NEWS & Press Releases
Chopra hangs on to win delayed Ginn sur Mer Classic
Oct. 29, 2007 | By Tim Reynolds
| The Associated Press
 PORT
ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP) -- Daniel Chopra tapped in for par, then
pumped his right fist into the air.
Daniel Chopra is finally a winner on the PGA
TOUR. (Benc/WireImage)
Finally, victory was his.
Chopra re-claimed the lead with a birdie at
the par-5 16th hole Monday morning and held on to win the
oft-delayed Ginn sur Mer Classic, edging Fredrik Jacobsen and
Shigeki Mauryama by one shot for his first PGA TOUR triumph.
Chopra finished at 19 under, becoming the
12th first-time winner on TOUR this season.
The win came in Chopra's 133rd career start,
and the $810,000 winner's check pushed his career earnings to
just shy of $5 million. He saw a four-shot lead over his nearest
pursuers evaporate as darkness fell on Tesoro Club Sunday night,
then returned in the morning and coolly finished off the
long-awaited win.
Maruyama left with one pretty good
consolation prize -- a card for next season.
His tie for second earned him $396,000,
vaulting him from 137th to 103rd on the money list with just one
tournament remaining, meaning he's a cinch to finish among the
top 125 and have full playing privileges next season.
"This year was really hard, the most
difficult year in eight years for myself,'' said Maruyama, who
had been in the top 80 on the money list in each of his first
seven years on TOUR. "I'm really happy.''
He won't have to worry about playing next
week's Children's Miracle Network Classic at the Disney courses
near Orlando, either.
"Bye, bye, Disney,'' Maruyama said in
perfect English.
Jacobsen's finish was his best in 96 starts
on TOUR.
Dicky Pride (64) was alone in fourth at 16
under, earning $216,000 -- the second-biggest check of his
career, $9,000 shy of what he earned for winning the 1994 St.
Jude Classic.
He was at the course Monday morning, just in
case there was a playoff.
"Couldn't take the chance,'' Pride said. ``I
didn't want my wife to drive home alone, but I had to stay.''
Chopra, Maruyama and Jacobsen all entered
the morning 18 under, with Chopra having three holes left to
play and the others with two. That figured to give Chopra a big
edge, since his first hole of Monday was the par-5 16th, the
easiest on the course this week and one he'd already made birdie
on three times.
Make it four.
Chopra's 10-footer for birdie -- after
missing the fairway off the tee -- gave him a one-shot lead,
after Maruyama and Jacobsen both missed the green and scrambled
for par at the par-3 17th.
Chopra didn't find 17 easy, either. He hit
the green, albeit 55 feet from the hole, and made a 4-footer to
save par and maintain the lead. And at the 18th, needing par to
win, his drive found a bunker, but his second shot stopped 25
feet from the hole to set up the title-clinching two-putt.
Ken Duke (70), Charlie Wi (71), Sean O'Hair
(74) and Cameron Beckman (72) finished tied for fifth at 13
under. That was huge for Beckman, who jumped 10 spots to 118th
on the money list after winning nearly $160,000 at the Ginn and
greatly enhancing his odds of reaching that top-125 plateau.
Bob Estes and Tommy Armour III, who shared
the lead after the first two rounds, struggled on the weekend.
Estes shot a final-round 77 and finished tied for 12th at 11
under, while Armour shot 78-72 and finished tied for 16th.
Briny Baird, who lives just a few miles from
Tesoro Club and was tied for second entering the final round,
shot 78 and finished nine shots back.
UPDATES FROM THE 2007 GINN SUR MER CLASSIC
 Ginn sur Mer Classic Tournament Site
at PGATour.com
Full
Leaderboard |
Live Scoring
Full
Field List
Tee-times
Final seven events will decide plenty
Palm Beach Post
PORT ST. LUCIE — The PGA Tour season isn't
over for everyone.
Sure, it is for some. Tiger Woods and Phil
Mickelson and the like will "shut it down" for the rest of the
year, save for the Presidents Cup and some silly-season events.
