ZealousGolfer.com

After three years of low scoring, tournament founder Joe Hardy anted upthe big bucks to make course improvements and generally add length wherever it could be found, all of which done by golf architecht Pete Dye. Mystic Rock, the course the entire event is played on, will play as one of the longest courses on the PGA Tour. This course is certainly fit for the "bomb and gouge" players as last year's victor, Jason Gore, average well over 300 yards and was third in the field for total driving distance. This year's Rock will play to a puny 7,516 yards according to the PGA Tour. This week's winner will of course receive a meager 826,000 dollars, part of the 4.6 million dollar purse. This course and course owner have no problems dishing out the dough as Joe Hardy, who founded the 84 Lumber Company, send all of his players Christmas gifts, provides private flights for players to go to their next events, signed John Daly and Vijay Singh to play, and was able to intice Phil Mickelson to play, and barely missed Tiger Woods in 2005. Joe Hardy also made a castle of a clubhouse complete with butler service, private player rooms, and all the other amenities that could not be found anywhere else. It is disappointing to say that this tournament will not be on the 2007 schedule as the 84 Lumber Company did not express interest, despite being offered a spot in the FedEx Cup.