[ GOLF ]
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Poipu Bay Golf Course on Kauai hosts the Grand Slam of Golf today and tomorrow.
Grand Slam field is
filled with first-timers
POIPU BEACH, Hawaii >> PGA champion Shaun Micheel is just happy to be a part of the Grand Slam of Golf, a tournament so exclusive that five-time defending champion Tiger Woods didn't qualify.
"This is probably the only event a defending champion doesn't get to return," Micheel said yesterday as he prepared for this weekend's $1 million event. "This is one of the big perks of winning a major. It's still a golf tournament, but I'm here to have a good time."
For the first time in the Grand Slam's 21-year history, four first-time major winners will face off in the 36-hole tournament that begins today.
Micheel is joined by Masters champion Mike Weir, U.S. Open winner Jim Furyk and British Open champion Ben Curtis.
It took Weir, Furyk and Micheel a few years to earn a spot in the event at the lush, oceanside 7,014-yard Poipu Bay Golf Course on Kauai. Curtis, however, qualified on his first attempt.
Curtis, at 26 the youngest participant in the field, was ranked 396th in the world when he won the British Open and became the first golfer to win a major in his first attempt since Francis Ouimet accomplished the feat at the 1913 U.S. Open.
Curtis said his life and golfing career haven't been the same since winning at Royal St. George's.
Last year at this time, Curtis said, he was relaxing at his home in Ohio, wondering what events he could play in. Now, he's looking forward to beginning the season on Maui next month at the Mercedes Championships.
"I'm going to play a lot more at the beginning of the year because I can play in all the events I want, whereas last year, I just played in the events I could get into," he said.
Although it's Furyk's first time playing on Kauai, the part-time Maui resident has a small advantage. He has earned more than $1.8 million in 17 events in Hawaii. He won the 1996 Hawaiian Open and the Mercedes Championships in 2001.
Furyk said the key in this event will be keeping the ball down in the strong tradewinds that whip through Poipu.
"I don't know if I have an advantage, but I'm very comfortable here in Hawaii," he said.
Of the foursome, Furyk earned the most money on tour this year with $5,182,865. He was fourth on the money list behind Vijay Singh, Woods and Davis Love III.
Last year, Woods earned his fifth straight Grand Slam title, finishing with a tournament-record 11-under 61 for a record 17-under 127 total, good for a 14-stroke victory.
Micheel said Woods is probably not pleased about missing the Grand Slam for the first time since 1996.
"Any time he has a chance to win a major championship and he doesn't, I'm sure he's disappointed," Micheel said.
