SONOMA, Calif.  --  The Charles Schwab Cup Championship will be returning to Sonoma GC in 2008, and Champions Tour officials are talking with the club about a possible 2009 date before the event moves to San Francisco's Harding Park GC in 2010 for a two-year run.

If Jim Thorpe could vote with his wallet -- or his heart -- I know where he would want the tournament to be played in two years. Same for Loren Roberts.

Thorpe's victory Sunday, the first of 2007 for the 58-year-old, was his second consecutive and third in the seniors' season finale since it moved to northern California in 2003 after stints in Myrtle Beach and Oklahoma City. Yesterday's $442,000 check gives him $1,466,783 in five appearances at Sonoma. "It's a shame we can't play all 30 events here. I could probably be a multiple winner," Thorpe said with a laugh the other day.

As for Roberts, he claimed the season-long Schwab Cup points competition by maintaining the 165-point advantage over Jay Haas that he had when the week began. The outcome made up for the disappointment of last year, when the putting maestro three-putted the final green to allow Haas to seize the $1 million. Second place was still worth $500,000, but it really wasn't about the money.

"The dogfight that it was last year and for Jay to win it on the last hole -- for me to be able to come back and win it this year is huge for me," said Roberts.

Thorpe and Roberts are both throwbacks, reminders of how guys used to make their way into the game and that there is -- or at least, was -- more than one way to stick once you get there.

The son of a black greenskeeper in North Carolina, Thorpe caddied and learned to play by twilight, and he apprenticed in money games, not a developmental tour, honing an individualistic swing steered by a pair of the strongest and best hands in golf. If you want to see a big man with touch who does things his way, just take a look at Thorpe.

Roberts toiled as an assistant pro for years before making the PGA Tour, making up for an average long game without much pop with putting skill to rival anyone, anytime. Once he finally won, at the Nestle Invitational in 1994 when he was 38, he won again. Eight times in all.

Just like Thorpe, for Roberts turning 50 has been a passport to greater success. A senior major each of his first three seasons. Being No. 1, finally, this season with his Schwab bounty, of which charities near his home in Memphis are certain to benefit in the generous tradition of the cup's champions that began in 2001 with Allen Doyle.

Thorpe's success has meant he has been interviewed a lot in Sonoma over the past few years. Without fail, some of his lengthy press sessions meander from thoughts about his place as a minority in golf to the state of black youth today. He tends to shoot from the hip, but also from the heart.

"I joined the tour in 1975. We had 12, 13, 14 African-American players. This is a new millenium, and today we have nobody playing," Thorpe said. "Tiger is biracial, or whatever you want to call him, [but other than that] there is nobody."

Whatever hurdles Thorpe faced when he was young, he found a way to play and got hooked on the game's challenge as much as its payoffs. "If you play as long as we have, everything in golf is going to happen to you," he said. "You're going to three-putt from four feet. You're going to hit it out-of-bounds. You're going to shank a chip shot. You're going to get so nervous you can't swallow. And that's the beauty of it."

And there are tournaments such as the one Thorpe just put together, when the birdies come in bunches and there is no one better than you. That feeling doesn't get old, no matter the tour.

-- Bill Fields

(Photo: Marc Feldman/Getty Images)

SONOMA, Calif. -- By shooting a third-round 67, Brad Bryant pulled within a shot of leader Denis Watson (right) in the Charles Schwab Cup Championship at Sonoma GC. More interestingly, Bryant positioned himself squarely in the middle of the season-long Schwab Cup points competition.

"Hopefully, we won't be worried about scenarios or anything else, and we'll just go play," Bryant said of the possible outcomes Sunday in the Schwab Cup race.

Last year's competition came down to the final green, with Jay Haas scoring a 20-point victory over Loren Roberts for the $1 million annuity. This time, in theory anyway, it could be much tighter.

Now, the chances of the tournament shaking out exactly like this might be only slightly less than the odds of winning Lotto, but it is fun to consider.

Roberts, T-18 after 54 holes, leads Haas, who is T-14, by 165 points in the Schwab race. Bryant, T-2 with Jim Thorpe after 54 holes, trails Roberts by 697 points. If he wins the tournament Sunday, and Roberts and Haas finish out of the top 10 and don't earn any points, he will win the Schwab Cup.

