PGA golfers gear up for tournament in Naples

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NAPLES, Fla. – On Thursday, some of the best PGA golfers will compete in the Greg Norman Franklin Templeton Shootout at the Tiburon Golf Club.

The course just hosted an LPGA event a few weeks ago. Tournament coordinators for the PGA event, left all the tents up in anticipation for the shootout this week. This PGA event is unique. Instead of professional golfers playing individually, they pair up with another pro, and will play a scramble, alternate shot and best ball on different days of the tournament.

Steve Stricker says he loves playing in this tournament, “because you get to play with a partner, you can kind of fall back in rely on your partner at times too so it’s kind of a relaxed event.”

The fans WINK News spoke to say the atmosphere is different also.

“I look forward to the interaction,” said Mike Beman, a golf fan, “When they come out here (we) will probably say hi to Kenny Perry; he’ll probably say hello back. It’s not that intense feeling. I just like the relaxed atmosphere.”

Don’t let the friendliness of the pairings fool you. The golfers are still playing for big bucks. In fact, the winners earn $770,000. Even last place gets $72,500. As golf fans watched the pros today during the pro-am, they got to compare swings.

“There really is actually no comparison at all,” Beman said as he laughed, “they are far superior than I am.”

The tee times for the first round at Tiburon start Thursday at 9:40 a.m.

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