Mon Apr 28 15:19:22 2008

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This Week in Golf - May 1st through May 4th

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Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - PGA TOUR - WACHOVIA CHAMPIONSHIP, Quail Hollow Country Club, Charlotte, North Carolina - Tiger Woods is off crutches and into a knee brace, but not well enough to defend his title this week at the Wachovia Championship.

Last year, the Wachovia Championship became the ninth tournament that Woods has won just one time when the world's No. 1 player closed with a 69 in the final round to beat Steve Stricker by two shots.

Woods is still recovering from the knee surgery he had April 15, just two days after he finished runner-up to Trevor Immelman at the Masters. Doctors said he would be ready in four-to-six weeks, meaning Woods will also miss next week's Players Championship for the first time in his career.

Three of the previous four champions of this relatively new PGA Tour event will be in the field this week: Jim Furyk (2006), Vijay Singh (2005) and David Toms (2003). Joey Sindelar, the 2004 champion who tied for 22nd place last year, is competing on the Champions Tour instead.

Adam Scott will be looking for back-to-back wins after draining a 48-foot birdie putt on Sunday to beat Ryan Moore in a playoff at the Byron Nelson Championship.

No player other than Woods has won back-to-back tournaments on the PGA Tour since Phil Mickelson claimed the BellSouth Classic and the Masters in 2006.

The Golf Channel will have coverage of the first two rounds beginning at 3 p.m. (et) both days, with CBS taking over at the same time for both weekend rounds. Next week is the Players Championship, where Mickelson won last year.

EUROPEAN TOUR

OPEN DE ESPANA, Real Club de Golf de Sevilla, Seville, Spain - Charl Schwartzel eagled the 16th hole in the final round of last year's Open de Espana to set up his second win on the European Tour and first since 2005.

Much of the third round was pushed back until Sunday following three days of weather stoppages that totaled nearly 12 hours.

Schwartzel shot a five-under 67 in the final round to beat Jyoti Randhawa by a stroke. The 22-year-old South African set up his 15-foot eagle putt at the 16th with a spectacular three-iron shot he blasted more than 230 yards into the wind at the end of a long day.

He had been tied for the lead with Randhawa, who was in the clubhouse and watching on television as Schwartzel rolled in his eagle putt. Noticing they had cut to him, Randhawa feigned a smile and looked away.

Schwartzel will be back to defend his title this week against a field that includes last week's winner in China, Darren Clarke. Randhawa will not be back.

The Golf Channel will have coverage of all four rounds, broadcasting for three hours each day. Next week is the Italian Open, where Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano claimed a rain-shortened, 54-hole win last year by beating Markus Brier in a playoff.

LPGA TOUR

SEMGROUP CHAMPIONSHIP, Cedar Ridge Country Club, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma - Mi Hyun Kim defeated Juli Inkster with a par on the first playoff hole to win last year's SemGroup Championship.

It marked the diminutive South Korean's eighth victory on the LPGA Tour, and third in two years. Kim, who hasn't won since, will be back to defend her title this week.

World No. 1 Lorena Ochoa is also returning after taking last week off. Ochoa has won four consecutive starts and five of the six tournaments she has played this season.

Annika Sorenstam won the inaugural Stanford International Pro-Am in Ochoa's absence, beating Paula Creamer in a playoff on Sunday for her 71st career victory. Sorenstam, a three-time SemGroup champion, will not be in the field this week.

ESPN2 will have two hours of coverage for each of the last three rounds this week. Next up is the Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill, where Suzann Pettersen beat Jee Young Lee on the third hole of a sudden-death playoff last year.

CHAMPIONS TOUR

FEDEX KINKO'S CLASSIC, The Hills Country Club, Austin, Texas - Scott Hoch, an 11-time winner on the PGA Tour, claimed his first Champions Tour victory last year when he closed with a 68 to beat D.A. Weibring by two shots at the FedEx Kinko's Classic.

Hoch, who earned back-to-back wins earlier this year at the Allianz Championship and the ACE Group Classic, will be looking to become the first three-time winner on the Champions Tour this season.

Last year, Hoch had 16 birdies and just one bogey to set the tournament scoring record at 15-under 201. The old mark was 11-under 205 by Jay Haas in 2006.

The Golf Channel has coverage of all three rounds beginning at 6:30 p.m. (et) each day. Next week is the Regions Charity Classic, where Brad Bryant won a playoff last year to successfully defend his 2006 title.

NATIONWIDE TOUR

SOUTH GEORGIA CLASSIC, Kinderlou Forest Golf Club, Valdosta, Georgia - John Kimbell was a 38-year-old rookie when he won the inaugural South Georgia Classic last year.

Kimbell closed with a 69 in the final round to hold off Matt Jones by a shot at 10-under 278. He will be back to defend his title this week, looking to become the first player in Nationwide Tour history to do that.

The Golf Channel has coverage of all four rounds beginning at 1 p.m. (et) each day. Next week is the Fort Smith Classic, where Jay Williamson claimed his first Nationwide Tour win last year.