MCI Classic Preview

Glen Day’s playoff victory over Jeff Sluman
and Payne Stewart at last year’s MCI Classic
brought him a goal everyone on the PGA Tour
has – winning. In fact, Day kicked off a parade
of nine first-time winners in 1999.

A victory this week at Harbour Town Golf
Links would move the Arkansas resident into
additional exclusive company.

Only two players have defended MCI
Classic titles successfully. Stewart was the first,
winning consecutively in 1989 and 1990. The
next was Davis Love III.

After winning his first PGA TOUR title on
Hilton Head in 1987, Davis earned TOUR wins Nos. 3 and 5 there in 1991
and 1992. Love added to his MCI Classic total in 1998, defeating none other
than Day by seven strokes.

Love is the only four-time winner on Hilton Head. The six other
multiple winners are Hale Irwin (1971, 1973, 1994), Johnny Miller (1972,
1974), Hubert Green (1976, 1978), Tom Watson (1979, 1982), Fuzzy
Zoeller (1983, 1986) and Stewart.

Masters Champion Vijay Singh will make his first appearance after donning a green jacket. Hoping to add another historical title to his collection, this time a Tartan Jacket, the prize for the winner here.

MCI Notes

This week’s playing is the MCI Classic’s 32nd
edition and 32nd year it has been held at Harbour Tour GL. In
1972, the first two rounds were held at the Ocean Course and
Harbour Town GL before finishing with the final two rounds at
Harbour Town only.

A LOOK BACK AT 1999: Glen Day, appearing in his first
playoff, earned his first PGA Tour title by sinking a 35-foot
putt on the first extra hole at Harbour Town. The winning
birdie defeated Payne Stewart and Jeff Sluman. Day, who began
the last round 10 groups ahead of the final pairing, closed with
a 66, then waited to see if his 10-under-par 274 total would hold
up. He earned $450,000 with his win and climbed to 19th place
on the TOUR money list at that juncture.

EXTRA TIME: There have been six playoffs in the 31-year
history of the MCI Classic. Three of those occurred in the 1990s:
Payne Stewart defeated Steve Jones and Larry Mize in 1990,
Bob Tway defeated David Frost and Nolan Henke in 1995, and
Glen Day defeated Payne Stewart and Jeff Sluman in 1999.
Doug Tewell (1980), Tom Watson (1982) and Bernhard
Langer (1985) are the other three MCI Classic playoff winners.

LOVE AT MCI CLASSIC: Davis Love III has
played in each MCI Classic since he joined
the PGA TOUR in 1986. Love’s four victories
are the most in the event’s history. He also has
six top-10 finishes in 14 starts. Love has
played 47 rounds in the MCI Classic. Of
those, 33 are at par-or-better, 30 are under
par and 24 are in the 60s. Last year, after
shooting 68-75-74, Love withdrew because
of a bad back. His back specialist had told him
to take the week off, but Davis wanted to play as defending
champion.

FIRST-TIME WINNERS: When he won last year’s tournament
in a playoff over Payne Stewart and Jeff Sluman, Glen Day was
the last player to make the MCI Classic his first career PGA
TOUR title. Other players who earned their first career titles at
Hilton Head are Davis Love III (1987), Nick Faldo (1984),
Doug Tewell (1980), Graham Marsh (1977) and Hale Irwin
(1971).

ACES: There have been 12 holes-in-one in MCI Classic history.
And while no player has made two in the tournament itself,
Blaine McCallister has made two at Harbour Town. McCallister
made one in the 1996 MCI Classic and also had one at the 1989
Nabisco Championships (now THE TOUR Championship),
which was held at Harbour Town.

TOURNAMENT RECORD:
Loren Roberts holds the 72-hole
scoring record at the MCI Classic.
In 1996, Roberts shot 66-69-
63-67–265, 23-under-par, to de-feat
Mark O’Meara by three
strokes.

PURSE INCREASES AGAIN: The MCI Classic
increased its purse by $500,000 this year
to a total of $3,000,000; the winner will
receive $540,000. This is the eighth consecutive
year the purse has increased. When
it began in 1969, winner Arnold Palmer
earned $20,000. The first time the total purse
was $1 million was in 1990.

COURSE RECORD: David Frost holds the course record at
Harbour Town Golf Links. Frost shot an 11-under-par 61 in the
second round of the 1994 MCI Heritage Classic.

TOUGHEST HOLES: The par-4 eighth hole at Harbour Town
GL was the toughest hole during the 1999 MCI Classic. It
recorded a stroke average of 4.266. The easiest hole was the 505-
yard par-5 second hole, which carried a stroke average of 4.537
(-.463). Thirteen eagles and 178 birdies were recorded on the
second hole.

WIRE-TO-WIRE: In its first 31 years, there
have been only three wire-to-wire winners
of the MCI Classic. In 1974, Johnny Miller
held the lead by himself after each round of
the PGA TOUR event, shooting 67-67-72-
70–276 and defeating Gibby Gilbert by nine
strokes. Tom Watson went wire-to-wire in
1979, shooting 65-65-69-71–270 to defeat
Ed Sneed by five strokes. In 1997, Nick
Price accomplished the feat by shooting 65-69-69-66–269,
defeating Brad Faxon by six strokes.

COMEBACK SUNDAY: Hubert Green and Glen Day share the
record for the largest come-from-behind victories at the MCI
Classic. In 1978, Green began the final round five strokes
behind leader Larry Nelson. Green’s closing 67 earned him the
Sea Pines Heritage Classic title. Last year, Day closed with a 66
to force a playoff with Jeff Sluman and Payne Stewart. Day
won the playoff with a birdie-3 on the first extra hole.