January 23, 2009–Everybody has a day at work when things don't go quite right. You open up the briefcase before a meeting to find the key business proposal has been forgotten; the morning traffic makes you late for the company get together; or it rains on a day when business golf is sheduled! It's no different for Las Vegas' PGA Tour pros, who travel the globe to do their 'business' and stuff happens to them as well. And already this season, former UNLV Rebel All-Americans Chad Campbell and Adam Scott have had 'stuff' … happen.
Chad Campbell flew all the way to Hawaii on January 10 for the Sony Open and his first event of the PGA Tour season. His game was in shape, he had just signed a new sponsorship deal with Adams Golf, and he was refreshed and ready. One problem … he forgot to officially enter the event and was left with no place to play! "Not good," is how Campbell described it to the AP by phone from his home in Dallas. "I had actually thought about it on the plane, that there was a chance I didn't commit. I found out when I got off the plane."
Campbell played golf with his caddie and some friends on the Sunday he arrived, then hopped back on a plane for the long ride home. Campbell is on the edge of qualifying for the Accenture Match Play Championship, and hope to jump start his season at the Sony, where three years ago he was the runner-up. "It's one of my top five favorite tournaments we play all year," Campbell said, while also stating that it was the first time something like that have ever happened. "It's one of my favorite golf courses. That's what (stinks) more than anything … this one just slipped through the cracks. It takes a lot to go wrong for it to happen. I'm more mad at myself than anything."
The good news was that Campbell was all set to join 10 other PGA Tour players with ties to Las Vegas at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic the following week. Campbell was the 2006 champion of that event. Fellow Rebel and current Las Vegas resident Charley Hoffman won the event in 2007, and both were in the field at the Hope. The other Las Vegas golfers playing in the Bob Hope included residents Soctt Piercy, Alex Cejka, Nick Watney, Dean Wilson, and Bill Lunde, in addition to former Las Vegas resident Robert Gamez, Tommy Armour III, and Ryan Moore, in addition to another former Rebel, James Oh. Clcik now for LIVE SCORING/RESULTS from the Bob Hope event.
As for Adam Scott, he was on his way to defend his championship at the Qatar Masters, but was unable to play a practice round because his golf clubs didn't arrive with him on his flight. Scott, who said nothing like that had happened before, walked the course but couldn't hit balls or anything else in preparation of the title defense. “They (the clubs) got lost in San Francisco," Scott told reporters at a conference at the Doha Golf Club. “Obviously, I wish I had some clubs to play today. But I’ve been playing the last couple of weeks, and it doesn’t really feel like I’ve not been playing that much."
The clubs were reportedly lost in San Francisco, and were headed through Frankfurt, Germany, and then to Qatar and into Scott's hands. Scott fired a tremendous final-round score of 61 to win the event in 2008, and always feels food when playing the Doha course. “It’s been a happy hunting ground for me here,” said Scott, who also won the event in 2002. “Whenever you come back to a place where you’ve played well, you get good vibes. I’m certainly looking to turn my game around a little bit and it’s good to have the positive feelings." Click now for LIVE SCORING/RESULTS from the Qatar Masters.