LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Most players used to come to Disney to play golf and enjoy the theme parks. As the final tournament of the PGA Tour season, the Children's Miracle Network Classic has a much more serious tone this year.
Most guys here are simply trying to save their jobs.
No one is feeling it quite like ex-Wildcat Ted Purdy, who has plunged from No. 110 on the money list at the start of the Fall Series to No. 125, giving him a $4,118 lead over J.B. Holmes.
If he misses the cut and Holmes makes it to the weekend, Purdy will lose his full exemption for 2008.
"Never was I worried about keeping my card until the last couple of weeks," Purdy said. "I've played my way into this situation."
He's not alone.
Since the Fall Series began, nine players have fallen outside of the top 125 in what has proven to be an unpredictable set of circumstances.
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Tour officials figured something around $700,000 would be enough to finish in the top 125, but that number has been moving north every week.
PGA TOUR
Children's Miracle Network Classic
• Site: Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
• Schedule: Today-Sunday.
• Courses: Walt Disney Resort, Magnolia Course (7,516 yards, par 72) and Palm Course (7,015 yards, par 72).
• Purse: $4.6 million. Winner's share: $828,000.
• TV: Golf Channel (Today-Saturday, 11 a.m.; Sunday, noon).
• Last year: Joe Durant won for the first time since March 2001, closing with a bogey-free 65 for a four-stroke victory over Troy Matteson and Frank Lickliter II.
• Last week: Daniel Chopra won the oft-delayed Ginn sur Mer Classic, edging Fredrik Jacobsen and Shigeki Maruyama by a stroke Monday at Tesoro in Port St. Lucie.
• Notable: The final top 125 on the money list will earn full 2008 exemptions. The next 25 will receive conditional status. Rich Beem is 121st at $818,825, followed by Ben Curtis ($772,321), J.P. Hayes ($771,215), Mathias Gronberg ($764,020), No. 125 Ted Purdy ($758,734), J.B. Holmes ($754,616), Kevin Stadler ($737,276), Brett Quigley ($717,411), Craig Kanada ($713,280) and Harrison Frazar ($698,534). Durant, 131st at $693,573, is exempt next year because of his victory. ... Chris DiMarco is making his first start since arthroscopic surgery Sept. 12 to remove a bone spur from his left shoulder.
LPGA TOUR
Mizuno Classic
• Site: Mie, Japan
• Schedule: Friday-Sunday
• Course: Kinetsu Kashikojima Country Club (6,509 yards, par 72).
• Purse: $1.4 million. Winner's share: $210,000.
• TV: None
• Last year: Karrie Webb ended Annika Sorenstam's Mizuno Classic winning streak at five, closing with a 66 for a four-stroke victory over Kaori Higo. Sorenstam finished five strokes back.
• Last week: Suzann Pettersen won the Honda LPGA Thailand for her second straight victory and third in four weeks, beating Laura Davies with a 15-foot eagle putt on 18, after blowing a seven-stroke lead. Pettersen has five tour wins this season and has had at least a share of the lead in six straight rounds.
• Notable: Pettersen and Sorenstam are taking the week off. ... Webb, winless this year, tops the field along with Davies, Ai Miyazato, Sophie Gustafson, Mi Hyun Kim and Julieta Granada. ... The Tournament of Champions is next week at Magnolia Grove in Mobile, Ala.
EUROPEAN TOUR
Volvo Masters
• Site: Sotogrande, Spain.
• Schedule: Today-Sunday.
• Course: Valderrama Golf Club (6,952 yards, par 71).
• Purse: $5.77 million. Winner's share: $961,390.
• TV: Golf Channel (Today-Sunday, 6 a.m.)
• Last year: Padraig Harrington won the European Order of Merit with a second-place tie in the season-ending event. Jeev Milka Singh won, finishing a stroke ahead of Harrington, Sergio Garcia and Luke Donald. Garcia's 72nd-hole bogey pushed Harrington past Paul Casey for the money title.
• Last week: Gregory Bourdy won the Mallorca Classic to become the tour's record 18th first-time winner this season. He closed with a 3-under 68 for a two-stroke victory over Sam Little.
• Notable: Ernie Els, atop the Order of Merit with $3,599,824, is skipping the tournament, giving Harrington ($3,286,463), Justin Rose ($3,285,516), Henrik Stenson ($2,864,287) and Niclas Fasth ($2,701,397) a chance to win the money title. ... In addition to the top 60 on the Order of Merit, past winners have been invited back to help commemorate the 20th Volvo Masters. ... Europe won the 1997 Ryder Cup at Valderrama. ... Colin Montgomerie and Bernhard Langer shared the 2002 title when darkness ended a playoff after two holes. ... Harrington also won in 2001 at Montecastillo.
NATIONWIDE TOUR
Tour Championship
• Site: Lakeside, Calif.
• Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.
• Course: Barona Creek Golf Club (7,500 yards, par 72).
• Purse: $775,000. Winner's share: $139,500.
• TV: Golf Channel (Today-Saturday, 2 p.m.; Sunday, 3 p.m.).
• Last year: Craig Kanada played his way onto the PGA Tour, holing chips on the final two holes for a one-stroke victory in the season-ending event at The Houstonian. Ten positions out of a PGA Tour spot at the start of the week, earned $135,000 to jump to 11th on the money list with $297,744.
• Last week: Marc Turnesa won the Miccosukee Championship for his first Nationwide Tour title, closing with a 1-under 70 for a one-stroke victory over David Mathis and Canadian Jon Mills. Turnesa earned $103,500 to jump from 43rd to 13th on the money list with $235,158, locking up a 2008 PGA Tour card.
