Monday, November 16, 1998
O’Meara the
man in SlamNew match-play format favors
Star-Bulletin staff
the Masters and British Open championMark O'Meara is favored as the $1 million PGA Grand Slam of Golf will feature a match-play format for the first time.
O'Meara, the Masters and British Open champion, will play Vijay Singh, winner of the PGA Championship, in one of the two 18-hole matches tomorrow morning at the Poipu Bay Resort golf course on Kauai.
Tiger Woods, who will round out the field as the top alternate because O'Meara won two of the majors, will meet U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen in the other match.
On Wednesday, the winners will play for the $400,000 top prize, the losers for third place. Second place is worth $250,000, third $200,000 and fourth $150,000.
In previous years, the PGA of America event had been 36 holes of stroke play.
O'Meara's track record in match-play competition makes him the favorite.
He beat Woods, 1-up, in the 36-hole final of the World Match Play Championship last month in England after scoring a runaway victory over Singh, 11 and 10, in the semifinals.
Singh arrived last night from Shenzhen, China, where he captured the Johnnie Walker Super Tour event.
The PGA Grand Slam will be televised on TBS starting at 2:05 p.m. each day.
