Puerto Rico Open Notes - 2014

2014 Puerto Rico Open Media Notes
Dates: March 3–9, 2014
Where: Trump International Golf Club – Puerto Rico
Par/Yards: 36-36—72/7,569 yards
Field: 132
2012 Champion: Scott Brown
Purse: $3,500,000/$630,000
FedEx Cup Points: 300 points to the winner
Website: gotopuertoricoopen.com
Facebook: PuertoRicoOpen
Twitter: @PuertoRicoOpen

A look back at the 2013 Puerto Rico Open

• Scott Brown entered the final day in a tie for the lead with Fabian Gomez at 18-under-par and birdied the 72nd hole to card a final-round 70 and win by one over Gomez, who bogeyed the last to give a 1-stroke lead away, and Jordan Spieth.
• It was his first career title in his 26th PGA TOUR start at the age of 29 years, 9 months, 19 days.More on Scott Brown
• Brown broke or tied three tournament records on his way to victory in Puerto Rico:
  • 72 hole score (268) was one stroke better than Derek Lamely’s (2010).
  • Set a new 54 hole score (199) along with Fabian Gomez.
  • Carded a 63 (-9) in round two to tie the tournament’s best 18 hole score with Derek Lamely (2010), Chris Tidland (2011) and James Driscoll (2011).
  • Led the field in total putts with 101.
  • Win helped him reach the second FedExCup Playoffs event (Deutsche Bank Championship) and a No. 88 finish in the final FedExCup standings.
  • Brown is No. 33 in the current FedExCup standings, having finished T3 at the Frys.com Open and T4 at The McGladrey Classic last fall.A glance at the field
  • Six major championship winners: John Daly, David Duval, Trevor Immelman, Lee Janzen, David Toms and Y.E. Yang.
  • Ryo Ishikawa returns to the Puerto Rico Open where he finished second to George McNeill in 2012. In 2013, Ishikawa finished T39 in Puerto Rico. Ishikawa (23) is one of three players in the field that are currently inside the top 30 in the FedExCup standings, joined by Brian Stuard (13), Chris Stroud (26). Defending champion Scott Brown is just outside the top 30 at No. 33.
  • Brian Stuard, the highest-ranked player in the current FedExCup standings at 13th, had three consecutive top-10s early in the season at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba 92), the Sony Open in Hawaii (6) and the Humana Challenge in partnership with the Clinton Foundation (5).
  • Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts was a member of the victorious European Ryder Cup team in 2012.
  • Those playing well as of late—Canada’s David Hearn finished T6 at last week’s Honda Classic while William McGirt was the 54-hole leader at the Northern Trust Open in late February before ultimately finishing T6.
  • With a combined 1,465 career starts on the PGA TOUR, Tim Clark (270), David Toms (556) and Fred Funk (639) all make their first respective starts at the Puerto Rico Open.
  • Five of the six past champions of the Puerto Rico Open are in the field: Michael Bradley (2009 and 2011), Derek Lamely (2010), George McNeill (2012) and Scott Brown (2013).
  • Sponsor exemptions Brooks Koepka, a former Florida State All-America and current European Tour member, and Max Homa, who turned professional this year after winning the 2013 NCAA individual title at Cal, will make their first appearances in Puerto Rico. Koepka finished T33 last week at The Honda Classic. Sponsor exemptions have had back-to-back runner-up finishes the last two years in Puerto Rico. In 2012, Ryo Ishikawa finished second and last year Jordan Spieth finished T2 at the Puerto Rico Open. Ishikawa’s finish in Puerto Rico was enough to give him Special Temporary Membership status, Spieth earned Special Temporary Membership the following week at the Valspar Championship.
  • Ryan Sullivan – In 2013 he played seven events on NEC Series – PGA TOUR Latinoamérica and made four cuts. He won the Puerto Rico Classic presented by Merrill Lynch which earned him a sponsor exemption to the Puerto Rico Open.
  • Special Temporary Membership
    • Non-members such as Brooks Koepka and Max Homa are in search of Special Temporary Membership on TOUR which makes them eligible for unlimited sponsor exemptions for the remainder of the Regular Season. To gain Special Temporary Membership non-members must surpass the total number of FedExCup points of the player who finished No. 150 (278 points) on the 2013 FedExCup points list.
    • Special Temporary Members are not eligible for the FedExCup Playoffs, but Special Temporary Members or non-members who subsequently become regular PGA TOUR members with an official victory during the season will be counted on the FedExCup points list, along with any FedExCup points earned as a non-member (excluding those won at World Golf Championships events as a nonmember) and thus be
      eligible for the FedExCup Playoffs. Below is the current non-member FedExCup points list with players in bold in the Puerto Rico Open field.
      Rank Player Non-member FedExCup points

