Columnist Dean Juipe: Money matters attract tour players to LVI

Dean Juipe

Monday, Oct. 6, 2003 | 9:33 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4084.

The men's pro golf tour slinks into Las Vegas this week with players arriving from separate tournaments -- and separate agendas -- in the Deep South.

Those coming from the American Express Championship in Woodstock, Ga., were part of an elite, 72-man field that grappled for $6 million in prize money. In most of their cases, it was a matter of the rich getting richer while they jostled for position in the still-undecided Player of the Year derby.

Tiger Woods came out ahead, winning Sunday by two strokes over Vijay Singh (and two others). Neither is coming here, yet 24 of the men in the tournament -- including crowd magnets Sergio Garcia, Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk -- are en route, much to the delight of the somewhat demoralized supporters of the sponsorless Las Vegas Invitational.

Also heading this way are 33 players who made the cut in the full-field, $3 million Southern Farm Bureau Classic in Madison, Miss., plus another 28 who missed the cut in that blue-collar event. John Huston emerged with the championship Sunday, becoming the 11th player age 40 or over to win on the PGA Tour this year.

Huston is skipping the Las Vegas stop, as are other notable players such as Masters champ Mike Weir, British Open champ Ben Curtis and PGA champ Shaun Micheel. Their absence -- Micheel is a late scratch after earlier committing to play -- obviously hurts the tournament, although it is hardly surprising in that the LVI, even with its $4 million purse, is a tough draw due to its five-day format and amateur participants.

But those who are here will find something to play for. With the season winding down and the all-important final money list taking shape, players on the cusp of the No. 125 position are extremely cognizant of their standing.

One good week can help a player wrap up his tour card for next year, and that's incentive enough for anyone at or near the bubble. As first-time winner Phil Tataurangi showed last year, those who will be playing here will be serious about it.

It's also the time of year when varying degrees of desperation become apparent. Garcia, for example, is said to be noticeably anxious for a victory, while others try to regain their lost clout.

David Duval, who is playing here, falls into the latter group, just as he did a year ago when he took a one-stroke lead into the final round before slipping into a tie for sixth with a closing 71.

He hasn't had a win in three years but he fits well within the three-course rotation in use in Las Vegas and has to be given at least an outside shot of ending his personal drought.

Of course no one plays here as well as Furyk, a three-time champion of the event who has $1.4 million in career earnings in Las Vegas alone. He played well in the American Express and opens as the betting favorite in this one.

No Tiger? No big deal -- and it has been a bad week for tigers in Las Vegas anyway. He came here and won as a rookie in 1996 and there was some hope that he might return this year as he looks to retain his money title, yet this isn't his type of tournament.

It's one with a sweet pot, but one that has unusual, grueling demands. It's one the guys coming from the Farm Bureau Classic know all about, and one the guys coming from the American Express can sometimes live without.