Champions to face fall Challenge

Considering Wednesday's weather, it might sound strange that a big golf tournament will be played in Utah mid-October. But that's the only way Johnny Miller could keep his Champions Challenge golf tournament going.

For the previous 11 years, the tournament has usually been played in June, but due to the tough economy, Miller postponed it until this fall to solidify sponsors. And without the title sponsor, The Sorenson Group, the tournament wouldn't have come off this year, according to Miller.

"If it wasn't for Jim Sorenson, we may not be having this tournament this year," Miller said. "Because of him, we've been able to pull this thing off. Things were so dire earlier in the year, everybody was holding onto their shorts. This gave us a little more time to get more sponsors and keep this thing going."

The Sorenson Champions Challenge will be played Oct. 12-13 at Thanksgiving Point with a Pro-Am on Monday, Oct. 12, and the main event, a two-person scramble featuring 10 teams, on Tuesday.

Miller addressed the media on a variety of golf subjects at a press conference Wednesday, but mostly the tournament he began in 1998.

"The good news is, it's press day," Miller said, as the rain poured outside the Thanksgiving Point clubhouse. "The bad news is, this could be the first day of the Champions Challenge."

The 2009 field will include several players from past years, including Mike Weir, Dean Wilson, Hale Irwin, Craig Stadler, Billy Casper and Miller and his three sons — Andy, Scott and Todd.

The top newcomers are Rocco Mediate, who nearly beat Tiger Woods at last year's U.S. Open, and Anna Rawson, an LPGA player who may be as well-known for her looks as her golf. She has been a model since she was 13 and was named one of Sports Illustrated's most beautiful female athletes of the year.

Rawson will team with Dave Stockton Jr., one of the defending tournament champions. His father, Dave Stockton, won't be able to compete because of shoulder surgery.

One regular who will be missing is Jack Nicklaus, who Miller said had to go to China to check on a couple of courses for his course-designing business.

Others in the field include the long-hitting duo of Jason Zuback and Bobby Wilson, who won in 2005; former British Open champion Ian Baker-Finch and Brett Quigley; Bob Casper, who will team with his father, Billy; Steve Irwin, who will play with his father, Hale; and Bradley Shaw, who will team with Mediate.

Also, Utah Jazz point guard Deron Williams is scheduled to play in the Monday pro-am and might play Tuesday as a marker. His Point of Hope Foundation is one of the charities for the tournament, along with the Thanksgiving Point Institute and the Art Works for Kids.

Tickets are available at www.championsChallenge.com, at Thanksgiving Point or at the gate on tournament day.

e-mail: sor@desnews.com