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CANADIANS January 19, 2004
Both Els, (67-64-66-65—262) and Frazar (67-63-66-66—262) finished 72 holes at 18-under par, three shots in front of Davis Love III, who was ninth a week earlier at the Mercedes Championships.
(Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images) The 14-year-old golfing phenom from the Island of Oahu figured if she could post a score of 2-under par on day two it would be enough to allow her to become the first female of any age to make the cut on the PGA TOUR. However, despite shooting birdies on two of her final three holes, despite recording a 68 for the lowest round ever by a female playing against men, despite going 36 holes on a 7,000-yard golf course and finishing at even par 140, young Miss Wei finished T80th in a field of 144 and missed by one shot putting her name into the record books. Her (72-68) 140 total tied her with U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk, British Open champ Ben Curtis, Australian Stuart Appleby, winner of the season opening Mercedes Championships, Canadian David Morland IV (70-70) and 12 other established TOUR veterans. She was a stroke better than 1983 Canadian Open champion John Cook and Scott Hoch, three better than senior Craig Stadler and four in front of 1988 PGA Champion Jeff Sluman. This week Michelle is back with her grade nine class at Punahou School where she’s an honour student and where her Hawaiian classmates, unlike the media of last week, are not probing her with questions and taking pictures of her every move. She’ll have enough of that again when she heads to Arizona in March to play as a guest in the LPGA Safeway International in Phoenix and the following week when she returns to Rancho Mirage to play in the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the first LPGA major of the season. Last season in this event Wie shot a third round 66 to make it into the final round with Annika Sorenstam and eventual winner Patricia Meunier-LeBouc. Wei tied for ninth. For the record, in 2003, when Sorenstam was invited to play in the Colonial, the first woman in 58 years to tee it up with men on the PGA TOUR, she shot 71-74 and missed the cut by four. Suzy Whaley qualified to get into the Greater Hartford Open, shot 75-78 and missed by 13. Se Ri Pak accepted an exemption to play in the SBS Super Tournament on the Korean PGA Tour and wound up tied for 10th. Earlier in the year Wie shot 78-76 and missed the cut at the Boise Open on the Nationwide Tour, then shot 74-79 and was cut at the Bay Mills Open on the Canadian Tour.
"The Canadian Golf Foundation, through the generous support of the Callaway Golf Company Fund and The John Dobson Foundation Fund, is proud to support the continued growth of Canadian university golf programs with these grants. Donations to the foundation enable the CGF to help Canadian universities develop competitive golf programs and golfers. Another important element is the RCGA Canadian University and College Championship which allows universities to compete for a national title at the team and individual levels." The other programs receiving grants are Humber Institute of Technology, University of Guelph, Université Laval, University of Manitoba, University of Ottawa, University of Toronto, University of Waterloo and the University of Western Ontario. The Callaway Golf Company Fund was established in 2001 through a generous donation from Callaway Golf Canada Ltd. to the Canadian Golf Foundation. The John Dobson Foundation donation was contributed in 2003. The purpose of these funds is to broaden player development programs in Canada by assisting Canadian universities with an accredited golf program through the use of scholarships, program grants, coaching grants and player assistance. To be eligible for the grants, the Canadian universities must meet the following criteria: have either a full-time men's or women's golf team, or both; the golf team must compete regularly throughout the academic season and must include play against either NCAA or NAIA teams in addition to teams from other accredited Canadian universities; the golf program must include at least one coach assigned to the program; the golf program must receive financial assistance from the university and / or alumni association. The Canadian Golf Foundation was established in 1979 with the mandate to raise and grant funds for the advancement of golf in Canada. The Foundation delivers this mandate to Canadian golfers through scholarships that assist young Canadian men and women with a high level golf game to attend the university of their choice, and through the granting program for Canadian universities. To make a donation to the Canadian Golf Foundation or more information on the scholarship program visit www.rcga.org. TEAMING UP FOR GOLF QUOTE OF THE DAY Chi Chi : 'I saw this young guy do it the other day and it made me feel good. You know, the other day I made a 20-footer and the lady I was playing with asked me why I didn't pull out my sword. I said, "Ma'am, that's because it was for double bogey. Monkeys don't dance without bananas.”' UPCOMING EVENTS January 22-25
January 22-25
February 5-8
February 13-14-15
February 21-22
March 1-2
March 5-7
March 11-14
March 12-14
March 26-29
THE LAST WORD . . . and that’s the truth The best moments in politics are when the truth finally breaks through – because of the language. Flying Phil Gaglardi, the celebrated minister of highways in “Wacky” Bennett’s British Columbia government who was forever in trouble, cried out in the legislature in Victoria one day: “If I tell a lie it’s only because I think I’m telling the truth!”
