September 22, 2015
First Tee Open Notebook: John Cook Looking for Back-to-Back Titles
Starting Friday, the Nature Valley First Tee Open at Pebble Beach and Poppy Hills Golf Course is back.
One of the players’ favorite Champions Tour stops, the tournament features 81 professionals competing side-by-side with 81 juniors representing The First Tee.
So what’s some of the things to look for in regards to the professionals? Here’s a quick First Tee Open primer:
- Defending champion John Cook will look to become the third different player to go back-to-back in the championship. Jeff Sluman won back-to-back titles in 2008-2009 and added a third title two years later. Kirk Triplett, meanwhile, captured back-to-back titles in 2012-2013.
- Davis Love III, who won the recent PGA Tour Wyndham Championship, will be making his second appearance at the First Tee Open. Love will be trying to accomplish something that’s only been done three other times—win both a PGA Tour and Champions Tour event in the same season. Raymond Floyd (1992), Craig Stadler (2003) and Fred Funk (2007) have all done it.
- 2015 USA Presidents Cup captain Jay Haas has finished in the Top 10 in eight of his previous 10 appearances at The First Tee Open. Of the 30 rounds Haas has played in the event, 23 have been under par. He’s a combined 58-under in The First Tee Open.
- World Golf Hall of Famers Colin Montgomerie and Vijay Singh will be making their First Tee Open debuts. Singh will be making his first appearance on the Champions Tour this season.
- Nine members of the World Golf Hall of Fame are in the field—Colin Montgomerie, Fred Couples, Mark O’Meara, Hale Irwin, Tom Kite, Vijay Singh, Tom Watson, Ben Crenshaw and Sandy Lyle.
Play will be held at both Poppy Hills and Pebble Beach on Friday and Saturday, with Sunday’s final round to be at Pebble Beach.
Admission is free. For more info, please visit www.thefirstteeopen.com
–Jerry Stewart
