RENO, Nev. (AP) Two former champions are among a handful of golfers who have pulled out of the Reno-Tahoe Open in hopes they will be eligible to play in the World Golf Championship-NEC Invitational starting Thursday.
Kirk Triplett, the 2003 RTO champion, and 2002 RTO champ Chris Riley both removed their names from the commitment list Friday. So did Alex Cejka, Shaun Micheel and Rory Sabbatini.
All are ranked between 39th and 49th in the World Golf Rankings. The top 50 on that list after this week's PGA Championship will be eligible to compete in the invitational in Akron, Ohio.
The only player slated to compete in Reno who had a chance to move into the top 50 was Tim Herron, the 2003 RTO runner-up who is ranked 54th, but he missed the cut for the PGA Championship.
Triplett, ranked 43rd, missed the PGA Championship cut, but is not likely to fall more than three or four spots when the new ranking comes out Monday.
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RENO, Nev. (AP) The Women's International Bowling Congress, credited with pumping millions of dollars into the Reno economy during its four-month tournament last year, says it will return to the National Bowling Stadium in 2012, 2015 and 2018.
It's already set to visit Reno in 2006 and 2009.
The 2003 WIBC Championship Tournament was the third held at the National Bowling Stadium. More than 13,000 teams about 65,000 women participated. The total purse was the largest ever at $2.7 million.
Tourism officials estimate the regional economic impact last year at more than $73 million. The stadium also hosted the tournament in 1997 and 2000.
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