Links link

Choi, Allenby join Nelson commitment list

Westlake resident K.J. Choi, the No. 15 player in the world golf rankings and last week’s winner at The Players Championship, has added his name to the commitment list for the HP Byron Nelson Championship, May 23-29 in Irving. Robert Allenby, the No. 33 player in the world rankings, also joined the Nelson commitment list today. So did Angel Cabrera, the 2009 Masters champ.

_ Jimmy Burch

SuperFrog smacks one down the fairway at Colonial

Golfer Jerry Kelly of Madison, Wisc., hit a tee shot today at the Colonial Pro-Am wearing the SuperFrog outfit. Kelly was making good on a bet made on the outcome of the Rose Bowl, with fellow PGA Tour player J.J. Henry, a Fort Worth resident and TCU grad. Here's a little video of the moment:

 

-- Jimmy Burch

Verplank out, Stadler in

Scott Verplank will not play in this year's Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, withdrawing with an injury on Wednesday.

Taking his place will be Kevin Stadler, who finished 74th in last year's tournament.

Verplank had played in four straight Colonial tournaments, finishing tied for fifth last year. Verplank's best finish this season is T-2 at the Shell Houston Open. He finished T-54 at The Players Championship last week.

Stadler has missed four straight cuts. His best finish was back in February, when he finished tied for 12th at the Northern Trust Open.

-- Drew Davison

FW golfer Henry to collect from Kelly on Rose Bowl bet at noon today

For TCU fans wanting to revel in watching Madison, Wis. resident Jerry Kelly don the outfit of the Horned Frogs’ mascot, SuperFrog, during today’s action at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, here is the latest in regard to logistics.

Kelly, who lost a bet to TCU graduate J.J. Henry on the outcome of the Rose Bowl, will get dressed in the SuperFrog outfit at noon on today’s lower putting green at Colonial. Kelly will be joined there by Henry and TCU football coach Gary Patterson, who will are scheduled to tee off at 12:20 p.m. at the first tee.

Ideally, Henry said he would like for Kelly to join them in playing the first hole while wearing the SuperFrog outfit. TCU defeated Wisconsin, 21-19, in the Rose Bowl to allowed Henry the opportunity to collect today on their wager from the Jan. 1 contest. The losing golfer had to don the mascot outfit of the winning team at some point during today’s Colonial pro-am.

_ Jimmy Burch

Brooks joins Colonial field, replaces Clark

Fort Worth resident Mark Brooks has joined the field for this week's Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, replacing Tim Clark, who has withdrawn. Clark, who has been battling tendinitis in his right elbow for the past three months, attempted to defend his title last week at The Players Championship but withdrew from that event during his Friday round when the injury flared up. In addition, Tom Purtzer -- the 1991 Colonial champ who added his name to the commitment list Friday -- withdrew today because of family reasons.

_ Jimmy Burch

 

Kuchar emerges as lone Top 10 golfer from world rankings to play at Colonial

The final field is set for next week’s Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, and it will feature only one player from the top 10 of the world golf rankings: Matt Kuchar (No. 10).

Behind Kuchar, the highest-ranked competitors headed to Fort Worth include Jim Furyk (No. 14), Adam Scott (No. 17), Colleyville resident Hunter Mahan (No. 20), Martin Laird (No. 21), Robert Karlsson (No. 22) and Fort Worth resident Jason Day (No. 24).

The commitment deadline passed this afternoon with no late, high-profile additions. That meant waving goodbye to Steve Stricker, the 2009 Colonial champ and No. 9 player in the world golf rankings, who indicated an interest in competing at Colonial but never officially committed to the event. Tournament officials removed Stricker from their list of anticipated competitors Thursday night.

From the PGA Tour season money list, the top-rated Colonial competitor is Mark Wilson (third, $2,482,885). Wilson, who has two victories this season, also is the highest-rated player from the FedEx Cup points list (third, with 1,207 points).

In a unique twist, Colonial will have eight past winners who compete primarily on the Champions Tour in its 2011 field: Tom Lehman, Kenny Perry, Corey Pavin, Fulton Allem, Olin Browne, Keith Clearwater, David Frost and Tom Purtzer.

Below is a look at the final field for the tournament, which will feature two pro-ams (Monday and Wednesday), with tournament rounds set for May 19-22 (Thursday through Sunday).

Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial commitments
A list of golfers who have committed to compete in the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, May 16-22 in Fort Worth. Commitments became official Friday:
Blake Adams, Fulton Allem, Stephen Ames, Stuart Appleby, Arjun Atwal, Ricky Barnes, Cameron Beckman, Matt Bettencourt, Kris Blanks, Jason Bohn, Steven Bowditch, Michael Bradley, Olin Browne, Angel Cabrera, Chad Campbell, Alex Cejka, Greg Chalmers, Kevin Chappell, Stewart Cink, Tim Clark, Keith Clearwater, Chris Couch, Ben Crane, Ben Curtis, John Daly, Brian Davis, Jason Day, Brendon de Jonge, Chris DiMarco, Jason Dufner, David Duval, Steve Flesch, Rickie Fowler, David Frost, Jim Furyk, Tommy Gainey, Sergio Garcia, Bobby Gates, Brian Gay, Lucas Glover, Paul Goydos, Nathan Green, Bill Haas, Hunter Haas, David Hearn, J.J. Henry, Tim Herron, J.B. Holmes, Ryuji Imada, Trevor Immelman, Fredrik Jacobson, Brandt Jobe, Richard S. Johnson, Zach Johnson, Kent Jones, Matt Jones, Robert Karlsson, Jerry Kelly, Anthony Kim, Chris Kirk, Colt Knost, Matt Kuchar, Martin Laird, Derek Lamely, Tom Lehman, Marc Leishman, Justin Leonard, Spencer Levin, Davis Love III, Bill Lunde, Jarrod Lyle, Hunter Mahan, John Mallinger, Steve Marino, David Mathis, Billy Mayfair, William McGirt, George McNeill, Rocco Mediate, John Merrick, Zack Miller, Bryce Molder, Kevin Na, Sean O’Hair, Nick O’Hern, Joe Ogilvie, Jeff Overton, Ryan Palmer, Rod Pampling, Corey Pavin, Pat Perez, Kenny Perry, Alex Prugh, Tom Purtzer, Chez Reavie, Tag Ridings, John Rollins, Andres Romero, Rory Sabbatini, Adam Scott, John Senden, Michael Sim, Vijay Singh, Heath Slocum, Brandt Snedeker, Scott Stallings, Kyle Stanley, Brendan Steele, Henrik Stenson, Kevin Streelman, Daniel Summerhays, Kevin Sutherland, Nick Taylor, Vaughn Taylor, Roland Thatcher, David Toms, D.J. Trahan, Cameron Tringale, Marc Turnesa, Bo Van Pelt, Scott Verplank, Jimmy Walker, Boo Weekley, Mike Weir, Charlie Wi, Dean Wilson, Mark Wilson.

ALTERNATES: Kevin Stadler, Josh Teater, Ben Martin, Chris Stroud, Michael Connell, James Driscoll, Tim Petrovic, Scott Gutschewski, Michael Putnam, Nate Smith.

_ Jimmy Burch 

 

Count out Stricker for Colonial week

Steve Stricker, the No. 9 player in the world golf rankings, told reporters today at The Players Championship that he will not be competing at next week's Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. AP writer Doug Ferguson posted a tweet from TPC saying Stricker is looking to "cut back where he can" on his 2011 schedule and will not be heading to Fort Worth next week.

Colonial officials took Stricker's name off their commitment list on the tournament website last night but held out hope that he might officially join the field today. Now, that won't happen.

That means Matt Kuchar, the No. 10 player in the rankings, projects to be the lone Top 10 golfer from the world rankings in the Colonial field when the commitment deadline is finalized later today. Six of the top seven players in the world rankings are Europeans and will be competing in a high-profile European Tour event during Colonial week.

_ Jimmy Burch   

Stricker status: Out for now, Colonial official says

Steve Stricker, the No. 9 player in the world golf rankings, no longer appears on the list of player commitments for the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial following a busy day of additions and deletions to the field.

Peter Ripa, Colonial tournament director, said tonight that he took the 2009 Colonial champ’s name off the commitment list on the tournament website because Stricker had yet to officially commit to the event through the PGA Tour. Stricker, who indicated plans to play at Colonial earlier this spring, has until 5 p.m. Friday to solidify his spot in Fort Worth and Ripa said he is unsure what will happen.

"I don't know that we'll see him on our (final) commitment list. I'm hoping that we do," Ripa said.

Stricker projected to be the highest-rated player in the Colonial field, based on the world rankings. His departure would make Matt Kuchar (No. 10) the lone Top 10 golfer in the 2011 Colonial field.

