggert, two-time winner David Toms, John Daly, Loren Roberts, Shaun Micheel, and 2006 PLAYERS Championship winner Stephen Ames.
Source – St. Jude Classic
