Two-time PGA major champion John Daly and Paul Goydos, the 2014 winner of the Pacific Links Championship, were announced Monday as the latest golfers committed to playing in this year’s edition of the tournament, to be held in September at Bear Mountain Golf Resort.
Goydos addressed the media yesterday about the golf club’s mountain course and this fall stop for the PGA Tour Champions circuit, which spotlights players 50-over.
“What a spectacular venue; if we could play every event here that would be fine with me,” the two-time PGA winner said.
Goydos is known for shooting an opening-round 59 at age 46 in 2010 at the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic, and leading the 2008 Players Championship in the final round before losing in a one-hole playoff Sergio Garcia. He spoke to the calibre of golf spectators can expect at the $2.5 million purse tournament.
“The difference between the Champions Tour and the PGA Tour inside the ropes is nothing,” he said. “Eighty-one guys are going to fight and claw and do what they can to win a golf tournament. It should be pretty exciting and I’m looking forward to coming.”
The 2016 Pacific Links Championship will be contested on the Resort’s mountain course the week of Sept. 19 to 25.
The long-hitting Daly is sure to be a fan favourite at the tournament. Having just turned 50 in April and qualifying for the Tour Champions, he has two top-20 finishes in his first six starts on the tour.
Daly won the 1995 British Open in a playoff and had five PGA Tour victories in all. One of those was the 1991 PGA Championship, when he first burnished his legend as a raw rookie by coming out of nowhere to win and blasting off drives in excess of 300 yards, a major feat at the time.
Others already committed to the Pacific Links Championship include Mark Calcavecchia, Jeff Sluman, Larry Mize and Bob Tway.
Goydos won the last PLC played, in 2014 when he posted a three-round total of 197 to beat runners-up Fred Funk and Scott Dunlap by one stroke.
The 2015 tournament, scheduled to be held in China last September, was cancelled in the wake of industrial explosions in Tianjin that killed more than 100 people.
Volunteering positions available, as are ticket packages
The Pacific Links Championship is encouraging golf fans to become a part of the action by joining the volunteer committee. To register as a volunteer simply visit the tournament website at PacificLinksChampionship.com and click the “Volunteer” icon.
Tournament organizers also announced that tickets for the event are now on sale. Fans can choose weekly or daily passes, a pro-am daily pass or a Champions Club VIP pass. Details are online at selectyourtickets.com.
– with files from Arnold Lim
editor@goldstreamgazette.com
