LVI no longer last, but still a big draw

It may have lost its place as the final regular-season stop on the PGA Tour schedule, but the $2 million Las Vegas Invitational certainly hasn't lost its drawing power.

Five of the top 10 and 17 of the top 30 money winners off the PGA Tour's money list, including such notables as Phil Mickelson, Fred Couples and Justin Leonard, will be among the 144 professionals competing for this year's $360,000 first prize.

In addition to such name players as John Daly, Tom Kite, Lee Janzen, Davis Love III, Paul Azinger, Corey Pavin and Craig Stadler, the 16th edition of the LVI boats a handful of players with strong ties to Southern Nevada.

Robert Gamez, a Las Vegas native and former PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, will be making his ninth appearance in his hometown tournament. Craig Barlow, a Basic High School graduate and Henderson resident, will be making his LVI debut.

Also making his first appearance in the LVI will be UNLV graduate Bill Lunde, also a resident of Henderson. Lunde helped lead the Rebels golf team to the NCAA national championship last summer and recently turned professional.

Lunde was granted a sponsor's exemption to play in this year's LVI.

Another former Rebel, Skip Kendall, returns to Las Vegas seeking to move into the top 30 in earnings and qualify for the season-ending Tour Championship. Kendall, a 1987 graduate of UNLV, is in his fourth full season on the PGA Tour.

Other players in this week's field with local ties include international touring pro Bob May and PGA Tour regulars Jeff Gallagher and Phil Tataurangi -- all Southern Nevada residents.

Those players with local knowledge of the three courses used in the five-day event -- the Tournament Players Club at Summerlin, the Las Vegas Country Club and the Desert Inn Golf Club -- won't have a decided advantage against this field.

No fewer than 21 winners on the PGA Tour this year are entered in the tournament, including two-time winners Mickelson and Couples, 1998 U.S. Open champion Janzen and defending LVI winner Bill Glasson.

Glasson is one of 10 former LVI champions attempting to become the first two-time winner of the event; no player has ever won this tournament more than once.

Throughout its 15-year history, the Las Vegas Invitational has its share of memorable moments. Tiger Woods earned his first victory as a professional in the 1996 LVI. Woods charged from four shots back on the final day, shot a closing 64 at the TPC at Summerlin to force a tie with Love, then beat Love with a par on the first extra hole.

In 1989, Scott Hoch won the first playoff in LVI history, but it took five extra holes to beat Robert Wrenn. Immediately after receiving the $225,000 first-place check, an emotional Hoch donated $100,000 to the Arnold Palmer's Children's Hospital in Florida, which had treated his son for a rare bone disease earlier that year.

Last year's win by Glasson proved to be one of the more remarkable finishes in LVI history -- although it went largely unnoticed at the time. Glasson shot a final-round 66 and beat David Edwards and Billy Mayfair by one shot despite playing with a torn tendon in his shoulder.

Although the purse for this year's LVI has changed -- increased from $1.8 million to $2 million -- the format remains the same. Each professional will play one round on each of the three host courses before the field is cut to the low 70 scorers and ties following Friday's third round.

The final two rounds, on Saturday and Sunday, will be played exclusively at the TPC at Summerlin.

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