“I would like to apologize for any negative perception of the Tour or its players resulting from my suspension,” Barron said via the PGA Tour. “I want my fellow Tour members and the fans to know that I did not intend to gain an unfair competitive advantage or enhance my performance while on Tour.”

Barron of Memphis, Tenn., turned professional in 1992 and most recently played a full schedule on the PGA Tour in 2006 when he made the cut in 10 of 26 tournaments. Barron’s best career PGA Tour finish is a tie for third at the 2005 Bryon Nelson Championship.

Barron has played in four Nationwide Tour events and one PGA Tour event this season.

The PGA Tour began its anti-doping program in July of 2008. Under its rules, details of a positive doping violation are revealed after the appeals and challenges process.

The PGA Tour sanctions included a one-year suspension for a first violation, as long as a five-year suspension for a second violation and a lifetime ban and fines up to $500,000 for additional violations.

Barron’s best PGA Tour season was 2005 when he earned $731,990.

Like the PGA Tour’s initiation of the FedEx Cup, the Champions Tour decided in 2001 its circuit needed something.Like the benefits of a mid-afternoon latte on a ho-hum workday, the Champions Tour invented the Charles Schwab Cup. Its purpose, as one tournament rolls into another week after week, is to maintain interest throughout a 25-tournament schedule spread across 10 months.The Champions Tour begins in Hawaii, advances into Florida and ends among the vineyard of the famous Napa Valley wine country. And there are also stops at fine golfing facilities in lesser-known areas from West Des Moines, Iowa, to Conover, N.C.

Via points available at each tournament and awarded based on prize money earnings, players vie for the end-of-the-year $1 million annuity top prize. Jay Haas won the grand prize over Fred Funk in the final round of the final tournament during the 2008 season.

And as the competition comes to a close this season, a similar scenario could occur. The final day of the Champions Tour season, which began Jan. 19 in Kona, Hawaii, will end Nov. 1 with the final round of the Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Sonoma, California.

But like the FedEx Cup, with its decreasing field, big-money final prize, the Charles Schwab Cup still hasn’t become a “household” concept. In fact, despite the best efforts of the promotion departments of both tours, neither of the circuits’ incentive “tournaments within tournaments” has overwhelmed golf fans.

Complete reasons are uncertain, but the public’s collection attention span likely doesn’t allow for calculating point systems and weeks of field depreciation.

The other issue for the Champions Tour is player recognition. Since its inception, winners of the Charles Schwab Cup have included: Allen Doyle (2001), Hale Irwin (2002, 2004), Tom Watson (2003, 2005), Loren Roberts (2007) and the aforementioned Jay Haas (2006, 2008).

The winners, of course, are all fine players with a good collective collection of victories in majors. But with the exception of Tom Watson and Loren Roberts, players whose careers and personalities have ingratiated fans for decades, are television-watching or on-site fans interested if Doyle, Irwin or Fred Funk is playing for a $1 million annuity?

At a recent Champions Tour event, it appeared during the third round that Roberts was in a good position to win the tournament. He didn’t, but if he had, the top of the season-to-date money list would have been very close.

When the Champions Tour media relations representative was informed about the close money list race, he abruptly said: “It’s not the money list that counts; It’s the Charles Schwab Cup points.”

The PR person’s opinion may be true for the players. But wasn’t and isn’t true for golf fans. Week after week, tournament after tournament, golf followers are still more interested in the sport for its “in-the-moment” clutch play and players’ personalities. Tournament prize money and yearlong earnings are also significant components, but to a far less degree.

But I’ve yet to hear any fan discuss the FedEx Cup events or the Charles Schwab Cup competition. The latter is a fine competition. But as this season’s new corps of key players, Tom Lehman to Fred Couples, Hal Sutton to Larry Mize, emerged on the circuit for pros age 50 and older, fans will continue to follow their respective careers for the same reasons they were interested in the players when the played on the PGA Tour.

It won’t be because of Charles Schwab Cup points.

This is the third time in the past four rankings Pebble Beach has received top honors in what is considered one of the most prestigious and definitive rankings in golf.

The ratings are based on the scores of Golf Digest’s 900+plus course ranking panelists who traveled unannounced to hundreds of U.S., Canadian, Mexican and Caribbean golf resorts. The reviewers cited the resort’s upcoming fifth hosting of the U.S. Open Championship in June 2010, as well as the work done on Pebble Beach Golf Links, under the direction of Arnold Palmer, to strengthen and lengthen the legendary course to 7,014 yards.

In addition to its resorts, Pebble Beach Company also operates Pebble Beach Golf Links, Spyglass Hill Golf Course, The Links at Spanish Bay and Del Monte Golf Course.

Its other properties include the scenic 17-Mile Drive and The Spa at Pebble Beach, and it annually hosts premier events such as the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, the Callaway Golf Pebble Beach Invitational and the Walmart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach.

For additional information, contact Pebble Beach Company 1-800-654-9300 or visit, www.pebblebeach.com.

Sluman was the only player in the final three groups to break par during a breezy final round on the Monterey Peninsula.
Jones had a final round 70.

“It was very difficult out there with the wind, and the greens were like concrete. But I just tried to play solid golf,” said Sluman, who posted the low round of the day to capture his third Champions Tour wim and earn $315,000 of the $2.1 million purse.

Tom Lehman (73) and Mark O’Meara (75) tied for third place at 7-under 209. O’Meara, the two-time major champion who won at Pebble Beach five times while playing on the PGA Tour.

Roberts, the second-round leader, shot a 6-over 78 and shared fifth place with David Eger (69) and Olin Browne (71) at six-under 210.

Sluman’s hole-in-one at No. 5 helped him tally a 5-under 31 on the front nine.