Mickelson, Couples commit to LVI

Thursday, Oct. 8, 1998 | 10:52 a.m.

The Las Vegas Invitational's marquee is getting crowded.

Phil Mickelson and Fred Couples became the two latest high-profile players to officially commit to play in next week's $2 million LVI.

"Those were the two we have been waiting to hear from," tournament manager Charlie Baron said. "We thought all along they would be playing here, but they made it official today."

Mickelson is a two-time winner on the PGA Tour this year and is third in earnings with $1,755,646. The Arizona State University product has 13 wins since joining the tour in 1992.

Mickelson won the season-opening Mercedes Championships and the rain-delayed Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, which began in January and was completed with a single round in August.

Couples, who also has two wins this year, is sixth on the money list with $1,562,989. The 1992 Masters champion has 14 PGA Tour titles and has finished in the top 10 in each of his past two Las Vegas Invitationals.

Couples won the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic in January and the Memorial Tournament in May.

The addition of Mickelson and Couples to the 144-player field gives the LVI five of the top-10 money winners and 11 of the top 20. The only players from the top 10 on the money list who have not committed to play in Las Vegas are David Duval, Vijay Singh, Tiger Woods, Mark O'Meara and Steve Stricker.

The 16th annual Las Vegas Invitational tees off next Wednesday at three local courses: the Tournament Players Club at Summerlin, the Las Vegas Country Club and the Desert Inn Golf Club.

Earlier this week, the LVI received commitments from John Daly, Lee Janzen, Tom Lehman, Tom Kite, Fred Funk and Frank Nobilo.