Shotgun Start: Previewing the Greenbrier Classic
It's tournament time! The PGA Tour makes the short trek down I-81 S to White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, for the Greenbrier Classic at the Old White TPC course. Here's a tournament primer to get you prepared for the week.
The course: The Old White TPC course has been a Jekyll and Hyde track in its first two years hosting the Greenbrier Classic. In 2010, the course ranked as the second-easiest par 70 layout on tour with a scoring of 68.54. Not only that, Stuart Appleby fired a final-round 11-under 59 -- only the fifth in PGA Tour history -- to win with a final score of 22-under. After watching the course get ripped to shreds, tournament officials lengthened the course to 7,274 yards, redid a number of holes, and changed the greens to Bentgrass. The tweaks made a huge difference, because last year the Old White TPC ranked as the 13th most difficult on the 2011 schedule.
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The schedule: The tournament runs Thursday-Sunday. It'll be broadcast on the Golf Channel from 3 to 7 p.m. ET on Thursday and Friday; and on CBS from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
The field: For a relatively young event, the Greenbrier Classic's doing just fine in the star power department. Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Webb Simpson, Dustin Johnson and Steve Stricker are the marquee names in the field. Other notables include Keegan Bradley, Jim Furyk, John Daly and Tom Watson.
Your turn. Who are your picks for this week? Swing away!
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