Notebook: Star-studded field gathering for Skins Game

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Marco Garcia/PGA TOUR

Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson: serious star power, not to mention the Champions Skins Game defending champs.

The Ka'anapali Champions Skins Game takes place at Royal Ka'anapali GC in Lahaina, Hawaii, on Jan. 29-30. The purse is $770,000. Last year, the Jack Nicklaus/Tom Watson team won nine of the first ten skins, and ten skins overall, to win the event.

LAST WEEK

• John Cook's finishing kick on the back nine propelled him to a two-stroke victory over Tom Lehman in the 2011 Champions Tour's season-opening event, the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai. Cook trailed 36-hole leader Russ Cochran by one stroke after his front nine on Sunday, but he reeled off five straight birdies beginning at the par-5 10th to take command of the tournament.

• With his win, Cook became the first player since Gil Morgan in 1997-98 to win the season-opening event after claiming the last official tournament the previous year.

• Cook jumped to an early lead in the 2011 Charles Schwab Cup race, earning 305 points for his win in Hawaii. He finished third last year in the season-long Schwab Cup race with 2,451 points.

• Members of the 1976-77 Ohio State golf team have now claimed the last three Champions Tour events. Rod Spittle, the 2010 AT&T Championship winner, and Cook were members of the same Buckeyes squad.

• Cook is 58 under par for his last four events on the Champions Tour.

• Four over-50 professionals teed it up at the Bob Hope Classic on the PGA TOUR last week, including Steve Jones, who last played an official PGA TOUR event in August 2007 (Reno-Tahoe Open). Here's a look at how they performed -- Mark Calcavecchia (T33), Kenny Perry (T61), Steve Jones (MC), Chris Starkjohann (MC).

• The Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf and Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) recently named SCAD student Weston Vierregger and SCAD graduate Amanda Roberts winners of the ninth annual poster design contest. Both winners receive a $500 check from the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf. The winning design will serve as official art for the 2011 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf tournament and will be displayed at area golf pro shops and local retail outlets to promote the event around the region.

• Champions Tour professional Peter Senior finished T9 at the world-first Surf Coast Knockout tournament in Australia, where the opening three rounds were stroke play before the winner was finally decided by a mini match play format. Matches on the final day were played over six holes until a winner was determined from the top 32 players. Scott Laycock, who secured the 32nd and final spot in Sunday's matches after a nine-way playoff, was the eventual winner.

• With Germany's Martin Kaymer now ranked No. 2 in the Official World Golf Rankings behind England's Lee Westwood it should be noted that this marks the second time English and German players head the rankings -- in 1993 it was Nick Faldo at No. 1 and Bernhard Langer at No. 2.

COMING UP

• Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson will defend their title against fellow World Golf Hall of Fame members and major championship winners at the 24th Ka'anapali Champions Skins Game on Maui, Hawaii at the Royal Ka'anapali Golf Course on Jan. 29-30. The other teams include Fuzzy Zoeller/Ben Crenshaw, Nick Price/Fred Couples and Bernhard Langer/Mark O'Meara.

• Each player in the Champions Skins Game will donate 10 percent of their winnings to a charity of their choice.

• Of the players in the Champions Tour Skins Game field, three reached the No. 1 position in the Official World Golf Rankings. Price/Couples both reached No. 1 during their PGA TOUR careers -- Price spent 44 weeks in the top spot while Couples reigned for 16 weeks. Langer also spent 3 weeks in the No. 1 position.

• The eight players in the Champions Tour Skins Game have combined for 38 PGA TOUR major championships, with Nicklaus accounting for 18 of those.

• Royal Ka'anapali GC played host to the Champions Tour Ka'anapali Classic for 14 years, the most recent of a long list of events that includes Shell's Wonderful World of Golf, the Canada Cup and the LPGA's Kemper Open.

• Three of the last five Champions Tour Skins Games using the team alternate-shot format have been won with double-digit skins totals. Nicklaus/Watson collected 10 skins to win last year.

• Nicklaus owns 10 Champions Tour Skins Game records, including most career skins (110) and most career money ($2,605,000). Raymond Floyd (69 skins) has the second-most career skins while Watson has 54 total skins.

• Only five eagles have been made in the 23-year history of the Champions Tour Skins Game and Nicklaus has four of them. Watson also recorded an eagle in the 2004 edition of the Champions Tour Skins Game.

• This year, the Ka'anapali Champions Skins Game has a Facebook page which will be updated throughout tournament week. Please visit Ka'anapali Champions Skins Game on Facebook.

NUMBERS

1,264 -- The number of days between the last official round (Round 2/2007 Reno-Tahoe Open) Steve Jones played on the PGA TOUR before teeing it up at last week's Bob Hope Invitational.

3 -- The number of players to record more than 300 birdies in 2010 (Russ Cochran/321, Dan Forsman/312, David Frost/305). Andy Bean (305) was the only player to post more than 300 birdies in 2009.

1 -- The number of bogeys John Cook has recorded on the back nine during his last two tournaments (seven rounds).

ON THIS DATE

1/28/07 -- Fred Funk sets a new Champions Tour record (for 54-hole events) when he cruises to an 11-stroke win at the Turtle Bay Championship in Hawaii.

1/29/78 -- Jay Haas wins the first of nine PGA TOUR titles when he cruises to a three-stroke win at Torrey Pines to win the Andy Williams-San Diego Open Invitational.

1/30/05 -- Hale Irwin becomes the first player in professional golf to win the same event five straight years, and the same tournament six times overall, when he prevails by five strokes over Dana Quigley at the Turtle Bay Championship.

QUOTES TO NOTE

"I came here with real purpose. I need to get to the next level." -- John Cook comments after winning the season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai.

"I'm excited to be out here and see a lot of players. People are shocked to see me." -- Steve Jones, winner of the 1996 U.S. Open, who played at last week's Bob Hope Classic. It marked the 52-year-old's first PGA TOUR start since August 2007.

"We teamed well. Jack was Jack; he did what he normally does." -- Tom Watson describes his teammate Jack Nicklaus while recounting their Champions Tour Skins Game victory last year.

"Had I known Tiger was coming along maybe I would have worked a little harder." -- Jack Nicklaus, when asked about his 18 major titles.