The PGA Tours first mayor championship was disputed this year and the second stage goes from the 7,445 yard long field to a field almost 500 yards shorter and with 10 weeks to lessen the pressure in all the aspects. The TOUR changes from the climatically rough grounds of Augusta National Golf Club to the welcoming meadows of the Harbour Town Golf Links for the next stage. The difference for the players is that this course is built for shot-shaping and accuracy, not only power. It rewards the skillful players, not the ones that can go around managing to jump the obstacles, it doesn't have the windmills and loop to loops on the greens, the winners are the ones that play really play well. The field features Ernie Els, Jim Furyk, Darren Clarke, Chris DiMarco, Jose Maria Olazabal, Davis Love III, Geoff Ogilvy and Chad Campbell. Peter Lonard is the defending champion, having survived a brutally ugly final round in Hilton Head, S.C. The challenge in Harbour Town is not in length, since it stretches to only 6,973 yards, it lies not in twirls and turns and the fact that it is the smallest greens on Tour. |
