|
JULY/AUGUST 2008
By Rick Pledl
The U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee has long attracted certain devotees who return year after year for their own specific reasons.
Many who play the tournament – Wisconsin’s annual PGA Tour stop since 1968 – do so simply for their love of Brown Deer Park GC, a traditional, old-fashioned golf course with tree-lined fairways and thick bluegrass rough.
Some simply love coming to Milwaukee, a friendly big city that treats them well.
Still others have found their way to Milwaukee, especially in Ryder Cup years, in order to work their way up the pecking order in hopes of making the biannual team competition.
Kenny Perry resides in all three camps.
Perry is the second-leading money winner in U.S. Bank Championship history, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that he’s returning for another go-round at Brown Deer Park this summer. But, specifically, he will play Milwaukee because he wants to earn his way onto the U.S. Ryder Cup team. The event will be held in September at Valhalla GC in Louisville, Ky., and as a native Kentuck-ian, Perry, 47, has put the Ryder Cup at the top of his wish list for 2008. In early June, Perry held down the sixth spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup points list.
Perry is merely following the path identified by U.S. Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger, who has said players he considers for his four captain’s picks will be players who have found the win column.
“When Zinger said that the guys on his team are going to have to win tournaments (to make the team), that really changed my thinking,” Perry told Golfweek magazine following his victory at the Memorial in June. “I knew I had to win golf tournaments.”
Thus, Perry is focusing this season on tournaments where he has found success in the past, like the Memorial, which he has now won three times in his career. And like the U.S. Bank Champ-ionship, which he won in 2003. Since the tournament – formerly known as the Greater Milwaukee Open – moved to Brown Deer Park in 1994, Perry has made the cut in all eight of his appearances, and he recorded seven top-10 finishes during that time. (He tied for fifth last year.)
Perry tops the tournament’s all-time career scoring list at 68.52 over 46 rounds, but his scoring average at Brown Deer Park is even lower at 67.13.
In addition to Perry, defending champion Joe Ogilvie is expected back. Ogilvie won his first PGA Tour title last year with a 266 total (67-63-69-67) at Brown Deer Park, highlighted by a final-round eagle when he holed a sand wedge from the fairway on the par-4 16th hole.
Several players with connections to Wisconsin always make the U.S. Bank Championship field as well, including some club pros and amateurs who advance through qualifiers or receive sponsor’s exemptions.
Pewaukee native Mark Wilson led the Wisconsin contingent last year with his first top-10 finish in the event. Wilson shot 67-70-67-69–273 and tied for ninth place.
U.S. Bank Championship Facts
What: The 41st annual U.S. Bank Championship.
When: July 17-20.
Where: Brown Deer Park GC in Milwaukee (6,728 yards; par-70).
Who: An international field of 156 players, including state pros and amateurs who advance to the tournament through local qualifying events.
Format: 72 holes of stroke play. The field will be cut after the second round.
Purse: $4 million (winner’s share: $720,000).
Following the Action: Purchase tickets online at www.usbankchampionship.com or call (414) 431-4653 (Ext. 10).
Admission is free for children under 12 who are accompanied by an adult and for practice rounds on Monday and Tuesday of tournament week. All four rounds will be broadcast on The Golf Channel.
Last Year: Joe Ogilvie of Austin, Texas, shot 67-63-69-67–266 to claim his first PGA Tour title by four strokes over Charlie Wi, Tim Herron and Tim Clark.
For More Info: Visit www.usbankchampionship.com.
|
