Legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus' annual trip to Thanksgiving Point always attracts a big crowd, but the biggest draw at this year's NOKIA Champions Challenge just might be a guy who doesn't play golf for a living.
Tournament officials recently announced that actor/comedian Bill Murray will play in this year's event with past U.S. Open champion Scott Simpson. The two have been a regular team at PGA Tour pro-ams for several years.
Simpson, an all-business quiet-guy winner of seven PGA Tour events and winner of the 1987 U.S. Open at Olympic Club in San Francisco, normally focuses on the golf while Murray entertains the gallery with his antics. In recent years, however, Murray's golf game has improved greatly and the odd pair have become competitive in pro-am events — particularly the AT&T Pro-Am where they made the cut this year.
To golfers, Murray's most-famous role was that of bumbling greenskeeper Carl Spackler in the golf classic movie "Caddyshack." He's starred in many other movies and was a fixture on Saturday Night Live for many years. Simpson will turn 50 in September and will then become eligible to compete on the Champions Tour.
It's unlikely that Simpson and Murray can challenge the likes of defending champions Mike Weir and Dean Wilson, but tournament organizers believe the comedian will make the event more entertaining and that Murray will be a big draw at the gate. Other new faces at the 2005 Champions Challenge include television announcer Gary McCord, Roger Maltbie, long driver Hank Kuehne and former LPGA Tour star Nancy Lopez and her husband Ray Knight. Long-drive champions Jason Zuback and Bobby Wilson will also join the field.
Other entrants include Hale Irwin, Craig Stadler, Fuzzy Zoeller, Dave Stockton, Billy Casper and recent Western Open Champion Jim Furyk. Also playing this year is former BYU golfer and the 2005 Senior PGA Champion Mike Reid.
The two-day event begins Aug. 1 with a pro-am, which will feature celebrity Cheryl Ladd, and culminates Aug. 2 with a two-person scramble format competition.
More information is available at www.championschallengegolf.com.
E-mail: jimr@desnews.com