Masters To Have Foreign Flavor
Tiger Woods will face an international contingent that equals the largest ever in the Masters when he defends his title April 9-12 at Augusta National Golf Club.
The invitation list for this year’s Masters, to be officially released today by Augusta National chairman Jack Stephens, includes 67 golfers from the United States and 29 players from abroad, equaling the 1962 international field.
All past Masters champions receive lifetime invitations to the tournament. The winners of the remaining PGA Tour events before the Masters will also receive invitations.
In addition to Woods, other past champions in the field include Nick Faldo, Seve Ballesteros, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, Fred Couples and Fuzzy Zoeller.
Among those invited who will be chasing their first Masters title are Greg Norman, Colin Montgomerie, Davis Love III, Tom Lehman, Ernie Els, Justin Leonard and John Daly.
In Sarasota, Fla., Larry Nelson moved closer to the first Senior PGA Tour win of his career with a 3-under-par 69 for a two-shot lead entering the final round of the American Express Invitational.
Nelson’s 36-hole total of 12-under-par 132 put him two shots in front of J.C. Snead, who carded a 69.
David Duval pushed into record territory to take a big lead in the $2 million Tucson Chrysler Classic.
Duval shot a 4-under-par 68 for a 54-hole score of 20-under 196 - still the best three-day score ever at Tucson National, a 7,148-yard course where Arnold Palmer set the three-day record at 200 in 1967 that was matched by two others before Duval broke it.
Former Pullman resident Kirk Triplett shot a 72 for a 214 total.
Wendy Ward parred the first playoff hole to beat Dana Dormann and win the Hawaiian Ladies Open at Kapolei after the pair had tied at 204 after three rounds.
Ward tapped in her par putt at the 18th and then watched as Dormann’s 5-foot attempt to extend the match slid past the cup.
Tracy Hanson of Rathdrum, Idaho, shot a 75 for a 211 total and Clarkston’s Robin Walton finished at 220 after a final-round 77.