Associated Press
Wednesday, September 20

SAN ANTONIO -- Hal Sutton didn't have the chance to defend his 1998 Texas Open title because he was busy helping the U.S. team win the Ryder Cup at this time last year.

Now Sutton returns to Texas to compete against 1999 champion Duffy Waldorf.

"This is his week to defend, and I'm just another guy in the field that wants to win," said Sutton, whose 1998 victory was his first PGA title since 1995. "It's exciting to see if you can attain that kind of success again. I'm excited to be back."

When Sutton and Waldorf tee off at the LaCantera Golf Club on Thursday, they will be playing on a slightly different course.

Nos. 5 and 14 have been shortened and changed from par-5s to par-4s, and players no longer will have to climb a steep hill at No. 14. LaCantera, on the edge of the Texas Hill Country, now is a 6,905-yard, par-70 course.

The winner of the 72-hole tournament, sponsored by Westin, will receive $468,000. The total purse is $2.6 million.

Waldorf, who has won the Texas Open twice, first in 1995, predicted the changes to the two holes will make the course more difficult.

"(No.) 14 could be a pivotal hole in the tournament, especially near the end," Waldorf said. "It always was a hard driving hole, but you felt like as a par-5, you had an extra shot. If you kind of missed your drive a little bit, you could just pitch it out and then still have a chance to knock it on the green and make a birdie or a par.

"Now it's still just as tough a driving hole, and if you don't hit the fairway, you're definitely looking at 5, looking at making a bogey."

Waldorf also expects the tournament to be more competitive this year, with the return of top golfers such as Sutton and Justin Leonard, who helped the American team win the Ryder Cup at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., a year ago.

In the 1998 Texas Open, Sutton shot an 18-under 270 to beat Leonard and Jay Haas by one stroke.

"Even with the two par-5s gone, I think you're going to see really good scores out here because of the strength of the field," Waldorf said, noting the success of Sutton and Leonard here in the past. "I would expect them to be right there at the end."