But for the tour's rank and file, especially
those who aren't locked into a spot in the top 125 on the money
list (and the accompanying 2008 qualifying exemption), there's
work left undone.
That's what the Fall Series is all about. It
consists of seven tournaments, beginning with this week's
Turning Stone Resort Championship in Verona, N.Y., and ending
with the Children's Miracle Network Classic (Nov. 1-4) in Lake
Buena Vista.
The next-to-last tournament in the Fall
Series is the Ginn sur Mer Classic at Tesoro (Oct. 25-28) in
Port St. Lucie. On Monday, organizers offered fans a preview
of the course and some of the competitors with a Community Day.
A couple of hundred spectators turned out to
watch Lee Janzen, Ken Duke, Lucas Glover and Brian Gay conduct a
clinic and play a five-hole team skins game. Tournament director
John Subers called it "a little dry run, from our parking and
our shuttles to our spectators, letting them get a feel for us."
Glover and Gay beat Janzen and Duke. Glover
was five under par for the five holes.
"I haven't putted like that in a long time,"
Glover told the crowd. "Don't let it fool you."
The Ginn sur Mer Classic was created
as a replacement for the Running Horse Championship in Fresno,
Calif. The tournament had to be moved because of financial
problems at Running Horse Golf & Country Club.
How big will the crowds be when the players
return next month to Tesoro's 7,210-yard, par-72 Arnold
Palmer-designed course for the tournament? There was no
consensus on whether the conclusion of the inaugural FedEx Cup
would generate interest in Fall Series events.
"It's the first year with this new
schedule," Gay said. "Nobody knew how the FedEx would go. The
Fall (Series is) kind of the same way."
"I think a lot of people don't know that
there's more tournaments," said Janzen, a two-time U.S. Open
champion, "but if they do find out there's more tournaments,
they'll tune in."
Although the four tournaments that made up
the FedEx Cup "playoffs" will be only a distant memory by late
October, Duke said the Ginn sur Mer Classic's position on
the schedule might be an asset.
"Some guys will take off the next two or
three weeks," Duke said "but maybe the last two they might play,
which would be great for us."
Duke, Janzen, Glover and Gay are all
sponsored by Ginn. Duke lives in Palm City and will be a local
favorite, but not the only one. Also expected to be in the field
are Mark Calcavecchia (Palm Beach Gardens), Briny Baird
(Jupiter), Olin Browne (Hobe Sound), Jerry Kelly (formerly of
Stuart), Richard S. Johnson (Jupiter), Mathias Gronberg (Palm
Beach), Steve Marino (Palm Beach Gardens), Jesper Parnevik
(Jupiter) and Brett Wetterich (Jupiter).
Calcavecchia, who grew up in Palm Beach
County, is the field's highest-ranked player in terms of money.
He's No. 13.
Glover, a member of the U.S. Presidents Cup
team, said he hopes the buzz created by the FedEx Cup extends to
the Fall Series.
"The guys that are forced to play, that are
struggling for their card, they deserve that," Glover said.
"They're just as much a Tour member as me or Tiger or anybody
else. They deserve that buzz."
Benefiting Charities
Chosen for Ginn sur Mer Classic at Tesoro Community Day
The inaugural Ginn sur Mer Classic at
Tesoro announced the four benefiting charities for the upcoming
Community Day on Monday, September 17.
These four charities will be given the
chance at a piece of a $20,000 purse, put up by Bobby Ginn. The
event, which is free to the public and features Ginn
Resorts-sponsored golfers Lee Janzen, a two-time U.S. Open
champion; area resident Ken Duke; Brian Gay and Lucas Glover,
will feature a five-hole charity skins game match for the
$20,000 purse.
The four golfers will be in two teams. The
winning team will split $12,000 for their two charities and the
runners-up will split $8,000 for their two charities, so these
four charities are all winners on Community Day. Upon completion
of the skins game, the four golfers will sign autographs and
hand out free tickets to the tournament.
The four charities selected to
participate are:
The
Children’s Golf Foundation, Inc. of West Palm
Beach is a 20-year-old non-profit organization dedicated to
enriching the lives of disabled children. Their mission is
to teach, free of charge, golf to children and disabled
veterans with mental and/or physical disabilities.
