PGA Tour Tampa Bay Championship: Luke Donald Ready to Defend Title

After a sunny Wednesday Pro-Am that is expected to be the start of a run of great weather, the Tampa Bay Championship presented by EverBank begins Thursday with Luke Donald ready to defend his title.

The world’s number three ranked player spoke about his respect for the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook, a Salamander Golf & Spa Resort.  “It really does test all parts of your game from tee shots to really getting the iron shots in the right positions on the greens,” Donald said, “which are some of the most slopey and fast greens we play all year.”

Jim Furyk, a winner on the Copperhead added, “I’ve liked this golf course since I was a kid,” he said having first played the course as a teenager. “I think it’s the best course we play in Florida.”  Furyk added that the course played especially difficult in the windy conditions of Wednesday’s Pro-Am.

Another former Tampa Bay Championship winner, Vijay Singh, led the team that won the Pro-Am.  Along with amateur partners Doug Graska, Michael Lewers and Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinee Darrell Green, they shot 12-under par 59 and won a match of cards for first place with the teams of John Daly and Kevin Stadler.

National television coverage on Golf Channel is from 3 to 6 and viewers will be sure to get plenty of looks at the all-Australian pairing of Adam Scott, Jason Day and Geoff Ogilvy that tees off at 1:30 on the first hole.

There were no changes in the field on Wednesday.  The PGA TOUR announced pairings for the first two rounds which can be seen here.

Thanks to Rick Odioso for submitting this information.

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