Golfers added to the field Thursday included Colleyville resident Greg Chalmers, Andres Romero, David Duval and Ben Curtis. Other names taken off the commitment list included Webb Simpson, Troy Matteson, Charley Hoffman, Keegan Bradley and Carl Pettersson. The field for next week’s event will be finalized after 5 p.m. Friday.

Chuck Scherer, Colonial tournament chairman, said the event "may be" seeing some impact from from being played in such close proximity to The Players Championship, the PGA Tour's highest-paying event that is being played this week in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

_ Jimmy Burch

Latest Colonial commitment list

Below is a look at the updated commitment list for next week's Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, in light of today's flurry of additions and withdrawls. Steve Stricker, the No. 9 player in the world rankings, took his name off the commitment list today. Several others joined the fray, including Colleyville resident Greg Chalmers, Andres Romero, Steven Ames and a pair of past British Open champions: David Duval (2001) and Ben Curtis (2003).

 

CROWNE PLAZA INVITATIONAL AT COLONIAL commitments (through today). Commitments are not official until 5 p.m. Friday:

Blake Adams, Fulton Allem, Stephen Ames, Stuart Appleby, Arjun Atwal, Ricky Barnes, Cameron Beckman, Matt Bettencourt, Kris Blanks, Jason Bohn, Steven Bowditch, Michael Bradley, Olin Browne, Angel Cabrera, Chad Campbell, Alex Cejka, Greg Chalmers, Kevin Chappell, Stewart Cink, Tim Clark, Keith Clearwater, Chris Couch, Ben Crane, Ben Curtis, John Daly, Brian Davis, Jason Day, Brendon de Jonge, Chris DiMarco, Jason Dufner, David Duval, Steve Flesch, Rickie Fowler, David Frost, Jim Furyk, Tommy Gainey, Sergio Garcia, Bobby Gates, Brian Gay, Lucas Glover, Paul Goydos, Nathan Green, Bill Haas, Hunter Haas, David Hearn, J.J. Henry, Tim Herron, J.B. Holmes, Ryuji Imada, Trevor Immelman, Fredrik Jacobson, Brandt Jobe, Richard S. Johnson, Zach Johnson, Kent Jones, Matt Jones, Robert Karlsson, Jerry Kelly, Anthony Kim, Chris Kirk, Colt Knost, Matt Kuchar, Martin Laird, Derek Lamely, Tom Lehman, Marc Leishman, Justin Leonard, Spencer Levin, Davis Love III, Bill Lunde, Jarrod Lyle, Hunter Mahan, John Mallinger, Steve Marino, David Mathis, Billy Mayfair, William McGirt, George McNeill, Rocco Mediate, John Merrick, Zack Miller, Bryce Molder, Kevin Na, Joe Ogilvie, Sean O’Hair, Nick O’Hern, Jeff Overton, Ryan Palmer, Rod Pampling, Corey Pavin, Pat Perez, Kenny Perry, Alex Prugh, Chez Reavie, Tag Ridings, John Rollins, Andres Romero, Rory Sabbatini, Adam Scott, John Senden, Michael Sim, Vijay Singh, Heath Slocum, Brandt Snedeker, Scott Stallings, Kyle Stanley, Brendan Steele, Henrik Stenson, Kevin Streelman, Daniel Summerhays, Kevin Sutherland, Nick Taylor, Vaughn Taylor, Roland Thatcher, David Toms, D.J. Trahan, Cameron Tringale, Marc Turnesa, Bo Van Pelt, Scott Verplank, Jimmy Walker, Boo Weekley, Mike Weir, Charlie Wi, Dean Wilson, Mark Wilson.

_ Jimmy Burch

Stricker out, Chalmers in as Colonial field changes before Friday deadline

Steve Stricker, the No. 9 player in the world golf rankings, no longer appears on the list of player commitments for the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial following a busy day of additions and deletions to the field. The field list was updated this evening.

Stricker, the 2009 Colonial champ, apparently withdrew on the same day that Colleyville resident Greg Chalmers, Andres Romero, David Duval, Ben Curtis, Kevin Sutherland, Chez Reavie, Alex Cejka,  Fredrik Jacobson and several others joined the field.

Joining Stricker on the list of golfers taking their names off the commitment list Thursday were Webb Simpson, Troy Matteson, Charley Hoffman, Keegan Bradley and Carl Pettersson. The field for next week’s event will be finalized Friday afternoon.

_ Jimmy Burch