Tour winner to go after Bacardi title

PGA Tour winner Ian Leggatt is coming to Bermuda to compete.

He will be among those vying for Daniel Augustus’ Bacardi National Par Three Championship crown at Fairmont Southampton this year.

Tournament organizer and Fairmont golf director Anthony Mocklow has confirmed that the 2002 Touchstone Energy Tucson Open champion will tee off in next month’s 36-hole tournament.

The 45–year-old Canadian, who finished tied for 20th at the 2003 U.S. Open, retired from professional golf last May.

He still harbours close ties to the sport by coaching at the grassroots level.

Mocklow is delighted to have someone of Leggatt’s stature help raise the profile of the fledgling Bacardi National Par Three Championship.

He said: “Ian is a great player and could be a huge proponent of Bermuda when he sees our lovely hospitality and great tournament.

Natural

“Clearly getting a player that’s won on the PGA Tour to our event and having his enthusiasm with the event will be tremendous.

“Ian is a natural in terms of promoting the events he plays in. And his love of junior golf and connections with Canada, particularly Ontario, are going to be exciting.”

Mocklow suggested other top overseas players could tee off in next month’s tournament to be held on March 26-27.

He said: “We are having conversations with some more players which you will hear about hopefully shortly. Hopefully with Ian’s involvement maybe we’ll get some more visitors from Ontario.

“We are looking for some other very talented players to play in the event.

“We are looking forward to having some of our young Bermudian professionals such as Nick Jones and maybe Terrence Daniels come back for the event.

“It’s going to be an exciting field and very competitive.

“It’s still a $20,000 tournament but we are looking to increase the first place prize, which could be close to $5,000 this year.

“It’s an exciting event and all the local pros are getting quite tuned up about it.”

Talented

If all goes accordingly, Mocklow hopes local junior golfers will be able to benefit from Leggatt’s expertise.

He said: “We are going to be talking with the Bermuda Junior Golf Association to see if we can extend Ian’s connection and love with junior golf and hopefully that will inspire more kids to join the game.

“This is just a very small attempt to try and improve golf and get more people playing the game and get back some of the fun in it.

“Clearly Ian is a very talented player who knows a lot about the development of the game and he has a tremendous amount of connections world-wide.”

The Bacardi National Par Three Championship is open to amateur and professional golfers and is sanctioned by both Bermuda Golf Association and Professional Golfer’s Association of Bermuda.

Susan Bond, who is also back to defend her title this year, is the defending ladies Bacardi National Par Three champion.