NEC Invitational to change for 2002

The International Federation of PGA Tours announced Tuesday the field for the 2002 World Golf Championship - NEC Invitational will be doubled and include players from outside the United States and Europe.

The current field in place for this year's event at Firestone Country Club in August is limited to American golfers on the 2000 Presidents Cup team or 2001 Ryder Cup team and the top-12 from the 2001 European Ryder Cup team through August 19,2001.

With the new plan for 2002, the top-50 in the World Golf Rankings and winners of leading tournaments around the world, such as the Australasian, Southern Africa, Asian and Japanese tours, will be included in the field.

To be considered a leading tournament, that event will a require rating of 100 points or more. Points are awarded based on the overall quality of the field. A PGA spokesman said that an example of such a tournament would be the Phoenix Open on the PGA Tour.

In the 2000 NEC Invitational, Tiger Woods' only opponent was darkness as he blew the field away by 11 shots to win his second title in this event.

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