Associated Press
Wednesday, September 13

PAOLI, Pa. -- Tiger Woods isn't here. Neither is Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els or any of the top seven money-winners.

Minus the bigger names, the PGA Tour is back in Pennsylvania for the first time in 20 years.

"Everybody wants to see Tiger, but he can only play in so many events a year," said Jeff Sluman, the 1988 PGA Championship winner. "Just because Tiger didn't show up doesn't mean there isn't a wealth of talent here."

Among those competing in the first SEI Pennsylvania Classic at Waynesborough Country Club are: Tom Lehman, Kirk Triplett and Jim Furyk, Nos. 8-10 on the money board.

Mark Calcavecchia, a former British Open winner and three-time Ryder Cup member, is here. So is Lee Janzen, a two-time U.S. Open champion, and John Daly, the 1991 PGA Championship winner whose problems with alcohol have been well-documented.

"If you had to give me the pick of which I'd like to have, the top 10 guys in the world playing this week or not, I'd definitely say yes to the top 10," said Lehman, who has six Tour victories. "And that way, if you win, you feel like you beat the best. But the flip side of that coin though is that there's a ton of really good players out here.

"I think you've seen over and over again that tournaments where Tiger or Ernie or Mickelson have not played, you've had a very competitive golf tournament."

The tournament will be sort of a homecoming for three of the golfers. Furyk lived in West Chester before his family moved to nearby Lancaster. Rocco Mediate was born in Greensburg, and Ted Tryba was born in Wilkes-Barre.

"I've been looking forward to this tournament for a long time," Furyk said. "It's been a long time since the Tour came back to the Philly area and it's nice to be back home."

But coming home could make playing golf difficult for Furyk.

"You can look at it two ways," Furyk said. "I can put more pressure on myself and try too hard knowing everyone is pulling for me. Instead of trying too hard, I'm going to enjoy myself and try to have a lot of fun with everyone out there."

Without the bigger names, this week's favorites will be guys unfamiliar with that role.

"I don't know if I go into a tournament with the mentality as a favorite, or an underdog," said Triplett, who earned his first Tour win at the Nissan Open this year. "I'm trying to win every tournament I enter just like Tiger, although he does it and I don't.

"There are 156 players here and most are thinking, 'If I play well, I can win.' My strategy is to just maintain one shot at a time and shoot one good round at a time. That's what I've been trying to do for years, but I've done a better job of that this year."

Triplett, a late bloomer having a career year, has eight Top 10 finishes to go with his championship.

He won't have an advantage this week because he's never played this course. Neither have most of the golfers.

"Nobody knows the course very well, which is kind of nice and an equalizer," Lehman said. "There's no advantage to anybody, not a 15-year veteran or a first-year player."

The last PGA Tour event to be held in Pennsylvania was the IVB Philadelphia Classic in 1980. The tournament will alternate between the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh areas each year, with Waynesborough and Laurel Valley in Ligonier as venues.

The tournament has a total purse of $3 million, $540,000 of it for the winner.