Spirit of Aloha | Articles | Golfing in Paradise | December 2000

Golfing in Paradise
By Marcus Ocean

2001 Pro Tour Tee-Offs

January in Hawai'i is a golfer's dream-it's a month of prestigious golf tournaments, including the first two events of the 2001 PGA Tour and Senior PGA Tour

It's safe to say that during the month of January, Hawai'i will be the featured golf capital of the world. Four professional golf tournaments will be held throughout the Islands and telecast around the world.

The best players from the PGA and Senior PGA tours will play on O'ahu, the Big Island and Maui, vying for more than $9 million in prize money. Between the beauty of the Islands and the purses, Hawai'i becomes a huge draw.

And with the exception of the Wai'alae Country Club on O'ahu, golfers like you and me can play on every golf course used for the tournaments - the Plantation Course at Kapalua and the Wailea Golf Resort on Maui; and the Hualalai Golf Club (as a hotel guest at the Four Seasons) in Kona, on the Big Island.

This is quite a coup, for the worldwide exposure for Hawai'i will showcase not only the golf, but our Aloha State as a whole. Advertising like this is priceless. Here are the four tournaments that will be shining the spotlight on Hawai'i next month:

MERCEDES CHAMPIONSHIPS
Kapalua, Maui Plantation Course Jan. 8-14, 2001

Hawai'i's month of major golf events starts with the return of the Mercedes Championships to the scenic Plantation Course at Kapalua on Maui. Tiger Woods will defend his title against an elite field of champions.

The purse for this event - the first stop for the 2001 PGA Tour - is $3.2 million, with the winner receiving $576,000 plus a new Mercedes automobile.

Invitations to play in this championship go only to players who have won a tournament on the previous year's PGA Tour. As of this writing, Woods had won 10 tournaments, Phil Mickelson had won four and Notah Begay III two. Tom Lehman, Paul Azinger (who won the Sony Open in Hawai'i early this year), Loren Roberts, Justin Leonard and David Duval are scheduled to appear as well. Also on hand will be Ernie Els, who lost to Woods last year, on the second extra hole in a playoff. It was a dramatic finish as both Woods and Els eagled the par-5 finishing hole. Then, on the first playoff hole, they both dropped in birdie putts. But Woods ended it on the 73rd hole when he sank a curling, downhill, 40-foot birdie putt.

It should be noted that this past year's Mercedes Championships was the highest-rated golf show ESPN had ever broadcast.

SONY OPEN IN HAWAI'I
Honolulu, O'ahu Wai'alae Country Club Jan. 15-21, 2001

The PGA Tour next moves to O'ahu at the Wai'alae Country Club for the 2001 Sony Open in Hawai'i.

Tournament officials and the sponsor have announced that they will boost the prize money this year from $2.9 million to $4 million, with the winner's share a cool $720,000. That should attract an even stronger field than in the previous two Sony Opens. It should also give Tiger Woods and others more incentive to fly over to O'ahu after the Mercedes on Maui. The tournament will be broadcast by USA Network and CBS.

Last year's victor was crowd favorite Paul Azinger, who finished 7 strokes ahead of the field. For Azinger, it was an emotional day. He hadn't won on tour since his victory in the 1993 PGA Championship, and just two months earlier had lost one of his best friends, golfing great Payne Stewart. Azinger had also overcome cancer treatment, diagnosed in 1993. In the 14 years Azinger had played Wai'alae, he was a three-time runner-up when the tournament was known as the Hawaiian Open.

Last year's victor was crowd favorite Paul Azinger, who finished 7 strokes ahead of the field. For Azinger, it was an emotional day. He hadn't won on tour since his victory in the 1993 PGA Championship, and just two months earlier had lost one of his best friends, golfing great Payne Stewart. Azinger had also overcome cancer treatment, diagnosed in 1993. In the 14 years Azinger had played Wai'alae, he was a three-time runner-up when the tournament was known as the Hawaiian Open.

MASTERCARD CHAMPIONSHIP
Ka'upulehu-Kona, Big Island Hualalai Golf Club Jan. 15-21, 2001

The season-opener for the 2001 Senior PGA Tour, the MasterCard Championship, happens the same week as the Sony Open, but takes place on the island of Hawai'i at Hualalai Golf Club in Ka'upulehu-Kona.

The sponsor has announced that there will be an increase of $200,000 over last year's purse, bringing the total to $1.4 million. Players must earn their way into the tournament. The 54-hole event features winners of major championships from the past five years on the Senior PGA Tour and winners of the official money co-sponsored and approved tournaments from the last two years.

The 34 Senior Tour players who are eligible to compete in the 2001 event include Jack Nicklaus (who designed the Hualalai course), Lee Trevino, Hale Irwin, Tom Watson, Raymond Floyd, Bruce Fleisher, Larry Nelson (the hottest player on the 2000 tour, who won six times), Jim Thorpe (he won his first Senior Tour event in 2000) and Tom Kite.

George Archer, the defending champion, won the 17th edition of this tournament at 60 years of age. He keeps threatening to retire, but his game keeps him in the running.

The MasterCard Championship will mark the debut of the Senior PGA Tour on CNBC television network.

SENIOR SKINS GAME
Wailea, Maui Wailea Resort, Gold Course Jan. 26-28, 2001

The last event of the month in Hawai'i is the Senior Skins Game, starring golf's greatest living legends. The Skins will be held for the first time at the Wailea Resort on Maui, on the highly acclaimed Gold Course designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr.

At press time, the players had yet to be named. In previous years, the event was held on the island of Hawai'i at the Mauna Lani Resort's Francis H. I'i Brown Golf Courses, featuring such legendary pros as Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Gary Player (who won the 2000 event), Chi Chi Rodriguez, Jim Colbert, Hale Irwin and the all-time Senior Skins champion, Raymond Floyd. Floyd took this event in a big way. Starting in 1994, he won five events in a row.

The purse for the event is $600,000. In general skins format, each hole is assigned a dollar value. To win a "skin," a player needs to win the hole outright. In case of a tie, the hole's skin is added to the value of the next hole. In the Senior Skins Game, the first six holes are worth $20,000 each, the next six are $30,000 each, the next five are $40,000 each and the final hole is worth a minimum of $100,000.

For the month of January, the eyes of the golfing world will be on Hawai'i. Our state gets to showcase the diversity of our courses to golfers, the spectacular vistas for potential visitors, and extend our aloha to everyone.

The 2001 Hawai'i Tour
Hawai'i hosts a full year of pro golf tournaments. Here's the 2001 schedule for January and beyond:

Jan. 8-14 Mercedes Championships Kapalua, Maui Plantation Course at Kapalua 669-2440

Jan. 15-21 MasterCard Championship Ka'upulehu-Kona, Big Island Hualalai Golf Club 800-417-2770

Jan. 15-21 Sony Open in Hawai'i Honolulu, O'ahu Wai'alae Country Club 523-7888

Jan. 26-28 Senior Skins Game Wailea, Maui Wailea Golf Club 800-332-1614

Feb. 8-10 LPGA Takefuji Classic Kailua-Kona, Big Island Kona Country Club 322-2595

Feb. 15-17 Cup Noodles Hawaiian Ladies Open Kapolei, O'ahu Kapolei Golf Course 674-2227

Oct. 1-7 Ka'anapali Classic Ka'anapali, Maui Ka'anapali Golf Course 367-3833

November PGA Grand Slam of Golf Po'ipu, Kaua'i Po'ipu Bay Golf Course 800-742-8258

Golfing In Paradise Archive