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CVS Caremark Charity Classic: Weather woes at U.S. Open will keep some big names away

09:12 PM EDT on Sunday, June 21, 2009

By PAUL KENYON
Journal Sports Writer

BARRINGTON — The field for the 11th CVS Caremark Charity Classic will have a different look than planned, which is not necessarily bad news for those who enjoy more local flavor and more women taking part.

 Five players scheduled to play in the $1.55-million event that begins Monday have been lost. The defending championship team of Camilo Villegas and Bubba Watson cannot take part because both are still competing in the weather-delayed U.S. Open on Long Island. So are Retief Goosen, Todd Hamilton and Anthony Kim, all originally scheduled to be at Rhode Island Country Club for the CVS.

 The uncertainty at the Open forced CVS officials to scramble and readjust. They could not do anything until early Sunday, when more weather delays at the Open made a Monday finish at Bethpage a certainty.

 In the end, the CVS people decided to simply move on as planned with the best replacements they could find.

 They decided on three PGA Tour players, David Toms, Matt Kuchar and Cumberland’s Brad Adamonis, and two LPGA standouts, Laura Diaz and Brittany Lincicome.

 “It’s been a very tough couple days because of everything happening at the U.S. Open,’’ said co-host Billy Andrade said. “We’ve had players calling, agents calling, saying my player is available.’’

 “Were sorry we can’t get the great players from the Open,’’ Andrade said. “But we’re still going to have a great tournament.’’

 “We looked at options,’’ Brad Faxon said. “Could we do two separate tournaments, have one on Monday and then get the other guys here for just one day on Tuesday? Could we have five threesomes?

 “There were all kinds of scenarios,’’ Faxon said. “The phone’s been zapping back and forth.’’

 “As soon as we saw the weather reports from Bethpage, we had to put plans A, B, C and D together,’’ Faxon explained.

 “I think we used the whole alphabet,’’ Andrade interjected.

While the losses are some of the biggest names in the event, the replacements are accomplished players, too.

 Toms, a previous CVS participant, has been one of the hottest players on the PGA Tour this year. The 12-time winner and former PGA champion is a good friend of both Faxon and Andrade. He missed the cut at the Open by one shot.

 Kuchar is a former U.S. Amateur champion known for his smile and amiable nature on the course. He has had a second- and a fifth-place finish this season. He has had friends in Rhode Island going back to his amateur days when he was a regular at the Northeast Amateur.

Adamonis makes it five Rhode Islanders in the field, joining Faxon, Andrade, Dana Quigley and Brett Quigley. The Cumberland native is in his second year on the PGA Tour. He played virtually every tour in the country in working his way up the ladder. His family is very well known in the Ocean State. His father, Dave, is a former state public-links champion as well as a teacher and coach at Johnson High. His older brother, Dave Jr., runs the U.S. Challenge Cup, one of the largest junior programs in the country.

 Diaz played in the tournament last year and made a great impression. Lincicome this year won the Kraft Nabisco, one of the LPGA majors and is 13th on the money list.

Here are the new pairings for Monday:

 10:30: Brittany Lincicome-Brad Adamonis and Laura Diaz-Matt Kuchar.

 10:40: Brett Quigley-Dana Quigley and David Toms-Nick Price.

 10:50: Faxon-Juli Inkster and Peter Jacobsen-Natalie Gulbis.

 11:00: Andrade-Helen Alfredsson and Davis Love III and Morgan Pressel.

 11:10: Zach Johnson-Nick Watney; Boo Weekley-Chad Campbell.

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