Doral, Fla. -- As the 5 p.m. ET deadline came and went for commitments to next week’s World Golf Championships-CA Championship, tournament officials saw no difference between the list of eligible players and those who had committed to play in the event. All 74 of the players who qualified for the second World Golf Championships event of the season will be making their way to Doral Golf Resort & Spa next week, including world No. 1 and defending champion Tiger Woods.
Players from 18 different countries have qualified for the CA Championship, including Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, Ernie Els, Jim Furyk and Henrik Stenson, winner of the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship last month.
“We’ve hit the jackpot,” said Eddie Carbone, executive director of the CA Championship. “We’re officially batting a thousand, and I think it is time to go buy a lottery ticket. This is huge for sports fans in South Florida, and we couldn’t ask for anything more for this first World Golf Championships event in Florida.”
While 74 players are making plans to tame Doral’s Blue Monster next week, there’s a chance the tournament could add a few more participants by Monday, as the CA Championship field won’t be finalized until the conclusion of this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard. On March 19, any player who enters the top 10 on the FedExCup Points List will be eligible for the CA Championship, as well as any player who cracks the Official World Golf Ranking’s top 50. Those players must commit to the tournament by 5 p.m. ET on Monday, March 19.
That means players like Vaughn Taylor, a first-round co-leader at Bay Hill Club and Lodge who is currently tied for second after 17 holes of his round today, still has a shot at making the CA Championship field. Taylor, currently 89th in FedExCup Points, could earn a trip to Doral with a win this week. He has 856 points, which puts him 4,062 away from 10th -place Charley Hoffman. A win this week is worth 4,500.
Heath Slocum, a runner-up with John Senden at last week’s PODS Championship, still has a chance to continue the PGA TOUR’s Florida Swing. Slocum, currently 12th in FedExCup Points, needs to finish 17th or better this week to have a chance at cracking the top 10. For Jeff Quinney (13th with 4,467 points), a 14 th-or-better showing is needed.
Limited tickets remain to the 2007 CA Championship:
1. Go to www.worldgolfchampionships.com to order tickets on-line.
2. Call 1-866-4WGC-TIX (866-494-2849) to purchase tickets by phone.
Daily tickets may be purchased at Publix stores in Dade and Broward Counties.
The 2007 World Golf Championships-CA Championship will have an $8 million purse, with the game’s top players competing for the $1.35 million first-place prize and the Gene Sarazen Cup. The event is also a part of the PGA TOUR’s new FedExCup, the season-long competition where PGA TOUR member players will amass points based on their performance.
One of three World Golf Championships events, the CA Championship will feature the top-50 players from the Official World Golf Ranking along with top finishers on the money lists of the six Tours comprising the International Federation of PGA Tours (PGA TOUR, European Tour, Australasian Tour, Japan Golf Tour, Asian Tour and Sunshine Tour). The first two rounds will be televised by The Golf Channel and NBC will broadcast the final two rounds. The tournament will be televised in 140 countries.
Some of golf’s best players have emerged victorious during the tournament’s seven-year history. Woods counts five victories in this tournament among his 13 World Golf Championships titles. He won the inaugural event in 1999 at Valderrama in Spain and followed that up with victories in 2002 in Ireland, in 2003 and 2005 in the United States, and then in 2006 in London. In 2000, Canadian Mike Weir captured the title, and in 2004, Els of South Africa triumphed.
The World Golf Championships feature elite players in a variety of competitive formats at venues around the world. Since the series debut in 1999, World Golf Championships have been held in 10 countries. The CA Championship has been played five times in Europe and twice previously in the United States.
About CA
CA (NYSE: CA), one of the world's largest information technology (IT) management software companies, unifies and simplifies the management of enterprise-wide IT. Founded in 1976, CA is headquartered in Islandia, N.Y., and serves customers in more than 140 countries. For more information, please visit http://ca.com.
Contact: Laura Neal
Director, Communications
Championship Management
Tel: 904-273-7655
Email: lauraneal@pgatourhq.com
Official
World Golf
2007
FEDEXCUP POINTS
EUR.