If Roberts finishes out of the top 10, then Haas has to place ninth or better to win the cup. If Roberts finishes 10th, Haas will have to finish fourth or better to win the cup for the second consecutive year.

The most intriguing plot? If Haas finishes solo fourth, Roberts solo eighth and Bryant wins the tournament tomorrow, Haas will claim the Schwab Cup with 2,905 points, Roberts will be second with 2,904 and Bryant will be third with 2,903.

"I've got to go out and think about shooting as low as I can tomorrow," said Roberts. "That's the only defense I have. I can't do anything about Brad winning the tournament or Jay beating me or anything else. I have to see if I can finish in the top 10 and go from there."

If Roberts and Haas are to control their own destiny Sunday, they will have to putt better. Roberts shot a nifty 31 on the incoming nine Saturday to salvage a 69, but it came after some un-Boss of the Moss like putting.

"I had five three-putts through 45 holes," Roberts said. "I don't usually have five three-putts in five months. These greens are very, very tricky. You have a 35- or 40-footer and you get the ball breaking just a little low of the hole, you've got some problems. You've really got to pay attention to what you're doing."

Haas has been no more pleased with his putting. "I have played pretty well from tee to green but have putted just atrociously this week," Haas said. "This was [my] best putting day today, and I made two putts outside of six feet. It's just disappointing. I have no touch. I'm trying all kinds of different things. This is not the time of the year, nor the greens, to be struggling on. The first day, I turned a 62 into a 68. It was a joke."

--Bill Fields
(Photo: Marc Feldman/Getty Images)

SONOMA, Calif. -- After this weekend, Ben Nelson can pay less attention to the weather forecast and more attention to his golf game.

After three years as tournament director for the Champions Tour, which came after a long run as a rules official on the PGA Tour, the 63-year-old Nelson is retiring to his native Mississippi with plenty of stories.

"I was coming back from the Hawaiian Open in 1994 on a charter plane with a bunch of players, and we landed in Los Angeles at 4:30 in the morning during the Northridge earthquake," Nelson said Saturday before the third round of the Charles Schwab Cup Championship. "Our plane hits the ground and the earthquake was going on. Everybody was scared to death. Luckily nothing happened to the plane. The sun came up, and we were  allowed in the terminal. The whole place was a mess, water coming out of the walls. We were real lucky."

While experiencing a 6.7 earthquake was out of the ordinary for Nelson, dealing with dodgy weather wasn't.

"I had a little heart problem a few years ago," Nelson said, "and my cardiologist told me to write down five things I could do to take stress out of my life. Two of the five were, 'Never go back to the International [near Denver].' That was the most stressful weather week every year. You could see the storms out there, and you knew they were coming. It was just a matter of what time they were going to hit. And the Memorial was no picnic, either. You pretty much knew it was going to rain there, too."

Nelson's career spanned a generation when golf took on a larger profile. "No question, TV became a bigger factor," he said, "especially with the Tiger phenomenon. If he was in the field, you were aware of how important it was to make television happy. You had to get as close as you could [to a scheduled finish time], because the networks were hounding you all the time. Somebody asked me once what my job was, and I said it was to have a winner on Sunday, hopefully at the right time."

One thing that hasn't changed, in Nelson's view, is the integrity of the players. "There's some inadvertent stuff [rules infractions], but I don't think anybody at this level knowingly cheats," Nelson said. "You hear rumors, but I just don't believe it. Not at this level. I believe they can't afford to. If they ever get caught, they're gone. These guys' reputations are more important than scores."

Nelson's reputation is simple: He is one of the gentlemen of the sport, and he will be missed.

--Bill Fields

SONOMA, Calif. -- Dinner would taste good for Denis Watson (right) Friday night. All he did Friday in the second round of the Charles Schwab Cup Championship at Sonoma GC was birdie the last four holes to shoot a 64 and join Jim Thorpe within one stroke of Eduardo Romero's lead (at 12-under 132) after 36 holes.

It was another banner day in a sterling season for Watson, who won the Senior PGA Championship in May and the Boeing Classic in August, amazing stuff for a talented pro who was riddled with injuries for so much of his career. After so much frustration, so many valleys, to be in contention again is what it's all about for Watson.

