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ESPN NETWORK:
ESPN.COM | NFL.COM | NBA.COM | NASCAR ONLINE | ABCSPORTS | FANTASY | THE STORE | INSIDER
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MCI Classic breakdown By Greg Robertson ESPN Golf Online April 18 4:30pm ET | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The tournament
One of the year's best events takes place at Harbour Town Golf Links, a tournament where repeat winners is the norm -- particularly for defending champion Davis Love III. Love has won this event four times, including his first PGA Tour victory and his last. At the tender age of 23, Love went to the winner's circle in 1987 at Harbour Town with a one-shot win over Steve Jones. He added back-to-back wins in 1991 and 1992, then ran away from the field last year with a seven-shot win over Glen Day. But Love isn't the only multiple winner of this event in the field. Payne Stewart won back-to-back titles in 1989 and 1990, Fuzzy Zoeller won in 1983 and 1986, Tom Watson in 1979 and 1982, and Senior star Hale Irwin won three times over the years. Johnny Miller also won twice in the early 1970s. Despite coming off a major, the field is strong this year. David Duval, Mark O'Meara, Fred Couples and Jim Furyk are the only major names missing among the regular tour players. Colin Montgomerie has hung around for another week, but Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal and Lee Westwood have led most of the Europeans back home. Players will find a tricky course in Harbour Town, one that is shorter than most on the PGA Tour but requires a lot of thinking, the correct choice of clubs and a strong putter. The MCI Classic continues the PGA Tour's southern swing. The tour stays in the Carolinas next week for the Greater Greensboro Classic before heading to Texas for three of the following four weeks.
A dozen players to watch
Ernie Els: Els played solid golf for three rounds at Augusta before an 80 on Sunday knocked him well back. Now ranked fourth in the world, Els had a 10th-place finish at this event last year. Frank Lickliter: He has come close to his first victory on a couple of occasions this year. He plays his best on thinking courses, such as the PGA at Sahalee last year, Pebble Beach this year and Harbour Town, where he was sixth last year. Davis Love III: Love has owned this tournament, winning it four times over the years including a seven-stroke runaway last year. Love has finished in the top 10 in eight of nine tournaments this year, including a second last week at Augusta. Phil Mickelson: After a disappointing West Coast swing, Mickelson has played much better of late. He finished in a tie for sixth at Augusta, finishing with five birdies and an eagle over the final 12 holes. Mickelson tied for third here last year. Greg Norman: His close call at Augusta showed his game is just fine. Norman has played well in this event over the years, including a win in 1988 and a second in 1994 when his score broke the previous tournament record. Nick Price: Price joined the sixth-place tie at Augusta last week and comes to a Harbour Town course where he has played well over the years. He tied for sixth last year and was the 1997 champion. Loren Roberts: Never count out a great putter at Harbour Town, which means Roberts and Brad Faxon must be considered. Roberts set the tournament record in 1996, finishing 19-under for his third of five career titles. Payne Stewart: Stewart won this event in both 1989 and 1990 and tied Mickelson for third last year. He has had an impressive season this year, winning at Pebble Beach and finishing second at the Honda Classic. Bob Tway: It's time for Tway to put something together, and why not at Harbour Town? Tway won this event in 1995, the last of his seven career titles. He needs to get a win soon before he completely forgets how to close something out. Tom Watson: Making his farewell tour before heading to the senior circuit at the end of 1999, Watson hasn't played very well this year. But he is a two-time champion at Harbour Town and should be able to call on some old knowledge of this course. Tiger Woods: Woods hasn't done much since the tour headed east, but he is always dangerous. He has six top-10 finishes this year, including a win in San Diego. Already passed by David Duval for the world's No. 1 ranking, he is in danger of dropping to third behind Love this week.
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Stewart lets Perry slip into MCI lead Stewart back on top at Harbour Town Norman not looking back at MCI
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