--Allan Fotheringham in Maclean’s
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A 30-foot birdie putt on the third extra hole propelled Ernie Els to victory in the Sony Open Sunday, the first player in 17 years to successfully defend his title in Hawaii. Last year at this time Els nailed a 55-foot putt from just off the green on the second playoff hole to claim his first Hawaiian title at Waialae Country Club. This win was Els' 13th PGA TOUR victory –his 46th world wide-- and was worth $864,000. Despite birdie putts on his final two holes to help force the playoff and a clutch birdie on the second extra hole to extend the playoff, Harrison Frazar, remains winless after seven seasons and 161 tournaments on the PGA TOUR.
Stephen Ames of Calgary, Alberta, playing in his first event now as a Canadian citizen, finished seven shots back at (66-70-65-68—269) 11-under par and tied for eighth. Ames put on a strong performance during the tournament, overcoming a bogey and double bogey with seven birdies the first round. He carded a pair of eagles on par 5’s in rounds two and three and finished 3-under over his final seven holes to earn a season opening cheque for $144,000. Last year Ames was the 72nd and last player to earn one million dollars on the PGA TOUR. Ames is currently among the top 100 on the all time PGA TOUR money list with more than $4.6 million. Next top Canadian is Masters champion Mike Weir at #22 with over $12.9 million. Weir be on hand at La Quinta, CA this week to defend his title in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.
The Sony Open got off to a media frenzy at the beginning of the week as a result of an appearance through sponsor exemption of Hawaii’s teenage sensation, six-foot tall Michelle Wei. After Wei finished her opening round at 2-over par she set a goal for herself and predicted what her score had to be in order to make the cut - - and she reached it but she also learned one of the realities of playing on the PGA TOUR. ‘These Guys Are Really Good.’ 
Among the 46 players in Malaysia who earned new playing cards for the 2004 Asian Tour season this past week was David Hearn of Brantford (right) who played his way into a tie for 20th for finishing (74-70-73-71—288) 4-over par. This will be Hearn’s 3rd season as a Touring Professional. Lee Sung-man, a 23-year-old Korean who was born deaf, shot a final round 4-under par 68 to capture medalist honours. Hearn will now join Victoria, BC’s Rick Gibson, an Asian Tour veteran, as the only Canadians with exempt status.
Here’s a name you are going to hear a lot more of this season and in the years to come - - Leila Chartrand, the first Canadian woman to win a professional tournament for the 2004 season. A CPGA Assistant Professional at Cordova Bay GC, Victoria, Chartrand is a former BC Ladies Amateur champion (1999) who captured last Fall’s BC PGA Women’s Open Championship after competing during the summer on the BMO Financial Group Canadian Women’s Tour. She finished her season by successfully qualifying to play on the FUTURES TOUR this year. However, since that schedule doesn’t kick in for another month, Chartrand entered the first event on the West Coast Ladies Tour at Estrella Mountain Ranch in Goodyear, Arizona and (Jan.15) wound up at (69-75-72—216) even par and in a playoff against Kristine Reese of Illinois. On the fourth extra hole Chartrand tapped in for a birdie to claim the Arizona Players Open and a winners cheque for $6,000. This week the WCLGT visits Phoenix for the Vistal Golf Classic January 20-22.
The 2003/2004 Cleveland Golf Winter Tour for members of the BC PGA so far has been the personal domain of Phil Jonas, a teaching professional at Vancouver’s McLeery Golf Course. Of the five 18-hole events staged so far, Jonas has won three and tied for first in two while recording a scoring average of 67.8. The final five tournaments begin again February 2nd at courses yet to be named and the Cleveland Tour Championship is slated for March 8-9 at Chilliwack G&CC. It would appear the only player with a chance to garner more points than Jonas will be Shingo Akizuki who has one tie for first and a pair of second place finishes. 
Simon Fraser University, University of British Columbia and University of Victoria are among nine Canadian schools receiving a total of $80,000 in grants by the Canadian Golf Foundation. Jim Fraser, CGF Executive Director, who made the announcement, said:
TravelGolf.com Assistant Editor Brendan McEvoy, in an article from Fajardo, Puereto Rico titled ‘Thirty Minutes Inside The Head Of Chi Chi Rodriguez', was discussing Chi Chi’s trademark sword dance each time the legendary PGA star scored a long birdie putt. McEvoy asked Roriguez, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, how it feels when he sees others imitate his famous matador celebration on the golf course: