Special section: No Tiger, but show goes on

Victoria Sun

Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2002 | 9 a.m.

A hefty $5 million purse isn't enough to lure Tiger Woods back to the Invensys Classic, where he won his first PGA Tournament in 1996.

Tournament manager Charlie Baron knows that prize money won't influence Woods' decision.

So forget about it. Stop the Tiger talk. He's not entered in the tournament that starts Wednesday and concludes Sunday at the Tournament Players Club at Summerlin.

Baron said it's time to talk about the players who will be here instead of the one who won't.

"More focus has to be on who is playing here," Baron said. "You've got 144 of the top pros here and you're going to see a good, competitive field. Even without Tiger Woods, we are going to have a tournament.

"We're going to bring the young lions out and the old veterans, too."

The 20th edition of the pro-am tournament will be played at the TPC at Summerlin, TPC at the Canyons and Southern Highlands.

Of the 144 players entered, 19 have won tournaments this year.

Rich Beem, the lone two-time winner in the field, earned victories at the International and the PGA Championship. He is fifth on the PGA Tour's official money list with $2,822,862.

Three-time Invensys champion Jim Furyk picked up a win at the Memorial Tournament in May while former British Open champion and former Ryder Cup team member Justin Leonard won the Worldcom Classic.

Leonard has parlayed seven top 10 finishes into a career best $2,612,235, good for seventh on the money list.

Because it is one of the last tournaments of the year, the stakes are higher for those hovering around the top 30 on the money list, such as Scott McCarron (28th) and John Cook (34rd). The top 30 on the final money list qualify for the season-ending Tour Championship.

Performing well here is even more crucial for guys such as Craig Stadler, Jay Don Blake and Paul Stankowski. All three need to earn money to finish in the top 125 of the money list to keep their tour cards and to avoid the possibility of attending Q-School.

Fan favorite John Daly makes his return after tying for seventh last year. Daly has finished in the top 10 twice and top 25 four times this year on tour.

Former British Open champion David Duval and Notah Begay, Woods' teammate at Stanford, are two other notable entrants.

Former All-Americans Charles Howell III (Oklahoma State), Matt Kuchar (Georgia Tech) and David Gossett (Texas) headline the core of young players competing this week.

Howell, coming off his first win in last weekend's Michelob Championship, tied for 20th in his Invensys Classic debut last season. The 2001 PGA Tour Rookie of the Yearr ranks third in total driving and eighth in driving distance. He is 18th on the money list with $1,928,647 and five top-10 finishes.

The 24-year-old Kuchar, in his second season on tour, earned his first victory at the Honda Classic. He has four top-10 finishes and has earned $1,219,836.

During his sophomore season at Georgia Tech, Kuchar finished 21st at the Masters and 14th at the U.S. Open as an amateur.

Gossett, the 1999 U.S. Amateur champion, began his rookie season in 2001 on the Buy.com Tour then finished the year with his PGA Tour card after winning the John Deere Classic in his fifth start on tour. Even without Tiger Woods, we are going to have a tournament."