Long drives, accuracy off tee are keys to eighth place tie

Jason Gore had his best week of 2008 on the PGA Tour, finishing Sunday in a tie for eighth place in the Legends Tahoe-Reno Open.
His nine-under-par 68-70-70-71—279 was worth $87,000. His best previous finish of the season was a tie for ninth place at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
Gore, who has a clothing endorsement deal with Straight Down Clothing Co., was tied for 6th after 54 holes at the Montreux Golf and Country Club.
Gore was among the longest hitters off the tee at the 7,500-yard layout. He averaged 331 yards per drive for the tournament and was tied for third in driving accuracy for the week. He hit every fairway during his Saturday round.

Tour veteran is tied for second place

With Greg Norman in the news so much in the past few weeks, is it any surprise that Larry Mize – a name linked to Norman history – also shouldn’t surface?
Mize, who will be joining the Champions Tour next month as a rookie, is tuning up for that circuit.
At the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open this weekend, Mize is tied for 2nd place with three others, four shots back of leader Parker McLachlin after 36 holes.
Mize has posted a 68-66—134 at the Montreux Golf and Country Club. The 10-under-par effort has included accuracy off the tee and getting it done with the putter.
He is tied for 4th place among contestants in driving accuracy and is 4th in putts when finding the greens in regulation.
He has birdied the final two holes on the course in both of his rounds.
Mize — who has a clothing endorsement contract with Straight Down Clothing Co. — will always be linked with Norman through the 1987 Masters Tournament. The Augusta native bested Norman in a playoff that year.
Mize has played in 13 PGA Tour events in 2008 and has one top-10 finish among the five cuts he has made.
Beyond the Masters victory, Mize has three other PGA Tour titles and four international wins.
Two other PGA pros with Straight Down Clothing contracts – Jason Gore and Charley Hoffman – are tied for 15th place in the $3 million-purse tournament after 36 holes.

Roberts among the favorites for U.S. Senior Open crown

Straight Down Tour pro Loren Roberts has a Senior British Open championship, but not a U.S. Senior Open Championship.
That may explain why Roberts avoided the long flight to the British Isles last week.
Roberts was a runner-up in the U.S. Senior Open Championship in 2005, his first summer of eligibility on the Champions Tour.
He is among the favorites to win this weekend at Broadmoor, an historic resort at 6,000 feet in the Colorado Rockies.
PGA Tour writer Lauren Deason, the editorial coordinator for the PGA Tour website, has Roberts among the top-10 contenders –- with good reason.

“Roberts has three won majors in the Champions Tour’s Grand Slam plus one. To complete the Major Five, all he needs is a win at the U.S. Senior Open Championship and the Senior PGA Championship,” she writes.
“Roberts, one of the best putters on the Champions Tour, could cross one of those off the list at The Broadmoor this week. In his last six starts, he has a win and two seconds. Needless to say, he’s pretty hot heading into the season’s third major.”
The championship is 72 holes with competition beginning Thursday, July 31 from the Colorado Springs location – the Broadmoor East Course. The layout is a Donald Ross design. Robert Trent Jones added features to the course in 1965, It will play to a par-70 this week for the championship.

Hoffman message aids Lunde

Last weekend’s Nationwide Tour victor Bill Lunde got a boost before he teed off Sunday morning on his final round in Columbus, Ohio.
PGA Tour reporters wrote Tuesday that fellow UNLV graduate Charley Hoffman passed along the encouragement.
Clinging to a one-shot lead entering Sunday’s final round of the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Invitational, Lunde received inspiration via a text message from his old friend.
“Get it done” was the message sent by the 2007 Bob Hope Chrysler champion, Lunde told reporters.
Lunde took it from there — winning his first Nationwide Tour event in his 66th start. He improved 21 spots on the money list to No. 7. Lunde and Hoffman are graduates of UNLV and both live there.
Hoffman, who has a clothing endorsement contract with Straight Down Clothing Co., also has a house in San Diego. Hoffman has three top-10 finishes this year, making 11 cuts in 21 events. He has earned $713,000 on the PGA Tour this season.

Nationwide pro tied for fourth place

Chris Tidland may be halfway home to his best showing on the Nationwide Tour in 2008.
He is among a gaggle of players tied for fourth place in Columbus Ohio at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital International.
Tidland is two shots off the pace of leader Peter Tomasulo along with 10 other players.
His 69-70 –139 was helped Friday with an eagle on the par-5 No. 4 at the Scarlet Course of Ohio State University.
Tidland, who has a clothing endorsement contract with Straight Down Clothing Co., has two top-10 finishes on the Nationwide Tour this season, a tie for 8th and a tie for 9th at the Livermore Valley Wine Country Championship.
He played on the PGA Tour in 2007, competing in 21 events and making the cut eight times