      Hispanic players in the field

      Puerto Rico

    • Rafael Campos – Had two top-10 finishes and seven cuts made in eight starts in the 2013 season of NEC Series – PGA TOUR Latinoamérica. He made two cuts in three starts on PGA TOUR Canada, with a T27 finish at The Great Waterway Classic in August as his best. Last year, Campos finished 76th in his sixth appearance in the Puerto Rico Open presented by seepuertorico.com. He became the first Puerto
      Rican to make the cut two times in the Puerto Rico Open. He was also the first Puerto Rican to make the cut since the event’s inaugural year of 2008. This will be his seventh appearance in Puerto Rico.
    • Max Alverio – A three-time winner of the Puerto Rico Amateur Championship (2003, 2005 and 2006). Since turning pro in 2007, he has played the PGA TOUR’s Puerto Rico Open five consecutive times, this will be his sixth. In 2013 he only played one NEC Series – PGA TOUR Latinoamérica event – Puerto Rico Classic presented by Merrill Lynch – where he finished T25.
    • Erick Morales – Made his only start in the Puerto Rico Open and on the PGA TOUR as an amateur in 2010, but missed the cut after a 76-71.
    • Miguel Suarez – Will make seventh start in the Puerto Rico. Only made cut came in his first start in 2008.Argentina
    • Miguel Ángel Carballo – In 2013 nailed down his 2013-14 PGA TOUR card with strong performances on the Web.com Tour. Lost his PGA TOUR card in 2012 after his rookie year. In 2013 he played three events on NEC Series – PGA TOUR Latinoamérica. His best finish was at the Chile Open at Los Leones Golf Club where he finished T4. He played the Puerto Rico Open once in 2012 where he finished T25.
    • Jose Coceres – Was a regular on the PGA TOUR from 2001-09, where he made more than 150 career starts, with two victories to his credit, both of which came in 2001 during his rookie season. In 2013 he participated in the 108° VISA Open de Argentina pre sentado por Peugeot where he finished T31. This is Coceres’ first appearance at the Puerto Rico Open.
    • Fabian Gomez – In 2013 made 10 cuts in 23 PGA TOUR starts, highlighted by a T2 at the Puerto Rico Open for his second career TOUR top-10. Played two events on NEC Series – PGA TOUR Latinoamérica in 2013 and won the Personal Classic presentado por Blackberry. This is his third appearance at the Puerto Rico Open with both previous finishes earning him top 10 spots.
    • Emiliano Grillo – In 2014, Grillo has played six events on the European Tour, making five cuts with two top-10 finishes. He played one event on NEC Series – PGA TOUR Latinoamérica in 2013, finishing T3 at the 108° VISA Open de Argentina presentado por Peug eot. This will be his second appearance at the Puerto Rico Open, and first appearance on the PGA TOUR since that start in 2012.
    • Andres Romero –In 2013, he made 10 of 21 TOUR cuts and finished No. 120 in the final FedExCup standings. Was T6 at the Puerto Rico Open, with rounds of 65-65-75-66. In Puerto Rico last year, he held a share of the first-round lead and the outright second-round lead before a 75 in the third round dropped him out of contention. Played at the 82° Abierto OS DE del Centro on NEC Series – PGA TOUR Latinoamérica in 2013 where he finished T9. This is his third appearance at the Puerto Rico Open. He has finished in the top 25 each time.Mexico
    • Alex Aragon – Has made one cut in seven starts so far in the 2013-2014 PGA TOUR season. This is his first appearance at the Puerto Rico Open.Venezuela
    • Jhonattan Vegas – Has made six of seven cuts so far in the 2013-14 PGA TOUR season. This is his third time at the Puerto Rico Open, his best finish is T24 in 2010. Won the 2011 Humana Challenge in his rookie season on TOUR.