The
American Cancer Society of Treasure Coast helps
children battling cancer with its R.O.C.K. Programs
(Reaching Out to Cancer Kids). In partnership with Camp
Boggy Creek, R.O.C.K. Camp provides up to 280 children with
cancer an opportunity to experience the fun and adventure of
summer camp without feeling different from other children.
The
Humane Society of the Treasure Coast has provided
shelter, found loving homes and promoted respect for
animals. Humane Education and community outreach programs
also help enrich the lives of children too. The Humane
Society conducts programs that bring animals into children’s
lives to help them learn valuable life lessons.
Urban
Youth Impact of West Palm Beach was founded by
former PGA golf professional Bill Hobbs to serve inner-city
youth and families across Palm Beach County. UYI offers
programs and events that touch 5,000 youth and families
annually, including an after-school program for 120 students
and youth activities that involve 350 kids every week.
The $4.5 million, PGA TOUR-sanctioned Ginn
sur Mer Classic will be televised all four days on Golf Channel.
Tickets are on sale now at
GinnClassic.com.
GINN SUR MER CLASSIC AT TESORO TO SUPPORT VARIOUS LOCAL
CHARITIES
Boys and Girls Clubs of the Treasure
Coast, Explorer Scouts, Key Clubs, Kiwanis Clubs, Pink Tie
Friends, Martin Memorial Health Systems and Habitat for Humanity
to benefit as tournament charities
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (Aug. 28, 2007) – The inaugural Ginn sur
Mer Classic at Tesoro, which will be played Oct. 22-28 at the
Arnold Palmer Course at The Tesoro Club, will benefit a variety
of community charities in the Treasure Coast area. In addition
to benefiting from the tournament, members of the charities will
be participating in event operations such as parking and
tournament office duties ...
read more
INAUGURAL GINN SUR MER CLASSIC AT TESORO TO SHOWCASE "MAJOR"
COMPETITION
Field to Include Multiple Major
Championship-Winners, Tour Winners and a Swarm of Up-and-Coming
PGA Tour Talent
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (Aug. 27, 2007) – Anchored by its place on
the PGA TOUR’s Fall Finish schedule, the Ginn sur Mer Classic at
Tesoro had already guaranteed drama. But now, throw in multiple
major championship winners, Tour winners, local boys and a horde
of dynamic, colorful up-and-coming players, and the field for
the inaugural event will ensure a tournament 2007 won’t soon
forget ...
read more
GINN SUR MER CLASSIC at TESORO TAKES ON NEW TITLE SPONSOR
Ginn Resorts names its Bahamas
property, Ginn sur Mer, as Title Sponsor of the Inaugural PGA
Tour Event
PORT ST. LUCIE, FLA., August 21, 2007 – The
Ginn sur Mer Classic at Tesoro, formerly known as the Ginn
Classic at Tesoro, has a new title sponsor. Ginn sur Mer is Ginn
Resorts’ property situated on 1,957 acres of oceanfront property
in the West End of Grand Bahama Island, approximately 26 miles
from Freeport, Grand Bahama and 55 miles due east of Palm Beach,
Fla. ...
read more
GINN RESORTS TO HOST PGA TOUR EVENT IN 2007
Ginn sur Mer Classic at Tesoro Replaces Running
Horse Championship on Fall Series Schedule
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (June 14, 2007) --
The PGA TOUR announced today that a new event, the Ginn sur Mer Classic
at Tesoro, will be held October 22-28, 2007 at Tesoro, a Ginn
Resorts community in Port St. Lucie, Fla. and become part of the
PGA TOUR’s Fall Series ...
read more
TICKETS, PRO-AM
AND VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE FOR Ginn sur Mer Classic AT TESORO
Inaugural Tournament Gives Fans Plenty of Ways to Get
Involved
Along with the inaugural Ginn sur Mer Classic at Tesoro comes many avenues of participation for golf
fans, from purchasing tickets from a plethora of plans to
volunteering, to joining a PGA TOUR pro inside the ropes as a
pro-am player ...
read more
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