SAN ANTONIO - The 25th Anniversary of the AT&T Championship presented by Alcatel-Lucent, scheduled for Oct. 19-25 at Oak Hills Country Club, is working toward its greatest field ever with a mixture of top Champions Tour players, plus legends and long-time favorites heading the early commitment list.
Two-time defending champion John Cook is among the initial commitments for the $1.7 million dollar tournament along with Loren Roberts, Mark O’Meara and Jay Haas, plus Hall of Fame legends Ben Crenshaw and Tom Kite, Ray Floyd, Lanny Wadkins and Hale Irwin.
“The AT&T always has one of the best fields because players love playing the Oak Hills course,” Roberts said. “Most of us played when it hosted the Texas Open and enjoy playing it now.
“Plus with its length, everybody is in the game from the shorter hitters like Raymond Floyd and Gary Player to the long guys like Tom Purtzer. The weather is always warm and San Antonio is just a fun place," Roberts added. I can’t wait to get down there.”
Not only is the quarter-century celebration of one of the Champions Tour original events drawing the top 50-and-over pros, but so is the date as the last event before the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup, and the possible addition of new champions’ rookie Fred Couples.
Couples turns 50 in early October and has already indicated he hopes to make his Champions Tour debut in front of his college home state family and friends.
“Having a player like Fred Couples can only help this tournament and our Tour,” said Wadkins. “He will realize how competitive and fun it is out here.”
Other players already committed to the 54-hole event include former winners Craig Stadler, Larry Nelson, Mark McNulty, and Fred Funk, plus local favorites like Hal Sutton, D.A. Weibring, Bruce Lietzke, Keith Fergus and Blaine McCallister.
“It’s always great to play close to home in front of friends,” Dallas’ Wadkins said
Cook will be attempting to complete the first three-peat in AT&T Championship history.
He captured his first-ever Champions Tour victory on the A. W. Tillinghast designed course in 2007, right after turning 50, by two shots over O’Meara. Last year he battled a final round virus and the stellar field to win by three shots over Keith Fergus.
“It’s always fun to come back to where you have had success,” Cook said. “I’ve certainly clicked with Oak Hills and San Antonio. The course requires distance control and good iron play and when I’m playing good that’s something I’m able to do pretty well.”
Only Lee Trevino has won three times at the AT&T, but no one has ever done it in three consecutive years. Not only would Cook set a new record with his third straight win, but would become only the 10th non-rookie to win at Oak Hills.
For tickets and sponsorship information for the 2009 25th Anniversary PGA Champions Tour golfing celebration, call 210-698-3582 or go to www.attchamp.com.