PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- U.S. Presidents Cup Team Captain Fred Couples has announced that Jay Haas will serve as his captain's assistant for the 2009 Presidents Cup, to be held Oct. 8-11, 2009, at Harding Park Golf Course in San Francisco, Calif.
Couples made the announcement via phone to a press conference at the Ginn Championship, where Haas, the 2006-07 Champions Tour Player of the Year, is competing.
Langer, Funk chasing career club pro Nielsen on Champions Tour
PALM COAST, Fla. (AP) -- Lonnie Nielsen, a career club professional who had a mediocre PGA TOUR career, birdied six of his last 10 holes Friday for a 6-under-par 66 Friday and one-shot lead at the Ginn Championship Hammock Beach Resort.
Bernhard Langer and Fred Funk were at 67 at Ocean Hammock Golf Club. David Edwards and Gene E. Jones were next at 68 in the Champions Tour's deepest field this season.
Former Masters champion Craig Stadler was among those at 69 and defending champion Keith Fergus and Tom Watson were at 70.
Nielsen played on the PGA TOUR from 1978-83. His best finish was a tie for fifth in the 1979 Quad Cities Open. He worked as a club pro in New York State and qualified for the Champions Tour in 2003. Nielsen has won once, the 2007 Commerce Bank Championship.
He rallied from a double-bogey at the par-3 12th hole, his third hole of the day, and began a torrid run up the leaderboard with an 8-foot birdie putt at the 18th. Nielsen made the turn, then birdied Nos. 1, 2, 4, 6 and 7 to pull ahead of Langer and Funk.
"I'm feeling more comfortable out here," Nielsen said, referring to his progress on the tour. "That's half the battle. It sounds simple, but it's a lot tougher than it sounds."
PALM COAST, Fla. -- Bernhard Langer shoots for his third career win on the Champions Tour Sunday in his 11th start on the circuit. If successful, he would equal his career victory total on the PGA TOUR. Should he win, it would also be Langer's second title of 2008 and he would join Scott Hoch as the only other multiple winner on the Champions Tour this year.
Price on Cook's albatross: 'Most perfect shot you've ever seen'
PALM COAST, Fla. -- Believe it or not, Nick Price -- who has been playing golf for 44 years -- saw something for the first time on Saturday.
John Cook, who was in Price's threesome on the second day of the Ginn Championship at Hammock Beach Resort, holed an incredible double eagle on the par-5 14th hole.
"It was the most perfect shot you've ever seen in your life," Price gushed. "I've seen a hole-in-one on a par 4 but never a two on a par 5. It was beautiful to watch."
His playing partner didn't steal all the glory, however. Price made seven birdies on his way to a 5-under 67 and he could have scored even lower.
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Cook
On the same No. 14 where Cook only needed two swipes of the club to find the hole, Price found water. Still, he managed to save par. It was his second time hitting the ball into the drink on a par-5, having done so earlier at the sixth hole. He was in between clubs on both holes and wound up choosing the wrong club on both occasions.
The World Golf Hall of Fame member won 18 times on the PGA TOUR but has yet to capture a Champions Tour title. Once regarded as the best player in the world in the mid-1990s, Price won back-to-back majors in 1994. He put those trophies on the mantle beside his 1992 PGA Championship hardware.
PALM COAST, Fla. -- Tim Simpson used to have a glass half empty approach to golf. If things didn't go his way, he'd get discouraged and frustrated.
That all changed when he underwent a massive nine-hour brain surgery. Simpson had a hereditary condition that caused a benign essential tremor in his left hand. Naturally, this didn't help on the golf course. Imagine having to make a putt when nothing can stop your hand from shaking.
The operation took place just over three years ago. Everything went so smoothly that, within a few days, he was back on the golf course.
"I never lost faith that somehow, some way, someone would help me," Simpson said at the time. "I may never be 100 percent. But I feel like with the talent I have left and with the incredible desire I have, there are still great things in store for me."
After surviving that ordeal at age 49, he joined the Champions Tour. Now, three years later, he thinks his swing and his game are getting back to where they were at his prime.
Simpson's confidence is also back. Shooting rounds of 69 and 68 for a 7-under-par total in the first two days of the Ginn Championship at Hammock Beach Resort have helped remind him that he belongs here.
Langer holds steady in wind to win Ginn Championship
PALM COAST, Fla. (AP) -- Bernhard Langer won the Ginn Championship Hammock Beach Resort for his second Champions Tour victory in three starts, shooting a 1-under 71 in windy conditions Sunday for an eight-stroke victory over Lonnie Nielsen and Tim Simpson.
Langer had one of three under-par rounds, with the wind off the Atlantic Ocean a sustained 25 mph and the temperature in 50s. The German star finished at 12-under 204 and earned $375,000 for his third victory in 11 career starts on the 50-and-over circuit.
"It felt more like a 65 ... it was that difficult," Langer said. "I stayed aggressive, and I was able to pull most of it off. I played very solid this week, and today."
Langer took the lead on the money list and Charles Schwab Cup points race. He supplanted Scott Hoch on both lists and joined Hoch as the only multiple winner.
Ginn Championship Hammock Beach Resort Mar 28-30
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