Following the PGA Tour's second reshuffle of last season's Nationwide Tour and PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates, Tacoma's Troy Kelly has fallen to 47th out of 55 spots.

This is important for filling out PGA Tour events after the regulars commit or skip tournaments.

Kelly, the Central Kitsap graduate, started the season 29th, made the cut in the season-opening, full-field Sony Open in Hawaii but since has missed his past three cuts, and withdrew from his last event, the Mayakoba Classic, in early March.

He did play in last week's Nationwide Tour stop, the Stonebrae Classic, and missed the cut.

THE MASTERS

Site: Augusta, Ga.

Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.

Course: Augusta National Golf Club (7,435 yards, par 72).

Purse: TBA ($7.5 million in 2008). Winner’s share: TBA ($1.35 million in 2008).

Television (all times PDT): ESPN (Thursday-Friday, 1-4:30 p.m., 5-8 p.m.) and CBS (Saturday, 12:30-4 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.).

Last year: Trevor Immelman won his first major title, closing with a 75 — matching the highest final round by a champion — for a three-stroke victory over Tiger Woods. The first South African winner since Gary Player in 1978, Immelman finished at 8 under.

Last week: English star Paul Casey won the Houston Open for his first PGA Tour victory, beating J.B. Holmes with a bogey on the first hole of a playoff. Casey, an eight-time winner on the European tour, jumped to a career-high sixth in the world. … Ireland’s Michael Hoey won the Estoril Open for his first European tour title, edging Spain’s Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano with a par on the third extra hole.

Notes: Woods won the 2005 tournament for his fourth Masters title, beating Chris DiMarco with a 15-foot birdie putt on the first hole of a playoff. Woods set the tournament record of 18-under 270 in 1997, and also won in 2001 and 2002. He’s coming off a victory two weeks ago in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, his first win since last June when he won the U.S. Open and had reconstructive surgery on his left knee. ... Phil Mickelson, the 2004 and 2006 winner, missed the cut in Houston with rounds of 77 and 76. He won this year at Riviera and Doral. … Padraig Harrington won the last two majors, the British Open and PGA Championship. … Player is making his 52nd and final appearance. The three-time winner is 73. … Three teenagers are in the field — 17-year-old Ryo Ishikawa, 18-year-old Danny Lee and 19-year-old Rory McIlroy. … The Verizon Heritage is next week at Hilton Head Island, S.C., followed by the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

On the Net: http://www.masters.org
PGA Tour site: http://www.pgatour.com
PGA European Tour site: http://www.europeantour.com

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