This Week in Golf - August 9th through August 12th

Golf Betting Lines

08/06/2007 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - PGA OF AMERICA - PGA CHAMPIONSHIP, Southern Hills Country Club, Tulsa, Oklahoma - The final major of the season is upon us with the 89th PGA Championship.

Last year, the championship was contested at Medinah Country Club, and this year returns to Southern Hills Country Club.

Southern Hills Country Club is the first course to host the PGA Championship four times. Southern Hills was also home to three U.S. Opens, including the 2001 Open where Retief Goosen defeated Mark Brooks in a playoff.

Along with the various ways professionals gain entry into this championship, the 20 low scorers from the PGA Professional National Championship also will tee it up at Southern Hills this week.

Last year, Tiger Woods collected his 12th professional major championship and his third PGA Championship, as he won the PGA for the second time at Medinah. Woods became the first player to win the PGA Championship on the same course twice.

Woods led entering the final round and is now 12-for-12 when owning at least a share of the 54-hole lead. His 18-under 270 total matched his own PGA Championship record for lowest score in relation to par.

TNT has extensive coverage of the event on Thursday and Friday, beginning at 2:00 p.m. (et), then has mid-day coverage on Saturday and Sunday. CBS takes over Saturday and Sunday afternoons, with live action from 2:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. each day.

The PGA Tour returns to action next week with the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, where Davis Love III won last year.

NATIONWIDE TOUR

NORTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA CLASSIC, Glenmaura National Golf Club, Scranton, Pennsylvania - The Nationwide Tour returns to Scranton and Glenmaura National for the eighth year of the Northeast Pennsylvania Classic.

Craig Bowden parred the first extra hole last year to beat Jess Daley and win the title. It was Bowden's third Nationwide Tour win overall, and helped him return to the PGA Tour.

Daley was not as lucky, as he remains on the Nationwide Tour having finished 25th on the money list last year. He is only 99th on the money list this year, but will look to improve that position this week at Glenmaura.

There is no television coverage this week. The Nationwide Tour returns to New York next week for the Xerox Classic, where Kevin Stadler won in 2006.

USGA

U.S. WOMEN'S AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP, Crooked Stick Golf Club, Carmel, Indiana - The U.S. Women's Amateur heads to Indiana for the fifth USGA Championship, hosted by Crooked Stick.

The last USGA event here was the 1993 U.S. Women's Open. It is the first time this event is being contested at Crooked Stick.

The format is 36 holes of stroke play, before the match-play rounds start Wednesday and conclude Sunday with the 36-hole final.

Fourteen-year-old Kimberly Kim became the youngest winner ever last year, when she came from behind to beat Katharina Schallenberg at Pumpkin Ridge. Kim was five down after 15 holes, but she rallied and won on the 36-hole when she sank a five-foot birdie effort.

Among those trying to take the crown from Kim this week include Meghan Bolger, the 2006 U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur Champion; Mina Harigae, the 2007 U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Champion; Diane Lang, 2006 USGA Senior Women's Amateur Champion; Stacy Lewis, 2007 NCAA Individual Champion; Kristen Park and Jenny Shin, the last two U.S. Girls' Junior champions.

The Golf Channel will cover five days of action starting with Wednesday's First Round of Match Play.

The next USGA event on the schedule is the U.S. Amateur, which will be played at Olympic Club in San Francisco starting August 20th. Richie Ramsay won last year, but has turned professional.

DURAMED FUTURES TOUR

BETTY PUSKAR GOLF CLASSIC, The Pines Country Club, Morgantown, West Virginia - The Duramed Futures Tour is down to the final four events, as players jockey for position on the money list in an attempt to gain their LPGA Tour card for next year.

Last year's winner, Kristy McPherson, has moved on to the LPGA and will not be on hand to defend her title. The top-10 players on the money list are all scheduled to play this week, however.

Next week the tour moves to Maryland for the Hunters Oak Golf Classic.