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**truebluefan** · 03-28-2008, 12:02 PM

Quail Hollow CC, Charlotte, North Carolina
Purse: $6,400,000

**truebluefan** · 05-02-2008, 11:01 AM

There are major championships, there are almost-majors and then there are significant tournaments. There are also fourth-tier and fifth-tier events on the PGA Tour, but, hey, that's for later. For now, the next two tournaments qualify in the second and third categories. Moreover, they're not defined by whether Tiger Woods is playing.

To be sure, Woods normally would be playing in this week's Wachovia Championship at the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte. He'd play in next week's Players Championship at the Tournament Players Club's Stadium course in Sawgrass, Fla. The PGA Tour now calls it the Players alone, assuming that everybody believes it's a championship. Whatever. It's a strong tournament with a stellar field and a sassy course.

Woods isn't playing either event because he's recovering from knee surgery two weeks ago. He won the Wachovia last year, and he won the 2001 Players. Woods tied for 37th place at the Players last year. Except for his one win, he's not distinguished himself at the Stadium course.

Enough about Woods, though. The reasons the Wachovia and the Players are important tournaments is that most everybody plays them, and the courses are interesting, challenging and fair. That's a rare triple play when it comes to many modern courses.

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**truebluefan** · 05-02-2008, 11:03 AM

The picture of David Toms in his blue winner's jacket is just a few feet from Tiger Woods' smiling mug near the first tee at Quail Hollow Club.

The sun-drenched gallery at the Wachovia Championship knew Woods wasn't around Thursday to defend his title because of knee surgery. Many fans may have completely forgotten about the slumping 2003 champion — until Toms broke out of his missed-cut, sore-back funk with a 5-under 67 to take the first-round lead.

It was Toms' best round in, well, he couldn't remember.

"Since a long time. I don't know. I can't even think," Toms said. "It makes me feel good about my game. It gives me a little bit of confidence. It wasn't a fluke round."

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**truebluefan** · 05-04-2008, 03:36 PM

The Wachovia Championship will remain at Quail Hollow Club through at least 2014.

Wachovia announced Friday a four-year extension on its existing deal to be the title sponsor for the PGA Tour event.

The Wachovia Championship began in 2003, bringing major golf back to Charlotte for the first time since the Kemper Open left town in 1979. The tournament drawn a strong field each year and enjoys an attractive date in early May, a week before The Players Championship.

This week's tournament has a US$6.4 million purse and features 18 of the world's top 25 golfers. Tiger Woods was unable to defend his title because of knee surgery.

**truebluefan** · 05-04-2008, 03:38 PM

David Toms fired a five-under 67 on Thursday to take the first-round lead of the Wachovia Championship.

Toms, the winner of the inaugural Wachovia Championship in 2003, has battled back problems all year, but found himself one ahead at Quail Hollow Club.

Phil Mickelson and Jason Bohn are knotted in second place at minus-four.

Mickelson was two-under through his first 15 holes thanks to three birdies and a bogey. He got to three-under with a 15-foot birdie putt at the par-five seventh, but it was a vintage Mickelson shot that got to him within one.

The three-time major winner missed the green with a seven-iron at the ninth. He was pin-high, 25 feet from the hole and Mickelson chipped in to register his 68.

"It was a good day," said Mickelson, who has not played since a tie for fifth at the Masters three weeks ago. "It felt good, and it's good to see some positive results from the time I spent the last couple weeks."

Mickelson, Toms and Bohn all benefit this week from the absence of the defending champion. Tiger Woods won the title last year, but knee surgery a few weeks back caused him to miss his title defense.

That opened the door for Toms to take the first-round lead for the first time in over two years.

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**truebluefan** · 05-04-2008, 03:39 PM

With Tiger Woods unable to defend his Wachovia Championship title while recovering from knee surgery, Anthony Kim moved a step away from a victory a month shy of his 23rd birthday.

Kim shot a six-under-par 66 Saturday at Charlotte, N.C., to take a four-shot lead over Jason Bohn and Heath Slocum after the third round. The big hitter from Los Angeles is at 13-under 203 and as close as ever to his first PGA Tour win.

Kim passed Bohn, the second-round leader and playing partner, by sinking a nine-foot birdie putt on the ninth hole. Kim made another birdie at No. 14, then navigated through the course's tough closing stretch.

After getting up and down for par on the 17th, Kim ripped a 324-yard drive on No. 18 before his second shot landed seven feet from the cup. He made the putt and walked off the course well ahead of one of the strongest non-major fields on the tour.

Bohn's chip-in for par on the 18th gave him a 72 and a second-place tie with Slocum, who charged into contention by holing out for eagle on the 15th hole. Slocum shot a 68.

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**truebluefan** · 05-05-2008, 04:11 PM

Stewart Cink shot a 65 at the Wachovia Championship on Saturday, tying with Pat Perez for low round of the day. But Cink's 65 nearly became a 67 when he placed his hand inside a hazard line on the 17th hole, necessitating a rules interpretation.

After finishing his round, Cink explained to a rules official that he was balancing himself while lining up a shot. That's allowed under an exception to Rule 13-4, which regulates actions in hazards. Cink's balancing act worked. Putting from an indentation in the mortar of a stone retaining wall surrounding the 17th green, Cink popped the ball over about one foot of hazard grass and three feet of rough. The ball then rolled about 15 feet on the green and into the cup for a remarkable birdie.

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**truebluefan** · 05-05-2008, 04:13 PM

Anthony Kim became the youngest winner on the PGA Tour in more than six years when he clinched an emphatic five-stroke victory at the $6.4 million Wachovia Championship on Sunday.

The 22-year-old Kim, who started the final round with a four-shot lead, was never headed, picking up four birdies on the front nine en route to a three-under-par 69 in pleasant conditions at Quail Hollow.

"This has been a dream of mine for a long time and I'm living it," he told reporters after finishing at 16-under 272.

Fellow American Ben Curtis shot the day's best score, a 65, to finish second on 11 under.

Kim recorded a tournament record low score and the largest margin of victory in the event's brief six-year history, collecting $1,152,000 and vaulting to sixth on this year's PGA Tour money list.

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