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This Week in Golf - July 23rd - 26th
AP/Tom Hevezi
CHAMPIONS TOUR
SENIOR BRITISH OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP
Sunningdale Golf Club (Old Course)
Berkshire, England
After making a run at his sixth British Open Championship, 59-year-old Tom Watson heads to Sunningdale this week looking to win his fourth Senior British Open crown.
Watson has won his three Senior British Open titles in alternating years and he hopes to continue that trend as this is one of those years. His previous three wins came in 2003, 2005 and 2007.
After a bogey on the 72nd hole, Watson lost to Stewart Cink in a playoff by six strokes at the British Open at Turnberry. Watson joked afterwards, "The old fogey almost did it."
If Watson wants to take home his fourth Senior Open crown, he will have to take down a stellar field that includes the likes of Nick Faldo, Bernhard Langer, Sandy Lyle and Ian Woosnam as well as Greg Norman.
Norman was the story at last year's Open, then fell four strokes short of making a playoff at the Senior Open.
Bruce Vaughan birdied the first playoff hole last year to defeat John Cook and win his first major championship of any kind.
Vaughan closed with a one-under 70, while Cook carded an even-par 71 in the final round. The duo finished at six-under-par 278, one stroke better than Eduardo Romero and two better than Bernhard Langer.
This is the second major of the season for the Champions Tour and also kicks off a run of three straight majors.
Like the Open Championship, TNT and ABC will split coverage of the Senior British Open.
The Champions Tour returns to the United States next week for the U.S. Senior Open, where Romero is the defending champion.
PGA TOUR
CANADIAN OPEN
Glen Abbey Golf Club
Oakville, Ontario
Chez Reavie collected this first PGA Tour win last year at Glen Abbey thanks in part to his first two rounds.
Reavie was 13-under through two rounds then cruised home for a three-stroke win over Billy Mayfair. Reavie will be one of five former champions in the field this week.
Sean O'Hair is one of the headliners at Glen Abbey this week.
This will be the 100th playing of the Canadian Open. It is the third oldest national championship, behind the British and U.S. Opens.
Six of the top-30 players in the world will be at Glen Abbey this week. Camilo Villegas and Sean O'Hair headline that group. O'Hair is also seventh on the PGA Tour money list and ninth in the FedEx Cup standings.
O'Hair is among eight PGA Tour players that have won this season and are in the field. Among that group is two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen, who is one of 11 major champions competing this week.
As always, the Golf Channel will have three hours of coverage the first two days, then CBS will take over on the weekend.
The PGA Tour travels to Michigan next week for the Buick Open, where Kenny Perry won last year.
LPGA TOUR
EVIAN MASTERS
Evian Masters Golf Club
Evian-les-Bains, France
Helen Alfredsson needed three extra holes to defeat Angela Park and Na Yeon Choi last year for the Evian Masters title.
For Alfredsson, it was her sixth LPGA Tour crown and her first playoff win. It was also the second straight year there was a playoff at the Evian Masters.
In 2007, Natalie Gulbis collected her first LPGA Tour win as she knocked off Jeong Jang in an extra session.
This elite event, which is in its 10th year on the LPGA Tour schedule, has a 90-player field and there will be no cut made. The tournament is co-sanctioned by the LPGA and the Ladies European Tour.
The Golf Channel has tape-delayed coverage all week.
The LPGA heads to England next week for the Women's British Open, where Ji-Yai Shin won three strokes over Yani Tseng last year.
EUROPEAN TOUR
SAS MASTERS
Barseback Golf & Country Club
Malmo, Sweden
One year ago, Peter Hanson fended off Nick Dougherty and Pelle Edberg for a one-stroke win.
Hanson was 10-under after three rounds, but managed just a one-over 71 in the final round. It was good enough for the win though. The victory was his second on the European Tour.
The Swede returns to his homeland a week after tying for 24th at the British Open. He will defend his title on a different course as last year's SAS Masters was contested at Arlandastad Golf Club, while the tournament moves to Barseback this year.
The Golf Channel has three hours of coverage all four days The European Tour heads to the Czech Republic next week for a new event, the Moravia Silesia Open.
NATIONWIDE TOUR
COX CLASSIC
Champions Run
Omaha, Nebraska
Ryan Hietala closed with a two- under 69 to force a playoff with David Branshaw, who stumbled to a two-over 73 in the final round.
They finished at 19-under-par 265 before heading to a playoff. In the extra session, Hietala parred the first playoff hole to claim his second Nationwide Tour title.
Hietala is in the field and will attempt to snap the tour's streak of no repeat winners.
The Golf Channel will carry two hours of action the first two days, then has three hours of coverage on Saturday and Sunday.
The Nationwide Tour shifts to Ohio next week for the Nationwide Children's Hospital Invitational, where Bill Lunde was the champion last year.
