Scott Hoch won his first Champions Tour event, the 2007 FedEx Kinko's Classic, holding off D.A. Weibring by shooting a final-round 68. Since then, Hoch, who finished 23rd in last year's Charles Schwab Cup standings, has won two more times and is second in the year-long points chase after winning the Allianz Championship and The ACE Group Classic on back-to-back weeks in February.
The FedEx Kinko's Classic is in its sixth year, with all the previous tournaments at The Hills Country Club in suburban Austin, a Jack Nicklaus-designed course that opened in 1981. The Hills is the site again this week, a year after ranking as the fifth-most-difficult course on the 2007 Champions Tour. A year ago, players were nearly 1.5 strokes over par for the tournament (1.423).
This week's FedEx Kinko's Classic is the first of three Champions Tour stops in the Lone Star State in 2008. After the Austin event, the Champions Tour returns to Texas in the fall for the Administaff Small Business Classic near Houston and the AT&T Championship in San Antonio. Tom Kite enjoyed the most success in Texas last year. Even though he didn't win, Kite was fifth at the FedEx Kinko's Classic, third at the Administaff Small Business Classic and tied for 13th at the AT&T Championship.
Past champions haven't enjoyed great success when trying to defend their title at this tournament. In 2004, Hale Irwin tied for 40th after winning the inaugural event the previous year. In 2005, Larry Nelson tied for 25th in defense of his 2004 crown. In 2006, Jim Thorpe tied for 21st after winning in 2005. Last year, Jay Haas finished 10th in defense of his 2006 title.
The par-4 ninth hole at The Hills Country Club annually ranks among the most-difficult on the Champions Tour. Last year, it was the seventh-toughest hole on the Tour, with an average score of 4.491. Players made just 12 birdies there in 2007. A year earlier, No. 9 was the second most-difficult hole on the Champions Tour, with an average score of 4.498 -- again yielding only 12 birdies.
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