(Doral, FL, USA) – As the FedExCup brings a new era in golf to the PGA TOUR in 2007, the World Golf Championships-CA Championship will be tweaking the tournament’s eligibility requirements to include top performers from the PGA TOUR’s first-ever season long competition. Several other field changes were also announced for the tournament’s South Florida debut at the Blue Monster Course at Doral Golf Resort and Spa in Doral, Florida, on March 19-25.
Players finishing 2006 atop the money list of their respective home Tours have already qualified for next year’s event. For instance, the top 30 players from the 2006 PGA TOUR Money List as well as the top 20 players from the 2006 European Tour Order of Merit have earned a place in the field. This means players like 2006 PGA TOUR Player of the Year Tiger Woods, European Tour standouts Padraig Harrington, Paul Casey and David Howell, as well as Jim Furyk, Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott and Ernie Els, who all finished inside one of the two money lists have qualified for the tournament.
If the standings for qualification expired today, the field would be 70 players from 19 different countries. Not included in that list are the 10 spots open for players within the top 10 of the FedExCup on the PGA TOUR through March 12, 2007 and then again on March 19, 2007.
"World Golf Championships have proven to be a great test for the world’s best players. The stature of these global events is reflected in the way that more credit is given to these events than regular PGA TOUR events in the FedExCup points system," said Executive Director Eddie Carbone. "We look forward to watching how the season unfolds and also how these news standings help us to build what was already one of the strongest fields in golf with the world’s best players."
Eligibility for the tournament is as follows:
Estimated field size – 70 players
â?¢ The top 50 players, including any players tied for 50th available place, from the Official World Golf Ranking as of Monday, March 12, 2007.
â?¢ The top 50 players, including any players tied for 50th available place, from the Official World Golf Ranking as of Monday, March 19, 2007.
â?¢ The top 30 players from the 2006 Official PGA TOUR Money List.
â?¢ The top 10 players from the PGA TOUR FedExCup Points List as of March 12, 2007.
â?¢ The top 10 players from the PGA TOUR FedExCup Points List as of March 19, 2007.
â?¢ The top 20 players from the 2006 European Tour Order of Merit.
â?¢ The top 10 players from the European Tour Order of Merit as of Monday, March 12, 2007.
â?¢ The top 10 players from the European Tour Order of Merit as of Monday, March 19, 2007.
â?¢ The top 3 players from the 2006 Japan Golf Tour Order of Merit.
â?¢ The top 3 players from the final 2006 Australasian Tour Order of Merit.
â?¢ The top 3 players from the final 2006/2007 Sunshine Tour Order of Merit.
â?¢ The top 3 players from the final 2006 Asian Tour Order of Merit.
A detailed list of the current qualified players is located at the bottom of this release.
There are two ways to order tickets 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.
For information on other ticket specials, log on to www.worldgolfchampionships.com and look for the ticket information section of the World Golf Championships-CA Championship web-site.
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, set to debut next year.
