UPON FURTHER REVIEW

Brian Hilderbrand, Las Vegas Sun

Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2007 | 7:11 a.m.

What: Frys.com Open

When: Thursday -Sunday

Where: TPC Summerlin, TPC Canyons

Tickets: $5 to $100; www.thefrysopen.com

What's at stake

In addition to its $4 million purse - of which the winner will pocket $720,000 - the Frys.com Open serves as the fourth of seven events in the PGA Tour Fall Series. The Fall Series tournaments allow players to secure their eligibility for the 2008 PGA Tour season by finishing among the top 125 on the official money list.

The tournament, celebrating its 25th anniversary, will raise money for the Shriners Hospitals for Children and other local charities.

Las Vegas PGA Tour winners

Year Winner

1983 Fuzzy Zoeller

1984 Denis Watson

1985 Curtis Strange

1986 Greg Norman

1987 Paul Azinger

1988 Gary Koch

1989 Scott Hoch*

1990 Bob Tway*

1991 Andrew Magee*

1992 John Cook

1993 Davis Love III

1994 Bruce Lietzke

1995 Jim Furyk

1996 Tiger Woods*

1997 Bill Glasson

1998 Jim Furyk

1999 Jim Furyk

2000 Billy Andrade

2001 Bob Estes

2002 Phil Tataurangi

2003 Stuart Appleby*

2004 Andre Stolz

2005 Wes Short Jr.*

2006 Troy Matteson

*Won in playoff

The two courses

Tournament Players Club Summerlin

Opened in November 1991, TPC Summerlin is a 7,243-yard, par-72 stadium course designed by Bobby Weed with input from player-consultant Fuzzy Zoeller. The final two rounds of the Frys.com Open are played exclusively at TPC Summerlin, which is constructed to afford spectators unrestricted views of the play with the use of strategically placed mounds and natural amphitheaters. Davis Love holds the tournament course record of 61, set in 2001.

Tournament Players Club Canyons

Opened in 1996, TPC Canyons is a 7,019-yard, par-71 desert-style course designed by Weed and player-consultant Raymond Floyd. Five players - John Daly, Craig Barlow, Dan Forsman, Jay Williamson and Ryan Palmer - hold the tournament course record of 62. TPC Canyons, which joined the rotation for the local PGA Tour stop in 2001, will host the Frys.com Open on Thursday and Friday.

Five players to watch

John Daly

Daly has played in 21 tournaments this year, missed the cut in nine and withdrew from five others. He shot an 87 in one tournament and his best finish is a tie for 16th place. Still, there are only two bigger gallery favorites on tour and neither Tiger nor Phil is playing here this week.

Lee Janzen

He's a two-time U.S. Open champion (1993 and 1998) who has struggled this year - he has missed 15 cuts in 21 tournaments and is 155th on the money list - but he finished tied for fifth here last year.

Ryan Moore

One of the most decorated - and dominating - amateur players while he was at UNLV, Moore is one of only four players (joining Jack Nicklaus, Mickelson and Woods) to win the U.S. Amateur championship and the NCAA individual championship in the same year (2004). Moore still is searching for his first PGA Tour victory and has displayed the ability to shoot low scores on these courses.

Jesper Parnevik

The snazziest dresser on the PGA Tour is playing his best golf of the year. He's coming off of a playoff loss to Justin Leonard in San Antonio on Sunday that vaulted him from 138th to 94th on the money list and secured his tour card for 2008.

Chris Riley

One of four former UNLV All-America players in the field for this week's tournament, Riley is a joy to watch because - unlike most of his peers - he tends to play quickly and not labor over each shot. A member of the 2004 U.S. Ryder Cup team, Riley is looking for his first PGA Tour victory since the 2002 Reno-Tahoe Open, his lone tour win.

Five players you may not know, but are worth following

Daniel Chopra

Still searching for his first PGA Tour victory, Chopra scored his best career finish in last year's Frys.com Open when he shot 64 and 66 on the weekend and tied for second place. Chopra, who was born in Sweden and raised in India, holds the distinction of being the first person to hit a golf ball off the Great Wall of China. He tied for third place Sunday at the Valero Texas Open to secure his tour playing privileges for next season.

Gavin Coles

A three-time winner on the Nationwide Tour, Coles is looking for his first victory on the PGA Tour. He is ranked 138th on the PGA Tour money list and is one of several players searching for a big paycheck this weekend to maintain his tour card for 2008.

Jason Dufner

How can you NOT root for a professional golfer whose name so closely resembles "Duffer?" Dufner comes into the Frys.com Open ranked 136th on the money list and would like nothing more than to leave Las Vegas with a big check and his 2008 tour card.

Bob Heintz

Heintz, a Yale grad with a degree in economics, quit golf briefly in 1996 to pursue a career as a financial analyst. He ranks 129th on the money list and needs a strong tournament if he wants to stay off Wall Street next year.

John Merrick

A Southern California native and UCLA grad, Merrick is another of those golfers who needs a good finish in the final weeks of the season to retain his tour card. He tied for fourth place at the Reno-Tahoe Open in August.

What's in a name?

The local PGA Tour stop may be celebrating its 25th consecutive year on the PGA Tour schedule, but the tournament has been known as the Frys.com Open for only two years. Here are some of the other names by which the event has been known through the years:

Panasonic Las Vegas Pro Celebrity Classic (1983)

Panasonic Las Vegas Invitational (1984- 88)

Las Vegas Invitational (1989- 99)

Invensys Classic at Las Vegas (2000- 02)

Las Vegas Invitational (2003)

Michelin Championship at Las Vegas (2004- 05)

Good start

Although Woods hasn't played in the Las Vegas PGA Tour since 1997, the tournament forever will be linked to him as the site of his first tour victory, in 1996. Other players who notched their first tour win in the Las Vegas tournament: Jim Furyk (1995), Phil Tataurangi (2002), Andre Stoltz (2004), Wes Short Jr. (2005) and Troy Matteson (2006).

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