WORLD'S BEST SHOOT FOR TIGER TARGET FIELD FEATURES INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR.Byline: Dave Shelburne Staff Writer THOUSAND OAKS Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. - Tiger Woods  Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled. calls his annual fund-raising golf
tournament the Target World Challenge, and he's serious about that
global aspect.
``To have it a world challenge is the whole idea,'' said Woods, who will open his title defense today at Sherwood Country Club in an invitational field made up half of international players. ``The game is expanding,'' he said. ``It's now a global game. It's not just here domestically in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . The whole idea is to get more foreign players in the field, because I think that's indicative of how the game is evolving.'' The current world rankings support that thinking, with six international players in the top 10 and 12 in the top 20 - seven of whom are in the 16-man field this week. Eight-time European Tour Order of Merit Order of Merit Noun Brit an order awarded for outstanding achievement in any field winner Colin Montgomerie Colin Stuart Montgomerie, OBE (born June 23, 1963) is a Scottish professional golfer often referred to by his nickname 'Monty'. He has had one of the finest careers in European Tour history, having won a record eight Order of Merit titles including a streak of seven consecutively of Scotland leads the international contingent with a No. 9 world ranking, and No. 15 Michael Campbell Michael Shane Campbell CNZM (born February 23, 1969) is a New Zealand golfer who is best-known for having won the 2005 US Open and the richest prize in golf, the £1,000,000 HSBC World Match Play Championship, in the same year. He is a member of the European Tour. of New Zealand New Zealand (zē`lənd), island country (2005 est. pop. 4,035,000), 104,454 sq mi (270,534 sq km), in the S Pacific Ocean, over 1,000 mi (1,600 km) SE of Australia. The capital is Wellington; the largest city and leading port is Auckland. comes in as defending U.S. Open The term U.S. Open is applied to "open" United States national championships in a particular sport, in which anybody, amateur or professional, American or non-American may compete. These include:
Padraig Harrington of Ireland, the 2002 Target champion (ranked No. 12), England's Luke Donald Luke Campbell Donald (born December 7, 1977) is an English golfer who plays mainly on the U.S. based PGA Tour but is also a member of the European Tour. In 2006 he reached the top ten in the Official World Golf Rankings for the first time in his career. (13th) and David Howell David Howell is a name shared by several notable men:
Montgomerie, in the midst Adv. 1. in the midst - the middle or central part or point; "in the midst of the forest"; "could he walk out in the midst of his piece?" midmost of a late-career revival that has improved him from No. 83 in the world to the top 10, appreciates Woods' consideration of internationals - and not just for the fact the 42-year-old Scot enjoyed a confidence boost at last year's Target event. ``All credit to him for inviting international players and for international players to come over and play,'' said Montgomerie, who earned his 2004 Target invitation with stellar play in the Europeans' Ryder Cup victory over the U.S., then nearly won Woods' tournament. ``A lot of international flags are flying above the leaderboard lead·er·board n. A board that displays the leaders in a competition. leaderboard Noun a board displaying the current scores of the leading competitors, esp in a golf tournament , which is nice to see,'' said Montgomerie, who took a two-stroke lead into the final round of last year's Target before finishing tied for third, three shots behind Woods' winning 268. Woods' emphasis on international players in his tournament reflects the approach he has brought to golf throughout his 10-year professional career. ``He is an international player,'' Montgomerie said. ``He's traveled the world. All credit to him for doing that. He doesn't just stay on this continent. He travels continents and shows the world how good he is.'' In the process, Campbell said, Woods - who has 17 international victories to go with his 46 PGA Tour wins - has helped make the world's golfers better. ``What he's done for the game has definitely raised the bar for all of us around the world,'' said the 35-year-old Kiwi, who finished two shots ahead of runner-up Woods at the U.S. Open, thanks in part to what he saw when Woods arrived on tour. ``It made me work harder,'' Campbell said, ``and that's why I'm here, because of him. ``I can speak for most of the players out here. Most of the players would probably agree with me that the reason why I think we've improved so much over the last five of six years is because of Tiger. We had to. He came out all guns blazing and he was like streaks ahead of us. We had to do something.'' Campbell's ``something'' resulted in a career-defining victory in the U.S. Open at Pinehurst. Vijay Singh of Fiji, the 2001 Target runner-up who withdrew from this year's tournament, developed into the No. 1 golfer in the world - knocking Woods out of that position last year, when he also ended Woods' five-year run as PGA Tour Player of the Year. Ireland's Harrington held off a monumental charge by Woods to defeat the then-defending champion in the 2002 Target and finished two shots back last year, when Woods won his second Target title. Woods enjoys winning as much as anyone, but he also likes seeing that kind of success by internationals in a tournament he wants to be international. ``When it first started out,'' he said, ``I thought this could be a very special event. We got a bunch of support. But over the years, its been incredible to see the guys turn out and see all of us competing - the best in the world.'' Dave Shelburne, (818) 713-3609 dave.shelburne(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 3 photos, 2 boxes Photo: (1 -- 3) Colin Montgomerie, left, Michael Campbell, center, and Padraig Harrington are among the international stars in the field. Getty Images Box: (1) TARGET WORLD CHALLENGE (2) TEE TIMES |
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