Checking in with Champions Tour’s Corey Pavin

October 06, 2017

Just last year, the Champions Tour announced a new Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs, a series of three events that would begin with the PowerShares QQQ Championship, which, luckily for SoCal golf fans, would be held right here in the Southland at Sherwood CC in Thousand Oaks. We caught up with Los Angeles native and SCGA Hall of Famer Corey Pavin, who currently sits 31st on the Charles Schwab Cup Money List, about the new series of events and why he’s excited to have the first leg of the playoffs here in Southern California.

What does the new playoff structure add to the Champions Tour season?

“Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to participate last year so I’m really looking forward to it this year. It adds a ton of excitement to the end of the year and it resets things, giving everyone a chance. If you play well in the last three tournaments you can make a run at the Schwab Cup. That’s exciting for pretty much everyone except Bernhard (Langer).”

Will you approach the first playoff event here in SoCal any differently than you did other events this year?

“Being a bit more aggressive is a reasonable strategy for the position that I’m in. I need to have very high finishes in the last few events. It’d be nice to move up these next couple weeks so I’m closer to the top and I have a legitimate shot at the title. Still have to play smart, but I think being more aggressive will be a great idea for me.”

What’s your familiarity with Sherwood CC?

“You know, I really haven’t played it that much. I’ve played it in Greg Norman’s “Shark Shootout” and a couple other times randomly but I haven’t played it a ton. I remember it being a fantastic golf course. You have to play a lot of good, quality shots into the greens. It’s very important to hit the fairways because you want clean iron shots due to the difficulty of the greens. I need to control my ball flight coming in due to the smaller landing areas.”

What has this season been like for you and what do you need to do in order to have a playoff push?

“It’s been a weird season for me. I was out all last season after surgery on my elbow and I had never been away from the game for that long. It took me a while to get back in the rhythm of playing regularly and finally I’ve started to play better recently. I feel like I’m definitely going in the right direction with my game. Just looking for a few really high finishes to close this season out.”

Do you still consider SoCal home base?

“Yes, I still live in Los Angeles. I play out of Bel-Air CC, which is nice enough to let me come out there to practice and play. It’s a club that I’ve been around since my UCLA days so there’s a lot of people that I know out there. It’s a fun place to be and a really nice course to play day-in and day-out.

Learn more about the PowerShares QQQ, and purchase tickets here.



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guest768

Monday, October 09, 2017

I will be there to watch Corey play. Wishing him well.

 

weaver

Monday, October 09, 2017

Corey, Great you continue to play so swell. All the best. John Weaver