Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open

September 29 - October 2, 2011
TPC Summerlin
Las Vegas, Nv.
Par: 72 / Yardage: 7,223
Purse: $4.3 million with $756,000 going to the winner
Defending Champion: Jonathan Byrd

List of Champions & Scores

Results & Scores 2010 Timberlake Open

Box Score of 2010 Timberlake Open

Tournament facts:

Tournament information:

At the tournament's inception, the managers of the tournament prided themselves on running a tournament that stands out amongst the slew of annual PGA events. It was the first event to offer a total purse of $1 million; at the trophy presentation, the winner used to receive his trophy with two showgirls by his side. Though these ideas help separate the event from others, the most drastic deviation from the norm is the tournament's format, which in a way "borrowed" the format at the Bob Hope Open..

In its inception, the tournament was played over five rounds at between three and four courses. However, in 2003, when the original tournament founders abdicated control to another volunteer organization, the event was immediately switched to the more conventional four round format. Over the years courses have been dropped and for the fourth straight time this year it's only played on the TPC Summerlin.

Course information:

TPC Summerlin was designed by Bobby Weed and Fuzzy Zoeller in 1992. The Par 71 course measures 7,233 yards. It has a course rating of 74.3 and a slope rating of 139. The tees, fairways, and rough all comprise of 419 Bermuda Grass, cut at 3/8", 3/8", and 2" respectively. The greens consist of a 1/8" cut of A-1/A-4 Creeping Bent Grass. This short cut mixed with the always speedy Bent Grass explains the rather Stimpmeter reading of 11 feet. As for hazards, the course features 85 sand bunkers and water comes into play on four holes.

The signature hole at TPC Summerlin is the short 341-yard par four 15th hole. The large elevated green is reachable from the tee; however, numerous bunkers guard the green, making the play risky, but possibly very rewarding. As for accolades, Golf Digest rated this as the fourth "Best in State" course for 1995-96, and the fifth best for 1997-98. Also, GolfWeek awarded it 98th in the category of "America's 100 Best Modern Courses" for 1997.

Last year was the third time that Summerlin was the only course used, and they made a big change two years before by changing par to 71 by making the third hole a long par 4 at 473 yards. In addition to this change, 14 trees were added along the right side of the fairways on Nos. 9 and 16, both par 5s. The rough also was grown longer than in years past and for holes 7, 9, 11, 12, 13 and 16 the fairways are going to be between 3 and 5 yards narrower than in 2008. All of these changed to try and make the course play a bit tougher. In 2008 Summerlin played to an average of 69.070, while in 2009 with par reduced it played just about the same, 69.152. Last year it played to a 68.956 average so the plan to make it tougher hasn't worked as of the 52 courses on tour in '10, it was the fifth easiest, with the Plantation Course at Kapalua being the only easier course that held all four rounds.

The Buzz:

As for Mahan he started the FedEx Cup playoffs 20th and moved up to 7th winning which got him a $700,000 FedEx Cup bonus. With the $864,000 that he won for finishing runner-up at the Tour Championship that means he earned $1,564,000 for his week, normally a great week. But in golf folklore Mahan will carry around the stigma that he lost more money than anyone else in a playoff probably in golf. If Mahan would of won the playoff he would of won $11,400,000 so the playoff lost cost him $9,836,000 which is the biggest lost in golf.

Sorry but in these frugal times in which countries like Greece are on the cusp of going down the drain, unemployment being what it is in this country over 9% and about 25% of the mortgages being underwater and folks are wondering if it's best to just walk away from it all, does the PGA Tour really have to play for so much money?

Is it a good sign to show off the richness of what Tim Finchem has created? At the same time that the Tour Championship was being played, we just witnessed the drama of the Solheim Cup in which we saw as much nerves displayed in a contest that no money changed hands. Nobody got a dime for playing in the Solheim Cup and I just have to wonder if shareholders of FedEx, which is going to show a drop in their business when they reveal their earnings in the coming days, is happy to be a part of something that is as wasteful.

Golf has been littered with other events that feel they can create drama and excitement by giving out large sums of cash. This weeks event in Las Vegas was the first to offer a million dollar purse 28 years ago and I would love for you to name who won that first Panasonic Las Vegas Pro Celebrity?

Sorry to inflict my politics on you all but frankly I don't think that we need to offer all of this money to attract more to the game of golf. Tim Finchem or the next person that take his job are going to lower things just because their salaries balloon on bonuses for bringing in higher purses, so there is no real answers to this. Just hope the players on the PGA Tour appreciate all of this and I can only hope for them that shareholders of companies like FedEx don't realize what is happening and cut back the FedEx bonus pool in future years.