"That's what you live for -- that's where you want to be," Watson said. "These guys like Jay [Haas] and Loren [Roberts], they're contending every week, they get familiar with it and that's fun. Playing in the middle of the field sucks. When you're in the heat and in the hunt, that's the test. You want to see if you can pass the test every time. Sometimes you screw up, sometimes you play well."

Watson wasn't the only golfer to light it up in the second round. Naomichi (Joe) Ozaki shot a 65 to move into a fourth-place tie with Tom Purtzer and Brad Bryant at 9 under. Among the tidbits revealed in his post-round interview, through his caddie/interpreter, was how he ended up with his plain, old nickname. After all, one of his golfing brothers is Masashi (Jumbo) Ozaki, and another is Tateo (Jet) Ozaki.

The prime aviation terms having been taken, it was out of his hands. "The fans were able to vote in on what they wanted to call me," he said, "and Joe is what won."

Whoever ends up winning the seniors' season-ending event could use some putts over the weekend such as the one James Haugh, Ben Crenshaw's caddie, struck late Friday afternoon on the practice putting green in a contest with his boss. From 40 feet, downhill with a subtle break, on his first attempt, using Crenshaw's driver, Haugh was golden.

Then it was Crenshaw's turn. Using the simple blade putter that is the antithesis of high-tech but in his hands is the epitome of high style, Crenshaw took a couple of looks, made the stroke that has broken hearts for four decades and sank his first effort. Nothing to it.   

--Bill Fields
(Photo: Marc Feldman/Getty Images)

SONOMA, Calif.--It's impossible to watch Tom Watson in action at Sonoma G.C., in the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, and not think of his late friend and caddie, Bruce Edwards (right). Stricken with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), Edwards was able to work for the last time at the 2003 Schwab Cup Championship. The progressive neurodegenerative disease took his life April 8, 2004. He was 49.

Watson has worked hard since Edwards' death, doing what he can to support research for a cure for ALS, a fatal disease that usually claims its victims three to five years after diagnosis. He remains heavily involved with Driving for Life, a fund-raising organization, but admits that medical progress has been slow in coming.

"Nothing of significance has come from any  drug trial with ALS," Watson said this week, "significance meaning a 7 percent reduction in the progression of the disease. Nothing. Zero. Nada."

Watson mentioned one study in which researchers hope they have discovered a protein that could lead to a vaccine to thwart an inherited form of ALS that accounts for about 10 percent of ALS cases. "All we've got is hope," Watson said. "We've never had anything more than hope with this thing. There's nothing out there. There's not a single thing that will stop the progression of the disease. You get it, and you're going to die. We're all going to die, but you get this stuff and you're going to die quick, within three to five years. With Bruce, it was a year and a half."

--Bill Fields
(Photo: Jonathan Edwards/Getty Images) 

SONOMA, Calif.--Pars don't figure to cut it this week at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship at Sonoma Golf Club.

"The course is playing very soft," said Tom Watson, who won here in 2005 on the strength of a final-round 64. "The greens are soft, the fairways are soft. The rough is tough, but the greens aren't hard. It's going to be a very low-scoring tournament."

The seniors' season-ender has been a low-scoring tournament since it settled here in 2003 after stints in Oklahoma City and Myrtle Beach. Jim Thorpe won with a 20-under 268 in 2003 and was 17 under when he won last year. Mark McNulty was 11 under when he won in 2004, and Watson won at 16 under.

"The golf course today was very, very scoreable," Loren Roberts said after his pro-am round. "I think you've got to be 4- or 5-under every day [to win] unless conditions change drastically."

The pristine conditions of the putting surfaces will help Roberts--and the rest of the 29-player field--go low. "They might be the best greens we play on tour," Roberts said. "They're fast. They're smooth. I like that."

Roberts enters the week with a 165-point margin over Jay Haas in the Schwab Cup season-long points competition, which he narrowly lost to Haas in 2006. Tom Watson (684 points behind) and Brad Bryant (697 behind) are the only other players with a mathematical chance to claim the $1 million annuity.

"I want to focus on winning the golf tournament," Roberts said. "I don't want to get caught up with trying to play Jay. I need to concentrate on winning the tournament."

