Trio Stymied By Tough Tour Ruling

Sun Herald

Sunday January 7, 2007

Peter Stone

FORMER Australian Open champion Greg Chalmers, David McKenzie and Scott Hend all played the $US55 million US PGA Tour last year, but have lost their cards. Now they can't even get a start in Australasian Tour events without asking tournament organisers for an invitation.

Because they had to return to the US tour school in a bid to regain their cards, unsuccessfully as it eventuated, they were unable to return home to play all three events late last year to fulfil the minimum four tournaments required for Order of Merit status. Now they have no card here either.

All three wanted to play the $1 million Jacob's Creek Open, co-sanctioned with the secondary US Nationwide Tour, at Adelaide's Kooyonga layout next month, but only Chalmers has been given an invitation. Tournament promoter Bob Tuohy has allocated the other two available spots to rising stars Jason Day and Won Joon Lee.

McKenzie, a generally unflappable bloke, is particularly disappointed, saying: "You support your home tour for years, and get one chance at the big time in the US, so you can't come home. We now need our tour's support, but it's not happening."

Maybe the answer lies in what happens in the US, where tour commissioner Tim Finchem has the power to grant two special exemptions each week over and above normal sponsor invitations.

Appleby right at home

GIVEN that Stuart Appleby has won the Mercedes Championship for the past three years, his mates have suggested he owns Kapalua.

Well, that is not quite right, but he now owns a slice of land on the course. He will build a holiday home there to go with his residences in Melbourne and Orlando, Florida.

Surf's up for Scott

WHEN world No.4 Adam Scott packed for his trip to Hawaii he took his tools of trade -and his surfboard.

As a kid on the Sunshine Coast, he was a keen surfer. So how does he rate himself as a surfer now? "About a 10-handicapper," he says.

© 2007 Sun Herald

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