Superintendents son likely earns trip to Sawgrass

April 29, 2009

Jeff Klauk might know every blade of grass on the Stadium Course at the TPC Sawgrass after growing up watching his father, retired golf course superintendent Fred Klauk, tend to the course for The US Players Championship.

Barring an unlikely turn of events, the U.S. PGA Tour rookie will see the course next week like never before.

Because two international players decided not to play, Klauk earned the final spot in the field next week based on a solid start to his season that has put him 42nd in the FedEx Cup standings.

The only way he could lose his spot would be for someone not already eligible to win the Quail Hollow Championship.

The top 10 players in the FedEx Cup standings after last week were assured a place in the field at The Players Championship. The tour then goes down the standings as far as necessary to fill the 144-man field.

Miguel Angel Jimenez and Shingo Katayama elected not to play, leaving the tournament with 141 players. David Toms (No. 21) and Scott Piercy (No. 40) took those spots, and Klauk will get the last one.

Having mowed greens and fairways and all that stuff, and then coming to a tournament and you see maintenance guys, how many hours they have to work to get the course in the conditions that they are in, it takes a lot of hours, Klauk said this year. Just makes me appreciate things a lot more than a lot of other people.

Also added to the field last week was Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand, who won in South Korea and moved to No. 49 in the world ranking.

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QUAIL HOLLOW FUTURE: Wells Fargo, which acquired Wachovia last year, has taken its name off the tournament this week, which is why it is now called the Quail Hollow Championship. The bank also acquired a contract with the U.S. PGA Tour that runs through 2014, and tournament officials do not expect it to be broken before then.

That likely will be the end of a U.S. PGA Tour stop in Charlotte - but not necessarily major golf.

PGA of America officials are in town this week as the guest of club president Johnny Harris, who is trying to land the 2017 U.S. PGA Championship and the 2024 Ryder Cup.

Whether it gets the two major events remains to be seen. Davis Love III is not convinced it will work, although it has nothing to do with the golf course, considered among the best on tour.

Theres a lot of courses that can handle a major championship - certainly, Quail Hollow as a golf course can, Love said two weeks ago at Hilton Head. Its the infrastructure. If Johnny Harris said, You all come look at Quail Hollow for a U.S. Open or a PGA, they wouldnt look much at the golf course. Theyd say, Wait a minute, is there room for parking? And is there room for corporate hospitality? Is there room for buses? If you get an extra large tournament, can you handle it?

The golf course is great, he said. It would certainly handle a major championship. But I dont think theres enough room for everything else that goes with it.

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OHAIR PLANS: Sean OHair goes into the U.S. Open with some uncertainty at home, although there is little question he will play.

His wife, Jackie, is expecting their third child on June 25 - four days after the U.S. Open at New York. They are expecting a boy that they plan to name Grady Quinn.

Hopefully, he comes the week before, because Im taking that week off, OHair said.

But what if it comes early, and OHair gets a call in the middle of a round?

He wont be carrying a beeper, as Phil Mickelson did at Pinehurst No. 2 in 1999. He will leave, but not for long.

If I get the call, Ill finish my round and then fly home (to Philadelphia) and see the baby and make sure Jackie is OK. Then Ill go back, OHair said, pausing to smile, and win the U.S. Open.

OHair, 26, already has a 4-year-old daughter (Molly) and an 18-month-old son (Luke).