PGA

• This Week in Golf - July 3rd through July 6th

  
  

  Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - PGA TOUR - AT&T NATIONAL, Congressional Country Club, Bethesda, Maryland - With just two weeks remaining before the start of the British Open Championship, players have begun to fine-tune their games in preparation for the season's third major.

  This week, K.J. Choi returns to the Blue Course at Congressional Country Club for his title defense against a less-than star-studded field. Tournament host Tiger Woods will not be on hand, as he recovers from recent knee surgery. Only two of the top-10 players in the world and five of the top-20 are scheduled to compete.

  Choi won the first AT&T National with a 68 in the final round last year, beating Steve Stricker by three shots. Choi (No. 10) and Stricker (No. 7) are the only players ranked inside the world top 10 who will be in the limited field this week.

  2007 British Amateur champion Drew Weaver will compete this week. A senior at Virginia Tech, Weaver, who became the first American since 1979 to win the British Amateur, received a sponsor's exemption into the field.

  The last two PGA Tour winners since Woods claimed the U.S. Open -- Stewart Cink and Kenny Perry -- will not be at Congressional, which is hosting the tournament for the second straight year.

  Although not the longest course on Tour at 7,255 yards, the par-70 layout played to an average of 71.543 last year, the ninth most difficult on the PGA Tour in 2007.

  The purse for the tournament is $6 million, with $1.08 million allotted for the winner.

  The Golf Channel will broadcast coverage of the first two rounds beginning at 4 p.m. (et) both days, while CBS will have coverage on the weekend starting at 3 p.m.

  (et). Next week's event is the John Deere Classic, which was won by Jonathan Byrd last year.

  EUROPEAN TOUR THE EUROPEAN OPEN, The London Golf Club, Ash, England - Colin Montgomerie polished off a 65 in the final round of the European Open last year, then waited out an 80-minute weather delay to see if Niclas Fasth could catch him.

  When Fasth failed to make birdie at the 18th after play resumed, Montgomerie had his first win in 19 months. He won by a single shot, marking the eight- time Order of Merit champion's 31st career European Tour victory.

  "After nearly two years of a dry spell it's great to be back," Montgomerie said. "You wonder if it's ever going to happen again." It nearly happened again last weekend when Montgomerie finished runner-up to surprise winner Pablo Larrazabal at the Open de France. Monty ended four shots back in second place, his best finish since his win at last year's European Open.

  Montgomerie and Fasth will be in the field this week at The London Golf Club, but Larrazabal will not. The field also features reigning Players Championship winner Sergio Garcia, reigning Order of Merit champion Justin Rose and reigning British Open winner Padraig Harrington.

  The Golf Channel will have coverage of all four rounds this week. Next week is the Scottish Open, where Gregory Havret won last year.

  LPGA TOUR NW ARKANSAS CHAMPIONSHIP, Pinnacle Country Club City, Rogers, Arkansas - Stacy Lewis, last week's surprise third-round leader at the U.S. Women's Open, was an amateur when she shot the best score at last year's NW Arkansas Championship in what LPGA officials believed was the first full-length tour event ever shortened to 18 holes.

  Lewis finished her seven-under 65 on Saturday before a weather suspension left 32 players still needing to complete their first rounds on Sunday. Persistent bad weather plagued the tournament for four days, and with the Solheim Cup scheduled for the next week, officials had no choice but to shorten the event from three rounds to one.

  Stats and money payouts from the tournament were unofficial, not that it mattered in the case of Lewis. As an amateur, she was ineligible to receive a check anyway.

  "It's one good round of golf, and that's all really you can take from it," saidLewis, whodid receive a trophy, although not in a greenside presentation.

  CBS will broadcast coverage of the last two rounds beginning at 1:30 p.m. (et) on both days. Next week is the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic, where Hall of Famer Se Ri Pak won last year.

  CHAMPIONS TOUR DICK'S SPORTING GOODS CLASSIC, En-Joie Golf Course, Endicott, New York - R.W. Eaks fired a six-under 66 in the final round last year to win the inaugural Dick's Sporting Goods Open by three shots over qualifier Bruce Vaughan.

  It was the first Champions Tour win for Eaks, who went on to win the Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn two months later. Eaks will be in the field this week to defend his title.

  The Golf Channel will have coverage of all three rounds beginning at 1 p.m. (et) each day.

  The Champions Tour will return from a one-week break on July 18th for the 3M Championship, which was won by D.A. Weibring last year.

  CANADIAN TOUR SASKATCHEWAN OPEN, Dakota Dunes Golf Links, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - The Canadian Tour has put the Saskatchewan Open back on its schedule for the first time in 24 years.

  The event, first played in 1919, was a mainstay on the tour until 1984. Its previous champions include Pat Fletcher, a Canadian Golf Hall of Fame member who won the tournament three times from 1947-51.

  Next week's event is the TELUS Edmonton Open, where Dustin Risdon won last year.

  06/30 18:41:08 ET