Getting back to the tournament, for years the event in Las Vegas has been on the cusp of disappearing only to have something happen to keep it going. Again, good things are happening with this event as teen idol Justin Timberlake took the reins in 2008 and has elevated this event. Now the buzz for the week will be the tournament pressing PGA Tour officials to add it to the FedEx cup point list and moving it to a spring date. It's funny that the first 13 years of this event was played in the spring and it would love to return to that date, frankly I can't see it happening in 2012 but you never know what will happen for 2013. The good news is that this event looks like it will survive for years to come and right now is very healthy.

For some this will be a fun week with a little bit of golf mixed in with the fast-pace action of Las Vegas but for over half the field this will be an important week in either trying to save their tour cards for 2012 by finishing in the a top-125 finish of the money list.

Money will be on the minds of a lot of people like D.J. Trahan, David Mathis, Roland Thatcher, Bob Estes, Billy Mayfair and David Hearn who are in those 124 to 129th magical number. In past years it's funny how lady luck played an important part . Last year Jonathan Byrd was 105th on the money list, he wasn't going to lose a spot in the top-125 but the win gave him the momentum to open the year with a win at Kapalua. You had to think that it could only happen in Las Vegas, Byrd winning a playoff with a hole in one. In 2009 Martin Laird proved how much lady luck plays a part in each year's money race. Laird was 134th and struggling just to keep his tour card, but a win gave him a two year exemption and raised him to 62nd on the money list.

Other examples of how lady luck has played a part in the careers of some, in 2008 Marc Turnesa came to Las Vegas 138th on the money list and struggling to retain his tour card. For the week he was a 500 to one longshot that saw lady luck shine down on him with his 24 under par total which secured his Tour card for two years. You also have the story of 2007 when at the beginning of the week, Geroge McNeill was 122nd on the money list and with his win was able to retain his Card. In 2006 Troy Matteson was 143rd on the money list and looking hard at getting into the top-125. He did one better with a win that gave him a two year exemption. Also look at 2005, Wes Short, Jr. was not looking very good. He was 176th on the money list and was an alternate. Lady luck paid a visit when Arron Oberholser withdrew on Tuesday giving Short the place and then he took advantage of it with solid rounds to get into a playoff, then beat Jim Furyk for the title. Yes, luck was on Short's side.

A couple of other examples of luck was in 2001, when Billy Andrade was struggling to keep his tour card entering this event 159th on the list, but left hitting the big jackpot with a win. 2004 was also a Cinderella story as Andre Stolz entered the tournament 217th on the money list and he won it winning a two year exemption on tour.

Lastly we have to look at the one bad thing about this event, it's name. Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospital for Children Open . At 47 characters, it's the 2nd longest behind the 53 character World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship. But that title has always been shortened to WGC-Accenture. So hopefully in the years to come the folks that run that event in Las Vegas will think of giving us a break with a shorter name, like Timberlake Shriners Hospital Open or even better yet how about just calling it the Timberlake Open.

Lastly we will talk about it more next week, but lot's of buzz on Tiger Woods signing up Joe LaCava to caddie for him. Woods is being accused of stealing LaCava away from Dustin Johnson, that really isn't the case. LaCava contacted Tiger and pursued it, so the blame has to go with him. Of course Tiger has a black mark because he never contacted Dustin Johnson to say it was going down. But I guess in these days of text messages and nobody wanted to tell someone face to face bad news it's just another sign of the times.

Here are some things to look for this week:

Photo: © Marc Feldman/Wire Images The 18th Hole of The TPC Summerlin, is the home of the 2007 Fry's.Com Open..

• Key stat for the winner:
  Making lots of birdies is important. The average for the last ten years is about six a round but since the tournament went to 72 holes that average dropped down to five a round.
• With fairways that are wide open, fairways with lots of roll, dominating the par 5s has been a key. It's also intereing to note that in the last five years the winners have averaged 11 under par on the par 4s. Last year Byrd was 14 under, in 2009 Martin Laird and in 2008 Marc Turnesa were both 13 under on them.
• Being a accurate driver, a long driver or a person that hits a lot of greens really doesn't give you a big advantage. Scrambling is very important plus not making many bogeys. If there ever was a tournament that favors the newcomer this is it.
• Most of the time the weather is wonderful, but every now and then high winds bring big challenges to the players, those that can handle these conditions have the advantage.
• The first two days is a pro-am, so patience is very important for the pros who have to endure close to six hour rounds.
• You have to realize were your out, in Las Vegas "lady luck" is very important in winning, a lot of players that you would never think would win have found the "luck factor" in victory.

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