Deutsche Bank Championship Blue Notes -- May

Deutsche Bank Tickets On Sale June 2!

With the U.S. Open just around the corner, that means only one thing: Deutsche Bank Championship tickets are going on sale.

For the second straight year, the Deutsche Bank Championship will put tickets on sale for a two-week window beginning Monday, June 2. Tickets will remain on sale until Sunday, June 15 or until sold out.

With last year’s sellout for the final two Championship rounds and promises for another spectacular field including the top 120 players in the world, Championship organizers expect ticket sales to once again be strong from the start.
In addition, two of the Championship’s Founders Club partners – Dunkin’ Donuts and Mastercard – will be giving Deutsche Bank Championship fans a little something extra when they purchase their tickets.
For each of the first 5,000 online ticket orders, Dunkin’ Donuts will throw in a $10 gift card. Also, those using their Mastercard to purchase tickets online will be automatically entered in a drawing to win great prizes including the Grand Prize of Monster Seats for a Red Sox-Devil Rays game at Fenway Park, with dinner in the State Street Pavilion and and a pre-game tour of Fenway Park. Single-day practice round tickets are just $25 while competition round tickets are available for $55. A competition round booklet, which provides admission to each of the four championship rounds, is available for $150, a 20% savings over single-day admission. And the Deutsche Bank Club booklet, which provides access to the double-decker Deutsche Bank Pavilion on the 17th fairway, will be available for $275.
Serge-ing to the Top To say that Sergio Garcia completely turned his season around with his playoff victory over Paul Goydos in last weekend’s PLAYERS Championship might be the understatement of the year.

Garcia not only posted his first victory in more than three years, he moved from 119th to 14th on the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup standings, meaning that in all likelihood, Garcia will be part of the Deutsche Bank Championship field. The victory also vaulted Garcia to 10th in the World Golf Rankings and up to 7th (from 110th) on the PGA TOUR money list. Garcia’s victory was anything but simple. The 28-year old Spaniard finished at 5-under-par 283 (66-73-73-71) and overcame a three-shot deficit against Goydos with six holes to play. In doing so, he had to scramble on 18 after pushing his drive into the right rough, which forced him to lay up short of the green. After nearly holing his chip, he sank a 7-foot par putt and then waited for Goydos to bogey the 72nd hole to fall into the playoff.

It was the first playoff at the PLAYERS in 21 years, but it didn’t last very long. Garcia’s pitching wedge at the first playoff hole, the famous island green par-3 17th, landed left of the pin and rolled to within four feet. Goydos, though, had already found the water and made a double bogey 5 on the hole, allowing Garcia to two-putt for par and still seal victory.

The victory was long awaited for Garcia, who turned pro in 1999 but had not won on the PGA TOUR since capturing the 2005 Booz Allen Classic. A quick look at the stats for the PLAYERS Championship, though, certainly proves Garcia a very worthy victor.

Garcia led the field in fairways hit throughout the week (43-of-56) and tied for tops in greens in regulation (56-of-72). The TPC Sawgrass Course, much like the Deutsche Bank Championship’s home at the TPC Boston, certainly rewards accuracy, and that was most apparent last week.

As Garcia is highly likely to make this year’s Deutsche Bank Championship field on the heels of last weekend’s victory, he’ll now look to improve on his 2007 performance. A year ago, Garcia shot a 6-under-par 278 but finished 10 shots behind winner Phil Mickelson. '06 Champion Woods Recovering After Successful Knee Surgery 2006 Deutsche Bank Championship winner and 2007 FedExCup playoff champion Tiger Woods underwent successful arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in Park City, Utah on April 15 and is expected to be out of action from the PGA TOUR until around late May or early June.

The world’s undisputed No. 1-ranked player since June 2005, Woods had his left knee operated on for the third time in his career (also in 1994 and 2002), but it won’t affect his imminent participation in the Deutsche Bank Championship come Labor Day Weekend at TPC Boston in Norton, MA. “I made the decision to deal with the pain and schedule the surgery for after the Masters,” Woods said at the time of the procedure. “The upside is that I have been through this process before and know how to handle it. I look forward to working through the rehabilitation process and getting back to action as quickly as I can. Woods leads the 2008 PGA TOUR in wins (3) and scoring average (67.73), and he sits atop the FedExCup points standings and the PGA TOUR money list with over $4,425,000 million earned already

The Deutsche Bank Championship is the gift that keeps on giving to Woods. Not only did he win the 2006 Deutsche Bank Championship – he shot a 16-under-par 268 (66-72-67-63) and won his fifth of seven consecutive tournaments to end his 2006 season – and finish runner-up in 2007 and 2004, but the Tiger Woods Foundation is one of the many local and national charitable beneficiaries of the Deutsche Bank Championship.

Involved in perhaps the best spectator scene in the history of Deutsche Bank Championship competition, Woods was paired with Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh for the first two rounds of last year’s Deutsche Bank Championship. It was a threesome that attracted national attention and five-figure crowds that walked with the golfers for all 18 holes each day. Blue Notables A fresh face for the fairways of TPC Boston? One player who could create added excitement for fans at this year’s Deutsche Bank Championship is 22-year-old Anthony Kim, whose victory at the Wachovia Championship on May 4 made him the PGA TOUR’s youngest winner in six years. Kim’s score of 16-under-par 272 was three shots better than the previous tournament record set by Tiger Woods. After his win at Wachovia, Kim, the former NCAA freshman of the year at Oklahoma State, was fourth in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup points standings with 8,687 points, and found himself in the top 10 with previous Deutsche Bank Championship winners Woods (1), Phil Mickelson (2), Vijay Singh (5) and Adam Scott (10). The victory was his third top-10 finish in 10 events this season.
Scott’s Victory at Byron Nelson Sends Him Soaring Up Playoff Standings
Adam Scott, the Deutsche Bank Championship’s inaugural winner in 2003, earned his way back to the PGA TOUR winner’s circle for the sixth time April 27 in winning the EDS Byron Nelson Championship in Texas. Scott’s win vaulted him 80 places to No. 12 in the PGA TOUR Playoff for the FedExCup points standings, making it certain that he will be in the playoff picture and compete in his fifth Deutsche Bank Championship come Labor Day Weekend. The victory also boosted him to a No. 5 world ranking and No. 9 on the PGA TOUR money list.

Mickelson off to a running start

Defending Deutsche Bank Championship winner Phil Mickelson has already posted some excellent results this season, and is hoping to again challenge Tiger Woods for the FedExCup trophy. Mickelson already owns four top-10s in 2008, and has landed in the top 25 in all but one of the 10 tournaments he’s played. “Lefty” finished second in a playoff at the FBR Open, and two weeks later notched his first victory of the season at the Northern Trust Open in Los Angeles. He was also fifth at the Masters, and will gear up this month for a battle with Woods and the rest of the field in June’s U.S. Open, in his backyard in San Diego.

The numbers don’t lie

Of the top 10 players on tour in average driving distance entering the PLAYERS Championship, only three of them – Anthony Kim, Adam Scott and J.B. Holmes – were among the top 12 in PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup points. Four of the others were ranked 118th or worse in points. That goes to show that the biggest hitters aren’t always the ones who come in with the lowest numbers on their scorecards, and those that focus on hitting fairways just might be rewarded during the Deutsche Bank Championship, as the TPC Boston was redesigned prior to the 2007 Championship to promote more thought-provoking golf.