The 50-and-over folks, many of whom were yesteryear's stars on the PGA Tour, are entering the demanding stretch of their schedule – three major championships in five weeks – but do recognize some of the cool stops on the Champions Tour.

One of them is the increasingly popular Boeing Classic, which will enter its fourth year.

Anyway, the official "Media Day" for the 54-hole tournament was held Monday. Here is a quick-hit information chart about the event, plus some pre-tournament notes and observations.

BOEING CLASSIC
When: Aug. 18-24 (the tournament is Aug. 22-24).

Where: TPC Snoqualmie Ridge (7,264 yards, par 72).

Defending champion: Denis Watson (9-under 279, defeated six other men in largest sudden-death playoff in professional golf history).

Schedule: The NFL's "Rumble at the Ridge" starts at 8:30 a.m. on Aug. 18 (Monday), followed by Champions Tour practice rounds. … Champions Tour practice rounds continue on Aug. 19 (Tuesday) at 9 a.m., followed by a golf clinic. … The two-day Seahawks Pro-Am tournaments (Aug. 20-21) have the same 7:45 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. shotgun sessions. … Tee times for the tournament (Aug. 22-24) begin daily at 10 a.m., with action concluding at 6 p.m.

Tickets: Adult daily passes are $20, with children 13-and-under and senior citizens paying $14. A tournament pass costs $40 for adults, and $20 for children/senior citizens.

Website: www.BoeingClassic.com.

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One of Kyle Stanley's favorite amateur tournaments is The Players Championship.

And it's an event he's come up a little short in.

He finished third twice in 2006 and 2007, and was just one stroke off the pace last weekend, but eventually settled for a tied-for-21st at 5-under-par 275 at Belfair Golf Club in Bluffton, S.C.

Mark Anderson won the title, closing with an incredible 10-under 60 on the East Course, which erased the course record of 63, held by three golfers, including Stanley.

"A 60 anywhere is pretty good," said Stanley on Tuesday. "I used to have the course record. I still have the other one."

Stanley, heading into his junior season up the road at Clemson, holds the West Course record (63), set in last year's final round of the Players Am.

He is playing in this week's Southern Amateur, then has the Western Amateur starting at the end of July. He'll take two weeks off to prepare for the U.S. Amateur in August at Pinehurst No. 2 in North Carolina.

Tacoma teenager Andrew Yun, who captured the AJGA title at the Verizon Junior Heritage, got into the Players Amateur, and placed tied for 22nd at 276.

ROYAL & ANCIENT GOLF CLUB OF ST. ANDREW
The British Open

Site: Southport, England.

Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.

Course: Royal Birkdale Golf Club (7,173 yards, par 70).

Purse: $8.24 million. Winner’s share: $1,487,000.

FedEx Cup points: 27,500. Winner’s share: 4,950.

Television (all times PDT: TNT (Thursday-Friday, 4 a.m.-4 p.m.; Saturday, 4-6 a.m.; Sunday, 3-5 a.m.) and ABC (Saturday, 6-11 a.m.; Sunday, 5-10:30 a.m.).

Last year: Ireland’s Padraig Harrington won at Carnoustie, beating Sergio Garcia in a four-hole playoff. Harrington lost a one-shot lead on the 72nd hole by twice hitting into the Barry Burn on his way to a double bogey.

Last week: Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell won the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond, beating South Africa’s James Kingston by two strokes. Ernie Els tied for ninth, and Phil Mickelson tied for 38th. … Kenny Perry won the John Deere Classic for his third PGA Tour victory in five starts. The 47-year-old Perry, skipping the major tournament to play in Milwaukee, beat Brad Adamonis and Jay Williamson with a par on the first playoff hole. Adamonis and Williamson hit into a greenside water hazard in the playoff.

Notes: Tiger Woods, sidelined by a knee injury, is missing the tournament for the first time since Turnberry in 1994. He won at St. Andrews in 2000 and 2005 and Royal Liverpool in 2006. … Mark O’Meara won the last British Open at Royal Birkdale, beating Brian Watts in a playoff in 1998. Peter Thomson (1954, 1965), Arnold Palmer (1961), Lee Trevino (1971), Johnny Miller (1976), Tom Watson (1983) and Ian Baker Finch (1991) also are Royal Birkdale winners. … The 2009 tournament will be played at Turnberry. The 2010 event is set for St. Andrews.

On the Net: http://www.opengolf.com

PGA Tour site: http://www.pgatour.com

PGA European Tour site: http://www.europeantour.com

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