Verizon Heritage
Monday Apr 13 – Sunday Apr 19, 2009

Groups we're watching: Verizon Heritage first round

text size
Increase Text Size
Decrease Text Size
Email This Story Print This Story RSS
Apr. 17, 2008

All times are eastern

groups1.jpg

J.B. Holmes, D.J. Trahan, Tom Lehman
Tee time:
8 a.m.
Tee: No. 10
Total TOUR wins: 9
Why you should watch: This is one hot group. J.B. Holmes and D.J. Trahan are both already winners in the 2008 PGA TOUR season looking to keep that momentum going, while Tom Lehman carded a tie for eighth just last month at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Not to mention, Hilton Head Island is Trahan's hometown, so he's going to have quite the crowd cheering him on this week. The Bob Hope Chrysler Classic Winner has struggled since his first-place finish back in January, so maybe a hometown crowd is just what he needs to get his focus back.

2008 stat comparison
Player Events played Cuts Made 1st 2nd 3rd Top 10 Top 25 Scoring Avg.
Holmes 10 9 1 -- -- 2 4 70.39
Trahan 10 7 1 -- -- 1 2 70.93
Lehman 8 3 -- -- -- 1 1 71.49
groups2.jpg

Mathias Gronberg, Richard Sterne, Nick Dougherty
Tee time:
12:20 p.m.
Tee: No. 1
Total TOUR wins: 0, but they have a combined 10 European Tour wins
Why you should watch: Call these guys the European super group. While they don't have a TOUR win between them, no one can say they don't know how to play. Richard Sterne currently tops the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit and is 15th on the European Tour Order of Merit. Sterne also tied for 25th at last week's Masters Tournament. Gronberg leads this group with five European Tour wins, and if he's anything like the other Swedish golfers who have been cropping up often in the upper echelons of the leaderboard, then he's one to watch. Nick Dougherty was one of the Queen's golfers involved in the British Invasion of Augusta National last week when the first-round leaderboard was a blur of red-and-white flags. The 23-year-old ended up tied for 33rd but put in one of the low rounds of the week Friday with a 69.

2008 stat comparison
Player Events played Cuts Made 1st 2nd 3rd Top 10 Top 25 Scoring Avg.
Gronberg 9 3 -- -- -- -- -- 72.49
Sterne 8 8 1 -- -- 1 5 --*
Dougherty 8 8 -- -- -- 1 3 --*
* Scoring average not available for European Tour players
groups3.jpg

Greg Kraft, Jim Furyk, Davis Love III
Tee time:
12:50 p.m.
Tee: No. 1
Total TOUR wins: 33
Why you should watch: As if you need a reason to keep an eye on these guys. Davis Love has a reputation for excelling at this course, which is only about two hours from his home in Sea Island, Ga., after all -- he's won the title five times. You can never count this guy out, even if he did miss the Masters for the first time since 1991 last week. Jim Furyk is one of the top-ranked players in the field here this week, which means he's always up for a win. He already came close once this year against a tough field at the World Golf Championships -- CA Championship, so he's probably getting hungry for a win. Greg Kraft waited a long time for his first TOUR win, and patience paid off last month in Puerto Rico, where he claimed the inaugural Puerto Rico Open title for himself. Why stop there?

2008 stat comparison
Player Events played Cuts Made 1st 2nd 3rd Top 10 Top 25 Scoring Avg.
Kraft 3 3 1 -- -- 1 2 69.37
Furyk 10 8 -- 1 -- 2 4 70.60
Love 7 4 -- -- -- -- 1 71.02
Email This Story   Print This Story   RSS   Bookmark and Share
SHOP.PGATOUR.COM

Get the best deals on the best equipment all at the SHOP.PGATOUR.COM.

TEXT ALERTS

TEXT ALERTS
© 1995-2008 PGA TOUR, Inc. | Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved. PGA TOUR, Champions Tour, Nationwide Tour and the swinging golfer logo are registered trademarks.
TurnerPGATOUR.com is part of the Turner Sports and Entertainment Digital Network