Insperity Championships news and notes

THE WOODLANDS, Texas – News and notes from the 2013 Insperity Championships this week.

THE CHAMPS: Six of the eight different past champions of the Insperity Championship – Jay Haas, Mark
McNulty, Bernhard Langer, John Cook, Brad Faxon and Fred Funk – are all in this year’s field and have a cumulative total of 58 wins on the Champions Tour. This group has also won a collective 39 times on the PGA TOUR.

FOLLOW THE LEADERS: In the previous nine Insperity Championships, five second-round leaders/co-leaders have gone on to win the event (Jay Haas in 2006, Bernhard Langer in both 2007 and 2008, Brad Faxon in 2011, Fred Funk in 2012). Haas (2006) and Langer (2007) are the only first-round leaders/co-leaders to win this event. The winner has come from the final grouping at the Insperity Championship in six of the last seven years with 2009 being the exception.

TOURNAMENT COURSE CONTINUES TO PROVIDE A GOOD TEST: With the tournament moving to the
spring, scoring conditions for the Insperity Championship field were a bit better last year. After ranking as the 10th hardest course in 2010 (72.531) and the 11th most difficult layout in 2011, the par-72 Tournament Course at The Woodlands was the 15th hardest (71.941) out of 24 courses ranked in 2012. The par-3 14th hole was the hardest last year (3.255), yielding just 23 birdies during the event. Only 12 birdies were made at the par-3 8th hole (3.205) and it ranked as the third hardest during the week.

OLDEST, YOUNGEST: Bernhard Langer’s win in 2007 came just 1 month and 17 days after he turned 50, making him the youngest winner in event history. Larry Nelson, the tournament’s inaugural winner in 2004, claimed his Insperity Championship title at 57 years, 1 month and he’s still the oldest winner at this tournament.

INSPERITY CHAMPIONSHIP NUGGETS: There has only been one playoff at the Insperity Championship and it came in the inaugural event in 2004 when Larry Nelson defeated Hale Irwin with a birdie on the first extra hole…In 2010, Fred Couples became the first tournament winner to open with a round in the 70s (71) and joined Larry Nelson (2004) and John Cook (2009) as the third champion with any round in the 70s. All nine past champions have recorded sub-par scores each day en route to victory…Arnold Palmer played in his last of 319 official Champions Tour events at the 2006 Insperity Championship, withdrawing during the opening round of the tournament. Palmer’s last official appearance of the PGA TOUR came at the 2004 Masters… Bernhard Langer is the event’s all-time leading money-winner with $718,519…In the first six stroke-play events on the 2013 Champions Tour, the winner has come from the last group five times.

Fact Sheet
Dates: April 29-May 5
Course: The Woodlands Country Club (Tournament Course)
Par/Yards: 36-36—72/7,018
Course Designers: Bruce Devlin/Robert von Hagge (1978)
Field: 81 professionals Format: 54-hole stroke-play event with no cut.
Charles Schwab Cup (points to winner): 270
Purse: $1,800,000; Winner’s Share: $270,000
Television: GOLF CHANNEL; Friday, 6:30-8:30 p.m.; Saturday, 5:30-8:30 p.m.; Sunday, 6:00-8:30 p.m.
All three rounds will be tape-delayed and all times listed are CDT.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Insperity-Championship Twitter: @InsperityChamp

SCHEDULE:
Monday, April 29
Professional Practice Rounds 8:30am – 1:00pm WCC Tournament Course
UnitedHealthcare Pro-Am 1:00pm – 6:00pm WCC Tournament Course

Tuesday, April 30
Championship Qualifying 8:30am – 4:00pm The Player Course, The Woodlands
Professional Practice Rounds 9:00am – 4:00pm WCC Tournament Course
Woodlands Development Company 1:00pm – 4:00pm WCC Tournament Course; back nine
Junior Pro-Am
Chuck-the-Hitman Clinic 4:30pm WCC Tournament Course; driving range

Wednesday, May 1
Woodforest National Bank 7:30am Tee Times Start WCC Tournament Course
Championship Pro-Am 12:30pm Tee Times Start

Thursday, May 2
Woodforest National Bank 7:30am Tee Times Start WCC Tournament Course
Championship Pro-Am 12:30pm Tee Times Start

Friday, May 3
Championship First Round 10:00am ** WCC Tournament Course
Two Tee Start

Saturday, May 4
Championship Second Round 8:00am** WCC Tournament Course
The 3M Oil & Gas Greats of Golf Last three tee times WCC Tournament Course
“Pink Out”
The tournament is a partner with the Houston Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
Show your support and help raise awareness for breast cancer and wear pink to the course today.
Volunteers at this year’s Insperity Championship will be wearing pink shirts to help raise awareness for breast cancer and we encourage all spectators to show their support and wear pink to the tournament on Saturday.

Sunday, May 5
Championship Final Round 8:00am ** WCC Tournament Course
Trophy Presentation End of Play WCC Tournament Course
**Times are approximate and subject to change.