2006 ORDER OF MERIT
COUNTRIES
#'s
RANKING
PLAYER
1
Charles Howell III
TOP 20
PLAYER
USA
27
1
Tiger Woods, USA
2
Phil Mickelson
1
Padraig Harrington
South Africa
9
2
Jim Furyk, USA
3
Vijay Singh
2
Paul Casey
England
8
3
Phil Mickelson, USA
4
John Rollins, USA
3
David Howell
Australia
8
4
Adam Scott, Aus
5
Mark Calcavecchia, USA
4
Robert Karlsson
Sweden
5
5
Henrik Stenson, Swe
6
Aaron Baddeley
5
Ernie Els
Spain
2
6
Ernie Els, SAf
7
Mark Wilson, USA
6
Henrik Stenson
Canada
2
7
Geoff Ogilvy, Aus
8
Tiger Woods
7
Luke Donald
India
2
8
Retief Goosen, SAf
9
Paul Goydos
8
Ian Poulter
Japan
2
9
Vijay Singh, Fij
10
Charley Hoffman, USA
9
Colin Montgomerie
South Korea
2
10
Padraig Harrington, Ire
2006
PGA TOUR Money List
10
Johan Edfors (Sweden)
Thailand
1
11
Luke Donald, Eng
TOP 30
PLAYER
11
Sergio Garcia
Scotland
1
12
Trevor Immelman, SAf
1
Tiger Woods
12
Retief Goosen
New Zealand
1
13
Paul Casey, Eng
2
Jim Furyk
13
Anthony Wall (England)
Ireland
1
14
Sergio Garcia, Spn
3
Adam Scott
14
Thomas Bjorn (Denmark)
Fiji
1
15
Charles Howell-III, USA
4
Vijay Singh
15
Niclas Fasth
Denmark
1
16
Nick O'Hern, Aus
5
Geoff Ogilvy
16
Jeev Mikha Singh
Argentina
1
17
Davis Love-III, USA
6
Phil Mickelson
17
Angel Cabrera
18
David Howell, Eng
7
Trevor Immelman
18
Charl Schwartzel (South Africa)
PLAYERS
74
19
David Toms, USA
8
Stuart Appleby
19
Paul Broadhurst (England)
COUNTRIES
18
20
Colin Montgomerie, Sco
9
Luke Donald
20
John Bickerton (England)
21
Choi K.J., Kor
10
Brett Wetterich
EUR.
2007 ORDER OF MERIT
22
Jose M. Olazabal, Spn
11
David Toms
TOP 10
PLAYER
23
Robert Allenby, Aus
12
Rory Sabbatini
1
Henrik Stenson
24
Stewart Cink, USA
13
Joe Durant
2
Retief Goosen
25
Chris DiMarco, USA
14
Chad Campbell
3
Y.E. Yang
26
Stuart Appleby, Aus
15
Stewart Cink
4
Paul Casey
27
Robert Karlsson, Swe
16
Davis Love III
5
Ernie Els
28
Ian Poulter, Eng
17
Rod Pampling
6
Trevor Immelman
29
Chad Campbell, USA
18
Carl Pettersson
7
Nick O'Hern
30
Tim Clark, SAf
19
Retief Goosen
8
Anton Haig, Saf
31
Justin Rose, Eng
20
Brett Quigley (USA)
9
Justin Rose
32
Aaron Baddeley, Aus
21
Lucas Glover, USA
10
Michael Campbell
33
Stephen Ames, Can
22
Dean Wilson (USA)
2006 AUSTRALASIAN TOUR
34
Shingo Katayama, Jpn
23
Arron Oberholser
FINAL ORDER OF MERIT
35
Niclas Fasth, Swe
24
Zach Johnson (USA)
TOP 3
PLAYER
36
Michael Campbell, NZI
25
Tom Pernice, Jr. (USA)
1
Nick O'Hern
37
Joe Durant, USA
26
Stephen Ames
2
Kevin Stadler (USA)
38
Yang Y.E., Kor
27
K.J. Choi
3
Nathan Green (Australia)
39
Rod Pampling, Aus
28
Ernie Els
2006 ASIAN TOUR
40
Angel Cabrera, Arg
29
J.J. Henry (USA)
FINAL ORDER OF MERIT
41
Rory Sabbatini, Saf
30
Ben Curtis (USA)
TOP 3
PLAYER
42
Bart Bryant, USA
2006 JAPAN TOUR
1
Jeev Mikha Singh
43
Mike Weir, Can
TOP 3
ORDER OF MERIT
2
Thongchai Jaidee (Thailand)
44
Paul Goydos, USA
1
Shingo Katayama
3
Prom Meesawat (India)
45
Arron Oberholser, USA
2
Hideto Tanihara (Japan)
2006/2007 Sunshine Tour
46
Jeev Milka Singh, Ind
3
Jeev Milka Singh
TOP 3
ORDER OF MERIT
47
Lucas Glover, USA
1
Charl Schwartzel
48
Carl Pettersson, Swe
2
Louis Oosthuizen (Saf)
49
Steve Stricker, USA
3
Hennie Otto (Saf)
50
Brett Wetterich, USA