While Mark O'Meara (13th on the money list) qualified but is playing in an event overseas instead, several other senior mainstays are absent after having failed to finish in the top 30. Allen Doyle and Tom Jenkins aren't here after playing eight straight Schwab championships each, Morris Hatalsky is absent after five straight appearances and Craig Stadler is missing his first after four consecutive starts here.

--Bill Fields

SONOMA, Calif.--Scott Simpson hit practice putts Wednesday after his pro-am round in the Charles Schwab Cup Championship. It was an idyllic afternoon, far from the harrowing conditions that caused the 1987 U.S. Open champion to flee his house Monday as a fire threatened his neighborhood in Poway, Calif.

"It's the Witch Creek fire," Simpson said. "It probably got within a quarter-mile of us. It burned a lot of houses in Poway and Rancho Bernardo, which is right where we live. Four years ago a fire got within about a mile from us, but we weren't really in danger. This one is a lot different--this one burned a lot of houses near us."

Simpson and his wife, Cheryl, had not yet been told to evacuate when they drove a short distance to take a look at the encroaching blaze. "We saw smoke getting closer and closer, and we spoke with some cops who asked us where we lived," Simpson said. "When we told them just up the street, they said we better evacuate."

The Simpsons' hasty retreat meant few things came with them. "We got the computer and photo albums, and my wife thought to get the U.S. Open trophy, then we left," Simpson said. "Then we thought about all the things we should have gotten: passports and watches, other valuables. I think [the house] is going to be OK unless something weird happens. I've heard they've got National Guard [troops] with M-16s all around the neighborhood. Our security system just went up. It puts your house in perspective. Like my wife said, it's only a house."

--Bill Fields

Phil Mickelson's home in Rancho Santa Fe (Calif.) has escaped fire damage, a source told Golf World on Wednesday, but five homes in the same neighborhood, including one across the street, have burned to the ground. Mickelson, whose family evacuated the home Monday, was able to gain access to his property Wednesday, and he's planning to leave Sunday for a two-week trip to Asia, where he's scheduled to play the Singapore Open and HSBC Champions.

Mickelson's family will accompany him; they're planning to turn it into an educational trip with a visit planned to the Great Wall of China, among other historical landmarks.

--Tim Rosaforte

Hubert Green and Curtis Strange gave wide-ranging interviews yesterday on the occasion of their Nov. 12 induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame. I was traveling to the Charles Schwab Cup Championship and missed the teleconferences, but enjoyed reading the interview transcripts this morning.

One of the best parts was Green's recollection of having had Hugh Durham, the longtime college basketball coach who won 633 career games, as his golf coach at Florida State. "Coach Durham, I can't say enough good about him," said Green. "If anybody could sell saltwater to the Pacific Ocean, it would be Hugh Durham. He knew nothing about golf when he had the golf coaching job.  But he knew enough about coaching to to make it interesting for us and make us work for it."

Durham improvised well, according to Green, especially when it came to the Seminoles' practice rounds on the university's nine-hole course. The rough on the left side of even-numbered holes would out-of-bounds, and the right rough would be O.B. on the odd-numbered holes.

"You get on a par 5 and miss the green by three feet and you're out-of-bounds," Green recalled. "We didn't like [his tactics] at the time, but looking back, it was very smart."

Strange also paid tribute to his college coach at Wake Forest, one of the best ever. "If it wasn't for Jesse Haddock and Wake Forest, I wouldn't be talking to you today," Strange said. "I might have been on tour for 30 years not going to Wake Forest, but it would have been different. I owe him a great deal."

--Bill Fields

We could come up with our own 500 words to detail the excitement of the PGA Grand Slam of Golf played Tuesday and Wednesday in Bermuda, but Steve Boughey of the New Zealand Herald does just fine. In case you missed it, U.S. Open champion Angel Cabrera pocketed 600 grand by winning the 36-hole event for major champions of 2007 that Tiger Woods decided to skip.

If you're longing for even more details about the Grand Slam of Golf, check out the PGA of America's site.

And why exactly wasn't Tiger there? Tim Rosaforte explains in his Tour Insider column.

As long as you're visiting GolfDigest.com, check out the latest from our resident Angry Golfer, whose experience at Bandon Dunes last week was a little more annoying than he had expected.