One of four 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. Tiger 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. Earlier this year, he was victorious in London. In 2000, Canadian Mike Weir captured the title, and in 2004, Ernie 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: James Cramer
Director, Public Relations
World Golf Championships
Tel: 904-273-3293
Email: jcramer@pgatourhq.com
Offi cial World Golf Rankings 2007 FEDEX CUP POINTS EUR. 2006 ORDER OF MERIT COUNTRIES #’s
RANKING PLAYER COUNTRY 1 TOP 20 PLAYER USA 20
1 Tiger Woods USA 2 1 Padraig Harrington England 9
2 Jim Furyk USA 3 2 Paul Casey Australia 7
3 Phil Mickelson USA 4 3 David Howell S. Africa 6
4 Adam Scott Australia 5 4 Robert Karlsson Sweden 5
5 Ernie Els S. Africa 6 5 Ernie Els Japan 3
6 Retief Goosen S. Africa 7 6 Henrik Stenson South Korea 2
7 Vijay Singh Fiji 8 7 Luke Donald Spain 4
8 Padraid Harrington Ireland 9 8 Ian Poulter India 2
9 Luke Donald England 10 9 Colin Montgomerie Canada 2
10 Geoff Ogilvy Australia 2006 PGA TOUR Money List 10 Johan Edfors Northern Ireland 1
11 Sergio Garcia Spain TOP 30 PLAYER 11 Sergio Garcia Ireland 1
12 Henrik Stenson Sweden 1 Tiger Woods 12 Retief Goosen Wales 1
13 Trevor Immelman S. Africa 2 Jim Furyk 13 Anthony Wall (England) Argentina 1
14 David Howell England 3 Adam Scott 14 Thomas Bjorn Scotland 2
15 Paul Casey England 4 Vijay Singh 15 Niclas Fasth Denmark 1
16 Davis Love III USA 5 Geoff Ogilvy 16 Jeev Mikha Singh Fiji 1
17 Colin Montgomerie Scotland 6 Phil Mickelson 17 Angel Cabrera New Zealand 1
18 Jose Maria Olazabal Spain 7 Trevor Immelman 18 Charl Schwertzel (South Africa) Thailand 1
19 David Toms USA 8 Stuart Appleby 19 Paul Broadhurst (England)
20 Chris DiMarco USA 9 Luke Donald 20 John Bickerton (England) PLAYERS 70
21 Nick O’Hern Australia 10 Brett Wetterich EUR. 2007 ORDER OF MERIT COUNTRIES 19
22 Stuart Appleby Australia 11 David Toms TOP 10 PLAYER
23 Tim Clark S. Africa 12 Rory Sabatini 1 Y.E. Yang
24 Shingo Katayama Japan 13 Joe Durant 2 Michael Campbell
25 Michael Campbell N.Zealand 14 Chad Campbell 3 Jose Manuel Lara (Spain)
26 Stewart Cink USA 15 Stewart Cink 4 Retief Goosen
27 Chad Campbell USA 16 Davis Love III 5 Ernie Els
28 Angel Cabrera Argentina 17 Rod Pampling 6 Charl Schwertzel
29 K.J. Choi S. Korea 18 Carl Pettersson 7 Justin Rose (England)
30 Rod Pampling Australia 19 Retief Goosen 8 Marc Warren (Scotland)
31 Robert Karlsson Sweden 20 Brett Quigley (USA) 9 Alvaro Quiros
32 Joe Durant USA 21 Lucas Glovar 10 Nathan Green (Australia)
33 Yang Yong-Eun S. Korea 22 Dean Wilson (USA) 2006 AUSTRALASIAN TOUR
34 Ian Poulter England 23 Arron Oberholser FINAL ORDER OF MERIT
35 Darren Clarke N. Ireland 24 Zach Johnson (USA) TOP 3 PLAYER
36 Carl Pettersson Sweden 25 Tom Pernice, Jr. (USA) 1 Nick O’Hern
37 Jeev Mikha Singh India 26 Stephen Ames 2 Kevin Stadler (USA)
38 Lucas Glover USA 27 K.J. Choi 3 Nathan Green (Australia)
39 Rory Sabbatini S. Africa 28 Ernie Els 2006 ASIAN TOUR
40 Brett Wetterich USA 29 J.J. Henry (USA) FINAL ORDER OF MERIT
41 Ben Crane USA 30 Ben Curtis (USA) TOP 3 PLAYER
42 Niclas Fasth Sweden 2006 JAPAN TOUR 1 Jeev Mikha Singh
43 Stephen Ames Canada TOP 3 ORDER OF MERIT 2 Thongchai Jaidee (Thailand)
44 Arron Oberholser USA 1 Shingo Katayama 3 Prom Meesawat (India)
45 Mike Weir Canada 2 Hideto Tanihara (Japan) 2006/2007 Sunshine Tour
46 Thomas Bjorn Denmark 3 Jeev Milka Singh TOP 3 ORDER OF MERIT
47 Robert Allenby Australia 1 Ernie Els
48 Johan Edfors Sweden 2 Alvaro Quiros (Spain)
49 Lee Westwood England 3 Charl Schwartzel
50 Bradley Dredge Wales
Contact:
James Cramer
Director, Public Relations
World Golf Championships
Tel: 904-273-3293
Email: jcramer@pgatourhq.com
