PODS Championship: Final-Round Notebook  PGA TOUR Staff PALM HARBOR, Fla. -- PODS Championship winner Mark Calcavecchia picked up 4,500 FedExCup points for his victory Sunday and jumped from No. 34 to No. 5 in the season-long race. • With his tie for second, Heath Slocum earned 2,200 points and moved up from No. 27 to No. 12. Charles Howell earned 868.75 FedExCup points and increased his overall lead to 3,609 points over current No. 2 Phil Mickelson.  Mark Calcavecchia was very efficient from tee to green in Tampa. (Fred Vuich/WireImage)
• With his winner's check of $954,000, Mark Calcavecchia moves from No. 44 to No. 7 on the PGA TOUR money list. • Charles Howell III, the FedExCup points leader, put together a solid weekend with rounds of 68-65. Howell made the 36-hole cut on the number (+2) but then played the final 36 holes without a bogey. Howell finished tied for sixth -- his fifth top-10 finish in seven starts this year. Howell leads both the FedExCup points standings and the PGA TOUR money list. • Defending champion K. J. Choi tied for sixth this week, his third top-10 finish in this event. Choi becomes the second player in tournament history to have at least three top-10 finishes at Innisbrook (Joe Durant). • Mark Calcavecchia finished third in putting this week (27.2 putts per round) despite 36 putts in Thursday's opening round. Calcavecchia had 23, 23 and 27 putts over his final 54 holes. • Mark Calcavecchia's opening-round 75 is now the highest score in any round by a winner at the PODS Championship. Previously, John Huston's 73 in the second round of 2004 was the only other above-par round ever posted by a tournament winner. • Calcavecchia's opening 75 is also the highest start by a tournament winner on the PGA TOUR since Jeff Sluman's 75 in the first round of the 1997 Tucson Chrysler Classic. • John Senden has now made seven cuts in seven starts this year. His final-round 66 propelled him into a tie for second place with Heath Slocum, one shot back of winner Mark Calcavecchia. Senden's previous best finish this year was a T19 at the season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship. His check for $466,400 increases his season total to $681,002. • Dudley Hart, playing as a single, was the first person off the tee this morning. Hart teed off at 8:25 a.m. and was finished with his 18-hole round by 10:37. He shot a 1-over-par 72. • J. P. Hayes withdrew during the final round due to illness. Hayes had not completed the first hole when he had to withdraw. • The two players who were bogey-free on Sunday were Charles Howell III (65) and Will MacKenzie (69). • John Rollins had an eagle-2 at the 443-yard, par-4 10th hole, the first eagle there in the tournament's seven-year history. After hitting his tee shot 346 yards, Rollins holed his second from 96 yards. Rollins shot a 69 to finish at 3-under 285 and tied for 20th.
• His victory Sunday is Mark Calcavecchia's 13th victory in his 26th year on the PGA TOUR at the age of 46 years, 8 months and 27 days. He earns a two-year exemption, which carries through the 2009 season and gains exemptions into several invitationals, including the 2008 Mercedes-Benz Championship. • His victories have come at the 1986 Southwest Golf Classic; 1987 Honda Classic; 1988 Bank of Boston Classic; 1989 Phoenix Open, Nissan Los Angeles Open and British Open; 1992 Phoenix Open; 1995 BellSouth Classic; 1997 Greater Vancouver Open; 1998 Honda Classic; 2001 Phoenix Open; 2005 Bell Canadian Open and 2007 PODS Championship. • Calcavecchia is the second player over the age of 40 to win the PODS championship and the oldest winner at the age of 46 years, eight months and 27 days. He joins 2004 champion Vijay Singh (41 years, 8 months, 9 days). The win is his third in his 40s, and he becomes the fourth different player over 40+ years old to win this year, joining Vijay Singh, Paul Goydos and Fred Funk. • Victory comes in Calcavecchia's his fourth appearance in the PODS Championship. His best finish before Sunday was 19th in 2006. He also becomes the first non-international winner of the PODS Championship since John Huston won the inaugural event in 2000. • Calcavecchia also surpasses the $1 million mark in season earning for the ninth time in his career. He also surpasses the $20 million mark in PGA TOUR career earnings ($20,617,611) since becoming a member of the PGA TOUR in 1982. • This was the 10th time in Mark Calcavecchia's career that he had held/shared the lead heading into the final round. He has gone on to win seven times in that situation. Those victories came at the 1986 Southwest Golf Classic, 1989 Phoenix Open, 1997 Greater Vancouver Open, 1998 Honda Classic, 2001 Phoenix Open, 2005 Bell Canadian Open and the 2007 PODS Championship. Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. |
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