The week ahead in golf

LOCAL EVENTS

Ladies day scramble, Crowley Ridge RC, Bloomfield, Mo., today.

Four-ladies scramble, Perryville (Mo.) CC, today

MGA Hieronymus Junior Series, ORGC, Poplar Bluff, Mo., Saturday.

Three-man scramble, Malden (Mo.) CC & MGC, Saturday and Sunday.

Mixed scramble, New Madrid (Mo.) CC, Saturday and Sunday.

Two-man scramble, Kimbeland CC, Jackson, Mo., Saturday and Sunday.

Mixed scramble, Fourche Valley GC, Potosi, Mo., Saturday and Sunday.

Mixed scramble, St. Francois CC, Farmington, Mo., Saturday and Sunday.

Two-person scramble, Fredericktown (Mo.) CC, Sunday.USGA

U.S. Senior Open

Site: Owings Mills, Md.

n Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.

Course: Caves Valley Golf Club (7,005 yards, par 71).

Purse: $2.5 million. Winner's share: $450,000.

Television: ESPN (Thursday-Friday, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., 3-5 p.m.) and NBC (Saturday, 2-5 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m.-conclusion).

Last year: Bruce Fleisher won at Salem Country Club in Peabody, Mass., finishing at even par to beat Isao Aoki and Gil Morgan by a stroke. Fleisher also won the 1968 U.S. Amateur.

Last week: J.C. Snead won the Greater Baltimore Classic to set a senior tour record for the longest gap between victories (6 years, 11 months, 7 days). Snead, the nephew of the late Sam Snead, is the third-oldest senior winner (61 years, 8 months, 9 days).

Notes: Snead and Jack Nicklaus withdrew Monday. Nicklaus, the 1991 and 1993 winner, cited a recurring back problem. ... Fleisher will be tested after the tournament to determine if he has prostate cancer. Tests two weeks ago in Tennessee indicated cancer cells could be present. ... Jim Thorpe and Fuzzy Zoeller won the first two senior majors of the year, with Thorpe taking The Tradition in April and Zoeller winning the Senior PGA three weeks ago at Firestone. ... Three-time U.S. Open champion Hall Irwin won the 1998 and 2000 tournaments. ... The Tom Fazio-designed course opened in 1991. ... Roberto De Vicenzo won the inaugural tournament in 1980 at Winged Foot. The age limit was reduced from 55 to 50 the next year, leading to 51-year-old Arnold Palmer's victory at Oakland Hills. ... If the competition is tied after 72 holes, a three- or four-hole aggregate-score playoff will follow immediately. If still tied, the players will go to sudden death. ... The 2003 tournament will be played at Inverness in Toledo, Ohio. ... John Harris, the 1993 U.S. Amateur champion, tied for 63rd last week in his senior debut. ... The AT&T Canada Senior Open is next week in LaSalle, Ontario, followed by the Ford Senior Players Championship in Dearborn, Mich.

PGA

FedEx St. Jude Classic

Site: Memphis, Tenn.

Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.

Course: TPC at Southwind (7,030 yards, par 71).

Purse: $3.8 million. Winner's share: $684,000

Television: ESPN (Thursday-Friday, 1-3 p.m.) and ABC (Saturday, 3-5 p.m.; Sunday, 2-5 p.m.).

Last year: Bob Estes won the second of four career titles, matching the course record with an opening 61 and leading wire-to-wire for a one-stroke victory over Germany's Bernhard Langer.

Last week: Phil Mickelson became the first player to win the Greater Hartford Open in consecutive years, overcoming a five-stroke deficit with a final-round 64 to beat Jonathan Kaye and Davis Love III by a stroke. Mickelson has 21 PGA Tour victories.

Notes: Tiger Woods will return to the tour next week for the Western Open. ... After playing three straight weeks, Mickelson is taking a three-week break to prepare for the British Open. ... David Toms is in the field along with John Daly, Nick Price and area residents David Gossett and Loren Roberts. ... Al Geiberger shot the first 59 in PGA Tour history in his 1977 victory at Colonial Country Club. ... John Cook set the tournament record of 26-under 258 in 1996. ... Dicky Pride, the 1994 winner, is making his first start after missing three months because of pancreatitis caused by a gallstone.LPGA

ShopRite Classic

Site: Absecon, N.J.

n Schedule: Friday-Sunday.

Course: Marriott Seaview Resort, Bay Course (6,051 yards, par 71).

Purse: $1.2 million. Winner's share: $180,000.

Television: The Golf Channel (Friday, 2-5 p.m., 7-9 p.m.; Saturday, 3:30-6:30 p.m., 7:30-9 p.m.; Sunday, 2-5 p.m., 7-9 p.m.).

Last year: Hall of Famer Betsy King, at age 45, won the tournament for the third time, beating Canada's Lorie Kane by two strokes. King also won the 1987 and 1995 tournaments.

Last week: Australia's Karrie Webb won the Rochester International for the second time in three years, beating South Korea's Mi Hyun Kim by a stroke. Webb finished with a 68, and Kim shot a 74 after beginning the round with a five-stroke lead.

Notes: Annika Sorenstam, the 1998 winner with a record 17-under 196 total, tops the field. She won the Evian Masters two weeks ago in France, her fifth LPGA Tour victory of the year.

PGA EUROPE

Irish Open

Site: Cork, Ireland.

Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.

Course: Fota Island Golf Course (6,927 yards, par 71).

Purse: $1.55 million. Winner's share: $260,000.

Television: The Golf Channel (Thursday, 9 a.m.-noon; 7-9:30 p.m., 10 p.m.-12:30 a.m.; Friday, 9 a.m.-noon., 10 p.m.-12:30 a.m.; Friday, 9 a.m.-noon, 10:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m.-1 p.m., 10 p.m.-12:30 a.m.).

Last year: Scotland's Colin Montgomerie won by five strokes for his 25th European PGA Tour victory and first in more than a year. He also won the 1996 and 1997 tournaments.

Last week: England's Miles Tunnicliff, playing two weeks after his mother died of cancer, won the Great North Open for his first tour title. Germany's Sven Struever was second, four strokes back.BUY.COM

Knoxville Open

Site: Knoxville, Tenn.

n Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.

Course: Fox Den Country Club (7,412 yards, par 72).

Purse: $425,000. Winner's share: $76,500.

Television: None.

Last year: Heath Slocum won the second of three 2001 titles en route to a promotion to the PGA Tour. He finished at 23-under 265, six strokes ahead of Keoke Cotner and Joe Daley.

Last week: Patrick Moore moved within a victory of advancing to the PGA Tour, winning the Lake Erie Charity Classic for his second title of the year.

OTHER TOURNAMENTS

Men

NGA/Hooters Tour: NGA/Hooters Classic, Thursday-Sunday, Bay Tree Golf Plantation, North Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Canadian Tour: Greater Vancouver Classic, Thursday-Sunday, Swan-e-set Bay and Resort, Vancouver, British Columbia.

Japan Golf Tour: Mizuno Open, Thursday-Sunday, Setonaikai Golf Club, Kasaoka, Japan.

PGA European Senior Tour: Lawrence Batley Seniors, Thursday-Saturday, Huddersfield Golf Club, Huddersfield, England.

PGA European Challenge Tour: Volcans Open, Thursday-Sunday, Golf des Volcans, Orcines, France.

Women

Futures Tour: Ann Arbor Futures Classic, Friday-Sunday, Lake Forest Golf Club, Ann Arbor, Mich.

-- From staff, wire reports